2 pounds red-skinned potatoes, cut into wedges
1 C sliced green onion
3 T grated Parmesan
Romaine lettuce

Finely chop the anchovies and garlic together. Put them in a medium bowl and whisk in the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce (you can also use the blender for this step). Fold in the mayonnaise and season with salt and pepper.

Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until just tender. Drain and cool.

Mix the dressing, Parmesan, onions, and potatoes together. Serve on top of Romaine lettuce leaves.

1/4 C rice vinegar
1/4 C soy sauce
1/4 C mayonnaise
1 heaping T minced or grated fresh ginger
1-1/2 T toasted sesame oil
4 cloves garlic cloves, minced
1 T peanut butter
2 t Sriracha chili-garlic sauce
1-1/2 t brown sugar
2 pounds sweet potatoes, cut to 1/2-inch dice
1-1/2 C sugar snap peas, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 C sliced green onions
1/3 C peanuts, chopped

Whisk first 9 ingredients (the dressing) together in a large bowl. In a large saucepan, bring 1/2-inch of water to a boil. Add the sweet potatoes, cover, and cook until just tender (about 5 minutes). Drain and cool.

Mix the sweet potatoes, peas, and green onions into the dressing. Season with salt and pepper and top with chopped peanuts.

Cake
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/3 C dark brown sugar, packed
2 T unsalted butter
1/2 t grated orange peel
1/2 t coarse salt
2 eggs
2 T sugar
1 T flour
1/2 C hazelnuts, toasted, husked, and chopped

Filling
5 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 oz milk chocolate, chopped
1-1/2 C chilled heavy whipping cream (divided)
5 T unsalted butter, at room temperature

Glaze
1/2 C heavy whipping cream
1 T light corn syrup
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 T unsalted butter, room temperature

Garnish
Chocolate curls
Chopped toasted hazelnuts
Candied orange peel

For cake:
Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a 13x9x1 inch baking sheet with parchment paper, butter the parchment paper. Combine first 4 ingredients in medium metal bowl. Set it over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring until the chocolate and butter melt. Remove from water and stir in salt.

Beat eggs and 2 T sugar in another bowl until pale (about 6 min). Fold into chocolate mixture. Fold in flour, then hazelnuts. Spread the batter evenly on the baking sheet. Bake for 13 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Set the pan on a rack to cool. The cake will be large and low.

For filling:
Combine the chocolates in a medium metal bowl. Bring 1 C cream to a simmer in a small saucepan; pour it over the chocolates and let stand for a minute. Stir until melted and smooth. Chill for about 2 hours, until firm.

Place the bowl with the chilled chocolate mixture over a saucepan of barely simmering water until it’s partly melted — but don’t stir it. This will take about 5 minutes. Remove from the water, add the butter. Using an electric mixer, beat until filling is thick and glossy, about 3 minutes. Clean and dry the beaters, and beat 1/2 C chilled whipping cream in another bowl until peaks form. Fold the whipping cream into the filling.

Cover a 14×5-inch piece of cardboard with foil. Invert the cake onto a work surface and remove parchment. Cut it lengthwise in half. Place one half on the cardboard and spread with 1/2 C of the chocolate filling. Top with the second cake half. Spoon the remaining filling into a pastry bag fitted with large plain round tip. Pipe filling atop cake in side-by-side lengthwise rows, then smooth the top. Chill until filling is firm, about an hour.

For glaze:
Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add the chocolate, let stand 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Add the butter, stir until melted. Let this stand until barely lukewarm but still pourable, about 20 minutes.

Place the cardboard with the cake on it on a rack that is set over a rimmed baking sheet. Spoon the glaze over the cake, allowing it to run down the sides. Smooth it over the sides with a spatula. Garnish with chocolate curls, nuts, and candied orange peel.

Refrigerate until the glaze is set, at least 2 hours.

Enchiladas
1-1/2 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 T butter
1 C chopped green onions
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1-1/2 T chopped serrano chiles
1 T ground cumin
1/3 C chopped fresh cilantro

1/3 C vegetable oil
12 small corn tortillas

Sauce
1 T vegetable oil
3 T chopped seeded serrano chiles
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4-1/2 C chopped tomatoes (divided)
1 onion, coarsely chopped
2 t ground cumin
1/2 C fresh cilantro

For enchiladas: Cook the potatoes in boiling water until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain. Return to pot and mash. In a large skillet, melt the butter and saute the onions, peppers, and chiles for a couple of minutes. Mix in the cumin. Stir this mixture into the potatoes and season with salt and pepper.

