tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181329362024-03-07T14:16:55.584-06:00My Mexican KitchenThe journal of an expat retiree to Medio de Nada, Michoacán, México, with an emphasis on eclectic cuisine.Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.comBlogger423125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-49887573754691387022018-10-21T03:17:00.000-05:002018-10-25T15:12:48.597-05:00Pollo Coa— Morelia's Uptown Chicken
Roast chicken seems to be among the most popular street foods here in Michoacán. For example, every time we drive up through Tzurumutaro we see pollo asado stands along the roadway.
The full consomé
In the past several months, during frequent trips to Morelia, we have become loyal customers of the Pollo Coa restaurant. It's a big step upward in comfort, service, economy,Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-7886048368578336422017-10-16T12:58:00.002-05:002017-10-16T16:38:10.050-05:00La Nueva Pizza Mandala
Photo from Pizza Mandala website
Pizza Mandala left its historic location, on Calle Lerin in Pátzcuaro, sometime last summer. The cozy pizzeria with Bohemian atmosphere, on the ground floor of the Posada Mandala, close by the famous arches of El Sagrario, has now made a giant leap forward. Its new quarters are in a spacious house at Ibarra 130, Pátzcuaro. Inside the modest gate is a Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-2151878467778115272017-10-07T20:28:00.000-05:002017-10-08T04:24:27.241-05:00El Nopalito CDMX
Los Nopalitos (Las Cuevas, Michoacán)
We'd a long day of travel, flying from New Jersey to Mexico City. We'd had a couple of home made sandwiches on the plane and several beverages. (United Airlines is now serving excellent Illy coffee, at least on international flights.) But by the time we arrived at the Hotel Brasilia in mid-afternoon, we were ravenous.
I had seen El Nopalito on Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-63280160524794828392017-10-06T05:56:00.000-05:002017-10-06T14:54:20.025-05:00Hotel Brasilia, CDMX
For our return from the United States, we had planned to stay four nights in the Hotel Stanza in Colonia Roma Norte. But due to the earthquakes in the two previous weeks, we changed plans. We decided instead to spend a single night in the Hotel Brasilia, located a few blocks from the Central de Autobuses del Norte. Friends had stayed there recently and had traveled on buses of Primera Plus&Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-12198509176951200862017-07-30T04:34:00.000-05:002017-07-30T04:34:11.270-05:00Fat Chance
This is NOT how to get chicken fat! (web photo)
A good friend and cook has exhorted me on several occasions to make chicken stock from scratch, instead of using shelf-stable Kirkland Organic Chicken stock-in-a-box. Cooking a chicken or two is requisite to obtain the precious chicken fat.
I’ve thought of making my own chicken stock, but there are numerous reasons I don’t.
One: I’d have to go Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-38120378511030680152017-07-16T06:25:00.001-05:002017-09-11T20:27:39.585-05:00The Forum of the Three SqueezersThe title of this post has nothing to do with the former New York restaurant, The Forum of the Twelve Caesars. It's just a play on words that amuses me. Instead, this is a loose, product comparative review of three citrus juicers, one ancient manual and two shiny electric models.
We'll begin with the manual, lever action squeezer; Old Faithful. Fuel: muscle power. I bought this cheaply at Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-48339216747994519182017-07-11T07:40:00.000-05:002017-07-11T07:40:13.331-05:00Dining in Malinalco: Las Palomas
Las Palomas was the second restaurant recommended by our hostesses at Casa Navacoyan. The service was acceptable and the food decent, but with a tendency to heaviness.
The menu is extensive, with cheese a common element in very many dishes.
The entrance is on a street currently closed to vehicular traffic but easily traversed on foot. Just inside, up a gentle slope, is a covered dining Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-3056302367404123012017-06-30T16:30:00.001-05:002017-07-01T04:22:39.991-05:00Dining in Malinalco I: Los PlaceresDuring our stay at Casa Navacoyan, both Margarita and her daughter, Lucrecia recommended two restaurants to us: Los Placeres and Las Palomas.
These were generally good recommendations, and soon after our arrival at la Casa, we took a taxi to Malinalco Centro. It's a small but charming town with a lengthy plaza, set on a hill slope. The bread vendors offered bounteous bags of bread at very Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-9700404917929272852017-06-27T10:19:00.000-05:002017-06-27T18:54:53.698-05:00La Casa Navacoyan in the Mountains of Malinalco
Image from WikiCommons Part of fresco in ex-convent
Malinalco: a small and picturesque Pueblo Mágico in the southern pocket of Estado de México; embraced by cliffs; a town with blessed with spiritual qualities, its near neighbor, Chalma, a mecca for pilgrims.
