We have spent the last couple of days in New Jersey, visiting with Zoya and Vladimir (friends we first met in St Petersburg, Russia in 1992), seeing the last of the Fall Colors, visiting the New York PhotoPro expo, and shopping for last minute items for Iceland. Today we moved to East Village in New […]
Cuy, Family Style
Back in the USA, they are called guinea pigs and kept as pets. Here they are called cuy and are a gourmet feast most often served for special occasions and celebrations. We were invited to a special cuy dinner by Gloria, Evelyn’s Spanish teacher, last night for a night of feasting, music… and Spanish. Only one member of the […]
Learning To Cook Italian in Cuenca
For the last three weeks I have been taking Italian cooking classes at a restaurant a little over a block from our condo. I am still amazed whenever I process that sentence — I have never lived somewhere with a good restaurant only a block away (let alone the 20 or so we now have), […]
[Recipe] Sirloin Steak
Ecuador has lots of good food, but beef is rarely listed as a favorite. It tends to be tough, and since BBQ’s are rare, we can’t cook it our favorite way. We therefore mostly do without steak. I recently discovered a way to make delicious tender sirloin steak though. Obviously, you want to start […]
[Recipe] Chicken Tetrazini
This is a pasta dish that Evelyn used to make in California using the leftover turkey from Thanksgiving or Christmas. When I started cooking, this is one of the recipes I got her to teach me. Of course, I made a few modifications in the subsequent years. For one thing, I no longer wait until […]
[Recipe] Locra Papa
“Locra” means “thick soup”, so one should never say “Locra Papa Soup.” Rather, it is simply “Locra Papa — the best soup you’ve ever tasted!” ☺ On May 23, I published a blog entry talking about a cooking class I took at La Warmi for locra papa. I promised I would post the recipe once […]
[Recipe] Eggs Benedict
A favorite Sunday brunch indulgence of ours is eggs Benedict. We haven’t found a good one here in Cuenca, so I decided to give it a try. I was surprised by just how easy it is to make. Of course, it has enough calories and fat that we will still hold it back for special […]
Locra Papa with La Warmi
Locra Papa is an Ecuadorian specialty that Evelyn loves when done well. La Warmi held a cooking class this morning in which they taught how to make it, along with a chicken and hearts-of-palm salad. I decided to go and see if I could learn anything useful. I ended up eating the absolute best locra […]
[Recipe] Pasta With Spicy Shrimp
I had lunch with a local restaurant owner last week, and took the opportunity to ask him where he buys meat and seafood. I mentioned that I had bought some shrimp for paella from the local mercado, and he immediately piped in “I’ll bet it was bland, soggy and tasteless, right?” And yes, he was […]
[Recipe] Key Lime Pie
A couple days ago I posted my recipe for a graham cracker crust (using honey bran cookies). This key lime pie is what I use that crust for. My sister-in-law (Pauline) gave me a “4 ingredient cookbook” as a joke gift for Christmas 2002. Never having successfully done more than boil water before then, I […]