Oil a 13×9-inch baking dish. Heat 1/3 C vegetable oil in a small skillet. Using tongs, dip each tortilla in the oil to soften it, then set it on a paper towel. Spoon about 1/4 C of the filling down the middle and roll it up. Place it seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas.

Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 12 minutes at 350 F. Remove and top with the sauce.

For sauce: Heat the vegetable oil in a small skillet and saute the chiles and garlic for a couple of minutes. Transfer to blender. Add 3 C tomatoes, onion, and cumin, blend until finely chopped. Transfer sauce to a bowl and mix in the remaining tomatoes and cilantro.

1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened
2 T chopped crystallized ginger
1 T dark rum

Place softened ice cream in a bowl. Using a plastic spatula, fold the ginger and rum into the ice cream. Transfer to an airtight container and refreeze for about 4 hours.

Serves 6

1 C freshly-squeezed blood orange juice
1/2 C fresh lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, finely minced (divided)
Pinch of salt
1/4 t dried crushed red pepper
1 pound cooked, peeled shrimp, cut to 1/2-inch pieces (you can substitute cooked popcorn shrimp, but the flavor isn’t as good)
1 C chopped red bell pepper
1 C chopped jicama
1 C chopped red onion
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
2 T olive oil

Combine orange juice, lemon juice, 1 garlic clove, and the salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Boil until it is reduced to about a half cup. Cool and stir in the pepper flakes.

Toss the dressing with the remaining ingredients (don’t forget the second clove of garlic). Drizzle with a little extra olive oil, garnish with lemon wedges, and serve with tortilla chip scoops.

Bring sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir to dissolve. Add rosemary, reduce heat, and simmer for 2 minutes. Cool and discard rosemary.

Martini

1 oz rosemary syrup
2 oz vodka
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz pear brandy
Rosemary sprig to garnish

Shake the vodka, syrup, and lemon juice with ice. Stir in the brandy and pour into a martini glass. Garnish with a rosemary sprig.

Whisk together 1 C olive oil, vinegar, 1 T cumin, 2 T chili powder, garlic, and salt. Pour 1 C of this over the lentils.

Heat 2 T olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the onion, saute until browned, then add the chicken and saute until it’s about half done. Add 1 t salt, 1 T cumin, 2 t chili powder, and the cinnamon, and cook it until the chicken is done (about 5 minutes total).

Arrange lentils on a platter with the chicken mixture on top. Drizzle with remaining dressing and sprinkle with the parsley.

Pour the dressing over:
4 C cooked rice vermicelli or bean thread noodles
2 large cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and sliced
1 mango, peeled, pitted, and diced

Top with generous amounts of sesame seeds and chopped peanuts.

My version serves 2-3. It was adapted from the following, which serves 12:

Soba Noodle Salad with Cucumber and Mango (Bon Appetit)
3/4 C rice vinegar
1/4 C sugar
3/4 t salt
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 red jalapeno or serrano chili, seeded and chopped
3 T lime juice
1 T sesame oil
1-1/2 t grated lime peel
12 oz green soba noodles
1 English cucumber, halved and sliced thin
1 large mango, peeled and sliced
1 C chopped fresh basil
1 C chopped fresh mint
1 C chopped toasted peanuts
Lime wedges

Make the dressing from the first 8 ingredients. Cook the noodles, then rinse and drain. Toss with dressing, then with everything but the peanuts and lime wedges. Top with the peanuts and garnish with the lime wedges.

Take a big purple eggplant. Wash it and cut off the stem end. Cut it in half lengthwise. Continuing to cut it lengthwise, cut it into quarters and then eighths. You’ll end up with 8 long skinny wedges, each with some eggplant skin on one side.

Marinade ingredients:
Tamari (2 parts)
Seasoned rice vinegar (2 parts)
Sesame oil (1 part)
Garlic (1 clove, grated with a microplane grater or finely minced)
Ginger (grated with a microplane to taste)

Throw the eggplant slices into a large ziplock bag. Add the marinade ingredients. Shake it up and let it sit while you preheat the grill.

Set each piece on the grill, skin-side down, over high heat. When they are soft, lay them flat on the grill to get grill marks on the remaining two sides. It should take about 15 minutes.

If this is our entire dinner, we can each eat an entire eggplant this way. But if there are other dishes, two people can share an eggplant. Make more than you think you’ll eat — the leftovers are delicious.