Doña Cuevas and I chose Malinalco in which to stay and celebrate our 49th wedding anniversary. It would be very different from Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-78385549907217008552017-06-24T13:30:00.002-05:002017-06-24T13:30:53.734-05:00Newbies Do Uber in México
UBER LOGO
We just returned from a week's vacation to celebrate our 49th wedding Anniversary. All enjoyable, other than when our first bus, an AutoVias from Morelia, broke down soon after departure, with a two hour delay, then arriving in Toluca in the hellish rush hour traffic. But we survived.
We stayed our first night at the Fiesta Inn Toluca Tollocan. It was our pick up location for our Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-29419427202429335832017-06-09T14:55:00.003-05:002017-06-09T17:37:48.156-05:00Another Roadside Attraction
La Estancia Camelinas
Sometimes I get fixated on trying a certain restaurant, but it seems as though an opportunity rarely arises. So it was with the apparently popular roadside restaurant at La Estancia, Michoacán, just south of Santiago Undameo. It's close to the Corona soap factory. By sheer coincidence, it is also known as Las Camelinas, but in no way could it ever be confused with Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-21344752142877596372017-05-25T10:09:00.000-05:002017-05-25T10:09:33.760-05:00Up Ramp in Uruapan at the Restaurante Las Camelinas
We’d long had glowing, enthusiastic reports from friends about the Restaurante Las Camelinas, in Uruapan’s Hotel Plaza. Last Saturday, we went in a group, headed up by Georgia, plus Mark and Nancy and Shirley.
Now, normally I would not be drawn to restaurants of this style and class. But I put my peculiar preferences aside and determined to enjoy it.
I rode with Mark and Nancy and our Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-42606549648089723742017-04-07T14:28:00.000-05:002017-04-07T17:06:11.292-05:00Zoned Out
We, like numerous other expats, believe in supporting small, local businesses. For example, we love the Tienda Don Chucho, of which I've written and photographed before. But sometimes it's to our advantage to patronize large, chain businesses. For example, we've nearly stopped going to Pátzcuaro's fabulous but difficult to traverse Mercado Municipal. Instead, we shop in the more Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-83582506261985271872016-12-23T14:40:00.000-06:002016-12-24T10:39:26.118-06:00A New Year's Eve Cod PIeceI subscribe to an Italian cooking blog called Memorie di Angelina. I enjoy it for its mostly simple dishes.
Borrowed from Memorie di angelina
Today's feature was Filetti di baccalà (Fried Salt Cod Filets). This is a ingredient I have never used, and rarely eaten. My favorite dish using bacalao were the Buñuelos de Bacalao, as made and served in the Cuban restaurant of Morelia, El Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-36909830574305823192016-09-05T06:22:00.002-05:002016-09-05T06:30:26.776-05:00There's Been a Slight Hitch in the Posts, or, Untying the KnotsMy Mexican Kitchen has been photo dependent for as long as I can remember. Although I could simply write text, I much prefer to illuminate my posts with images.
To my dismay, my normal image embedding routine/workflow has been seriously disturbed by Google's decision to eliminate Picasa Web Albums, replacing it with Google Photos. Now it has apparently become difficult, if not impossible to Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-38678847699749791122016-08-18T04:35:00.000-05:002016-08-18T10:14:54.904-05:00Three Days in Colonia Roma: Galanga Thai Kitchen
We spent three nights last week at the Hotel Stanza in Colonia Roma, CDMX. Our dining choices were made after keen debate, mostly between our traveling companion, Ms. Jennifer Rose and me.
Our first stop was at Galanga Thai Kitchen, a new, authentic Thai restaurant owned and operated by a Thai-Mexican couple. We owe Nick Gilman, of Good Food In Mexico City for this one. His blog post of JulyDon Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-43158840529232283682016-08-02T06:26:00.001-05:002016-08-02T07:05:31.168-05:00I beg to differ
WARNING: This post contains negative emotions and contrarian opinions. If you want smiley, positive, cheerful blogging, click here. (Be sure to brush your teeth very well afterwards.)
