An Insanity of Color and a Summery Bougambilia Drink

An Insanity of Color and a Summery Bugambilia Drink

by Victoria Challancin

Every March here in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, when the temperature begin their startling climb, the startling dryness begins its work.  Forget what it does to the skin, I say, and look what it does for flowering plants.  Right now, the bugambilias (Spanish spelling), or bougainvilleas, burst into glory and the jacaranda trees shed their lavender-hued grace all over the city.  Dazzling.

When I worked as Culinary Producer for Food Network's Mexican Made Easy's Season Two, Marcela Valladolid, the chef and star, wanted to make a bugumbilia limeade for a show on Baja cooking. And  remembering from when my child was young how Mexican mothers taught me to make a gentle tea for coughs from the blossoms of the purple, only the purple, bugambilia plant, I thought a limeade a perfect idea.

Photo by Zachary Popovsky

We tested Marcela's Bugambilia Limeade, which I absolutely loved.  Pretty and so "green" tasting.  Yummy.  In the end,though, she opted to showcase a Baja-Style Limeade, which reflects her origins and the wild rosemary which proliferated there.

This recipe is a non-recipe, really.  Make limeade as you normally would, preferably with Mexican or Key limes (not Persians), sweeten with desired sweetener (agave nectar would be lovely), and add a cup or more of tea made from steeping purple bougainvillea blossoms in boiling water.

Bugambilia Limeade

1 cup water

One large handful of clean, purple bougainvillea blossoms (no need to remove stamens)

8 limes (approximately) or 1 cup of fresh lime juice

3 to 4 cups water, or more as preferred

Sweetener, to taste

Bring a coup of water to a boil in a small pot.  Add a large handful of purple bougainvillea blossoms, pressing to submerge.  Allow to steep for 10 minutes.  

Prepare limeade by mixing the lime juice with 3 cups of water.  Sweeten to taste.  Strain the bougainvillea tea into the limeade.  Check and adjust.  Add more water or lime juice as preferred. Serve over ice and decortate with a spare blossom or two.

Enjoy!

I'm sendindg this post oever to Rachel at The Crispy Cook,  where Rachel is hosting the Weekend Herb Blog event this week for Haalo at cookalmost anything.blogspot.com.  This interesting idea was originally begun by Kalyn at kalynskitchen.com.   Thank you fellow bloggers!

Victoria Challancin

Flavors of the Sun Cooking School

San Miguel de Allende, México

©Victoria Challancin.  All Rights Reserved.

Marcela Valladolid's Baked Cod with Olives and Limes

Photograph by Zachary Popovsky

A Recipe:  Marcela Valladolid's Baked Cod with Olives and Limes

by Victoria Challancin

In March of 2010 I worked in Los Angeles as Culinary Producer for Marcela Valladolid's Season II of the Mexican Made Easy show for Food Network.  One of the things I did was to test recipes for the show.  Marcela's recipes are usually as lively and fun as she is and this baked cod recipe is no exception.

You might wonder that this obviously Mediterranean-inspired recipe would appear on a Mexican cooking show, but remember that in Baja, where Marcela grew up, Mediterranea ingredients frequently appear in modern interpretations of traditional Mexican food on menus throughout Baja.

A slightly different version appears on page 105 of Marcela's book Fresh Mexico. Here the chef adds thinly slices anchovies to the olives, uses fewer capers, and less oil.  Both versions work well and offer a quick, healthy, and easy to prepare dinner that can be put on the table in less than twenty minutes.

Marcela's unique take on Mexican cuisine shines in this book, which is available in both English and Spanish.  

Baked Cod with Olives and Limes

(Recipe by Marcela Valladolid, from Food Network:  Mexican Made Easy)

4 (6-ounce) cod fillets, pin bones removed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

12 thin lime slices

1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, roughly chopped

1/4 cup capers, drained

2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves

1/4 cup olive oil

Lime wedges, for serving

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Put the cod in a ovenproof baking dish and season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Top each fillet with 3 lime slices, the olives, capers, and rosemary.  Drizzle with olive oil.

Bake until the fish is cooked through, about 10 minutes.  Remove the fish from the oven and serve with lime wedges.

Enjoy!

Victoria Challancin

Flavors of the Sun International Cooking School

San Miguel de Allende, Gto, México

Discovery Channel and a Proud Mother

Discovery Channel and a Proud Mother

by Victoria Challancin

On September 25th the Discovery Channel  Latinoamérica (en Español) will begin airing the first of ten episodes of a new reality program called Norte a Sur:  5 en Ruta.  It will chronicle the journey of five young Latinos who journey from Anchorage, Alaska, to Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, the northernmost and southernmost points in the Americas as they work with local pioneers to leave communities better than they found them.  Each of the five young people have unique skills to offer this incredible undertaking.

My son, Zachary Popovsky, was chosen to be one of these five travelers.  Zack is a photographer and more, who adds his unique abilities to those of the group.  Here is a link to the show, which is interactive and will become more so once the series airs.  Below that is the 2-minute video that Discovery Channel made of Zack, using his still photographs as a part of the montage.

A proud mother?  You bet.  For myriad reasons.

http://norteasur5enruta.com/

After many tries, I can't make the video link work.  Just cut and paste the following url from YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL9JsnFS9Xo&feature=player_embedded