On the side of the road, up ahead, I saw a small sign on the ground that said, “Elotes.” I was wracking my brain, trying to remember what that word meant, when I noticed what was above it.

Topes with elotes

A black-and-white road sign with a symbol on it, looking like a snake that ate two donuts. Tope!

“WATCH OUT!” I cried in alarm, from the passenger seat. My driver and companion, Philip, slammed on the brakes and eased the tiny rental car (he called it “the pregnant rollerskate”) slowly over the nearly-invisible, transmission-eating bump.

“Whew. Thanks,” he said, as he shifted back up to speed.

The sudden stop was re-enacted over and over during our recent trip to see the Mayan ruins of Mexico. “Topes,” or speed bumps, are a fascinating part of the Mexican driving experience. Completely disruptive to comfortable car travel, we found them all over the highways of Quintana Roo. According to expat writer Stan Gotlieb, Mexican slang for them is “policia durmiendo,” or sleeping policemen.

There’s no consistency to the character of the topes. Some are wide plateaus, some are rounded bumps, some are big pieces of rope that jar your teeth. The signage, too, is inconsistent. Some are marked 300 meters in advance. Some are painted yellow. Some are not marked at all, just waiting for you to fly over at full speed and land in the arms of the local mechanic. We saw almost no stoplights in Mexico, but hundreds of topes.

Clever entrepreneurs use their village topes to offer fruits, vegetables, and baked goods to the drivers who are forced to nearly stop to make it safely over the deadly bumps. Some have even erected permanent shops and stands next to the topes, including one where we bought a pineapple. Is it possible that the shopkeepers erect the bumps, or at least lobby for them, as a way to get business?

After we’d made it over the “Elotes” speed bump and into the village, I asked Philip to make a u-turn. He cruised back and parked in front of the bump. I had finally remembered what “elotes” meant: Corn.

Topes with pineapple stand

Many years ago, I had read about this way to serve corn in a Molly Katzen cookbook, but I never thought I’d get to try the real thing, on the Tulum-Coba road. First, the young woman at the stand took my money and pulled two cooked ears of corn out of a large pot, steaming over a wood fire. She dried the corn and squeezed a wedge of lime over each one. Then she carefully spread the corn with a thin layer of mayonnaise. The mayonnaise was sprinkled with chili powder, which stuck to it, and then fresh-grated hard cheese. She handed it to me with a wad of napkins.

As she quietly prepared the corn, I found myself wondering if she and her family had erected the speed bump, and what she thought about working every day, selling corn and vegetables next to a speed bump. I wished my Spanish was good enough to have a conversation with her.

The corn was delicious, and I used my clumsy Spanish to thank the young woman. “Gracias,” I said. To which she replied, in completely unaccented English, “You’re very welcome.” I was too surprised to reply.

—

Meps with the pregnant roller skate

Meps with a bowl of aebleskiver, the pan, and the special knitting needles

This is the recipe we used to make them, based on one found on the internet from Lindgren’s Bed & Breakfast in Minnesota. I hope the illustrations will help you understand the process.

4 eggs, separated
2 T sugar
1/2 t salt
2 T vegetable oil
2 C buttermilk
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
2 C all-purpose flour
Oil or butter for the pan

Beat the egg whites until stiff. In another bowl, beat the rest of the ingredients until smooth, then fold in the egg whites.

Heat the special pan over moderate heat, and melt about 1/8 t of butter in each of the holes. Swirl the pan to coat with the butter.

Aebleskiver pan with butter melting in the holes

Fill each indentation about three-fourths of the way with batter. Now carefully watch the edges, so you’ll notice when they are starting to brown.

You’ll use a pair of knitting needles (traditional) or chopsticks or forks to turn them over. The trick to turning them is not pulling them around, like you would do with a spatula, but pushing each one down on one side and pulling up a little on the other. That’s why you use two knitting needles.

Sometimes, you can only get them turned partway, then let them brown a little more before turning them the rest of the way.

Test to see if they are done by poking them in the middle with a knitting needle and making sure it comes out dry.

Serve with your favorite decadent assortment of jams, syrups, honey, butter, and whipped cream. We had lemon curd, chili-chocolate sauce, seedless blackberry jam, and whipped cream with this batch. Be careful — the accoutrements can easily overshadow the beautiful aebleskiver!