A few days ago, our friend, Ms Rose in Morelia sent me a link to an article entitled "Hotelier Carlos Couturier's Insider Guide to Mexico City." You can read it here.
I wasn't too dumbfounded by theDon Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-25783652796915461502016-07-20T05:08:00.000-05:002016-07-20T05:36:29.726-05:00Two For The RoadThere are some interesting restaurants along the Federal Highway 14, between Pátzcuaro and Morelia. On the Pátzcuaro end, the Restaurante El Mandil has moved yet again. It has departed its shared space at Hotel Villa Gardenias, and previously, in the Posada Mesón de San Antonio. Now it is in a building all its own, within a corunda's throw of the venerable roadhouse El Camino Real.Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-22517098247850462182016-07-12T04:34:00.002-05:002016-07-12T04:34:31.297-05:00Restaurante Caracuaro, on the Altozano highway, Morelia Yesterday, we had lunch in Morelia at Restaurante Caracuaro's newest branch, on Blvd Juan Pablo, the highway to Altozano. (There are 3 Restaurantes Caracuaros in Morelia that I know of. We have been to the matriz, on the western periférico, near Pepsi bottlers, and across from tránsito, at least 3 times previously.)
Food is of a hearty, well seasoned peasant sort of cooking, in the style of La Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-3504526869798112912016-06-26T04:46:00.002-05:002016-06-26T04:49:49.313-05:00What we ate in Guadalajara: Anita-LiSome go to restaurants for the food, some go for the decor and ambience, or the view from the revolving dining room; others go for for fun and entertainment. Anita-Li clearly falls into the last category. One meal does not prove much, but our tentative conclusion is that Anita-Li is a great place for drinks in a festive and kitsch ambience, but serious, well prepared food may be elusive.
It is Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-25054398055892820252016-06-25T04:35:00.001-05:002016-06-26T03:48:15.602-05:00What we ate in Guadalajara: AlliumAllium restaurant is part of the New Wave of locavore, farm-to-table restaurants that are opening in Mexico. Our meal there was among the best we had during our brief stay in Guadalajara. (Señora Cuevas rates the Pozole Blanco at La Chata as the best thing she ate. I liked that, too, but my best dish was the Crab Cakes at Allium.)
The menu is limited, which in my opinion is good.
Carta
Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-3609793095966203022016-06-24T16:12:00.002-05:002016-06-24T16:20:51.920-05:00What we ate in Guadalajara: around the hotelThere seemed to be quite a number of small, popular eating places, all within a few blocks of the hotel Morales. There are also some cheapie places offering such comida rápida as hot dogs and hamburgers. We didn't indulge our basest instincts.
The most obvious, and convenient spot, is Taquería Los Faroles, immediately across the street from the hotel entrance. We went there Sunday evening Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-24662694977487550552016-06-24T12:26:00.000-05:002016-06-25T08:41:05.528-05:00What we ate in Guadalajara: La Chata CentroGuadalajara and Jalisco are known for some traditional foods. There is pozole, birria and the torta ahogada representing the main food specialties. There is also jericalla, a baked cup custard, but a minor player. During our four night stay, we covered all of those nicely, although perhaps not optimally. In addition, we dined at two restaurants that broke far away from tradition, one which Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-45559388422098829572016-06-22T08:48:00.000-05:002016-06-25T08:49:22.121-05:00Anniversary in Guadalajara—The Hotel Morales
Señora Cuevas and I observed our 48th wedding anniversary yesterday. We celebrated by spending an extended weekend in Guadalajara. Guadalajara was new to us. We'd been in México CDMX countless times, but never in the Big Guad. (Not counting a couple of nights in nearby Tonalá going and coming from the airport.)
We decided to stay at the Hotel Morales, in Centro. The Morales has Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18132936.post-26979995953047392942016-06-04T05:56:00.001-05:002016-06-04T05:56:33.732-05:00Adios al Mercado de Pátzcuaro *
Fanciful Fruit Snacks at the Calle Codallos entrance to the Mercado
We have long loved the Mercado Municipal de Pátzcuaro. For color, variety and lower prices, it can't be beat. I still have a soft spot in my heart for it. But love grows old and love grows cold.
Recently, we have been more and more shopping elsewhere. We have traded color for convenience. Trudging through the mercado, Don Cuevashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13512081335891808593noreply@blogger.com0