Philip coats the pan with butter

Carefully ladling batter into the pan

Turning aebleskiver with two knitting needles

Golden brown aebleskiver, turned about halfway

After the aebleskiver are turned, the final browning

Pressure cook for 20 minutes at high pressure. Remove from heat and let sit with pressure releasing naturally for 25 minutes. Season with salt to taste.

2 T dried wakame
1 7-oz package salmon
1 cucumber
1 T finely minced onion
2 T mayonnaise
1 t sesame oil
1 T miso
1 T tamari
Sesame seeds to garnish, optional

Soak the wakame until softened and drain well. Seed the cucumber and dice fine or grate. Combine all ingredients and garnish with sesame seeds.

1 can black beans, drained
1 can white beans, drained
1/2 can corn, drained
1/4 C finely chopped onion
1/4 C finely chopped green bell pepper
1-2 pints V-8 juice

Remember that flour tastes better than corn starch. Mashed potato can be used to thicken gravy also. Flour will not stir into very hot broth. Cool broth to below 120 degrees before adding flour. Always add flour with a whisk. You can also use a roux (cooked butter & flour). Flour can be added by stirring lots of flour (6 Tablespoons flour into 1 cup broth) into cold broth and dribbling the cold broth & flour mixture into cooking gravy while stirring briskly with a whisk.

Poultry Spices good for gravy:
Thyme
Marjoram
White Pepper
Oregano
Rosemary

Method:
Use 80% Chicken Broth.
Use roasting pan drippings if available.
Remove excess fat.
Deglaze pan with a bit of hot water.
Put in big pot; add spices and green onion to taste.
Bring to boil and simmer for 10 min to soften green onion.
Taste and adjust spices or salt as necessary.
Cool broth by placing into cold water.
Add three tablespoons of flour per pint of gravy.
Stir briskly continuously with a whisk while cooking on high heat until boiling.
Serve.

DOUGH
1 box Pilsbury Hot Roll Mix
1 C water
2 T butter
1 egg
Melted Butter (1/4 lb or more)
Basting Brush to spread butter
Cinnamon Sugar (at least 1 C or more — best if 5-20% cinnamon, or to taste. Some say more is better. Put Cinnamon Sugar in Jar with holes in top to make a shaker dispenser.)
Flour (about 4 to 4-1/2 C)
Large flat surface – Large cutting board, tile counter, clean table top, or table covered with plastic sheet from hardware store
1 or more Rolling Pins (more pins = more people can work at same time.
Pair of kitchen Scissors or Knife to cut dough
Butter coated baking dishes (butter works best)

DIRECTIONS
Prepare dough according to directions on box; allow to rest 10-15 min. Divide dough into two. Cover flat surface with fine layer of flour to prevent sticking. Place half of the dough on flour covered flat surface. Spread fine layer of flour on top of dough to prevent sticking to rolling pin. Flour the Rolling Pin to prevent sticking.

Roll dough into a thin layer, usually about two square feet or more. Spread melted butter on top of dough. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top, be generous, cover all top surface. Roll up dough (coil) along one edge. Use scissors to cut dough into 1″ thick (to taste) rolls.

Place rolls in buttered baking pan, leave space for rising. Some people like to add extra butter on top of rolls.

Cover with cloth and allow dough to rise, 20-30 min or to taste.

After dough has risen, bake in medium oven, 350 degrees 20-25 min. Check often, remove from oven when browned.

Cool 10 min, no more. Remove from pan while warm. Usually rolls come out in-mass and can be pulled apart easily.

Brown hamburger, onions, and celery (drain).
Add sauce, water, and seasonings. Mix well.
Slice eggplant 1/2-inch thick and place on top of sauce, cover and cook over low heat 15 minutes or until eggplant is tender.
Place swiss cheese over eggplant and cover, simmer 5 minutes. Sprinkle with parmesan and paprika.

Gr. beef, drain fat
Onions
Gr. pepper
Jalapeno
Tomato sauce
Noodles
Crackers
Chili powder
Chili beans
Chopped tomatoes
Corn!

Oil dish first

1/3 C long grain rice (optional: mix nuts in with rice)
1/4 C chopped onion
2 T chopped green pepper
1 chicken breast split lengthwise
1 7-oz can mushroom soup
2 T water
1 cube chicken bouillon, crushed
1/8 t dried sage, crushed
1/8 dried thyme
Crushed paprika

In 1-quart casserole, combine rice, onion, and green pepper. Place chicken atop rice. Combine soup, water, bouillon, sage, and thyme. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle paprika. Cover.
Bake in 375 / 45 min. Uncover bake 10 minutes more. 2 servings.