February 2, 2008

When school is out...

Maggie and I run about outdoors to soak up Orlando's beautiful surroundings.I admit; Orlando didn't turn out like how we've expected.. it is a little quiet; but I guess with Fridays to Sundays off; we eventually find activities to make the best of our time here.

Most of Orlando's treasures are hidden. Hidden within suburbs and tiny streets far from main freeways and close to residential areas. There are lakes scattered all around the city of Orlando; big ones; small ones; round ones; funny shaped ones...but my favorite ones are the pretty ones filled with ducks and swans and beautifully manicured gardens.

I'm actually starting to feel more at home with these new discoveries. A new addition to our group ; Kassy from Singapore has also been a pleasant improvement to our pack of two~.Picnics along the edges of these wondrous and tranquil lakes would probably be the first thing that comes to mind on a beautiful sunny afternoon. I'd pick up the phone and give Maggie a call to see if she's up for some fun in the sun. She rarely ever refuses. I would rush over to my refrigerator to wallow about looking for bite sized meals to put together in a dash as she makes her way over to mine. The ingredients I pull out would generally include the many types of breads and pastries we bring home from our week in school. Maggie even popped by to make a batch of her wonderful blueberry scones for our picnic goodie bowl. I havn't gotten to scouting for a 'basket' for our picnics yet...for now; my large blue mixing bowl will have to do.
Here's something I whipped up to go with tortilla wedges I baked into crisp little chips for salsa.
I discovered these adorable little tomatillos from the local supermarket. They looked almost like a cross between a gooseberry and a tomato. They were small; green and enclosed within delicate petal-like leaves. I had to buy them home to see what I could do with them!Maggie has lived in South America for a period of time; and she is much more experienced with Latin American cuisine than I am. I made up this salsa out of the top of my head with what I had in fridge. I didn't exactly give her the low-down on my ignorance about south american cuisine before I fed her my concoction... Amazingly she was impressed~ *laughs* She actually liked it! *yaY!* All that was before I decided to post up its recipe here for everyone to have a go~
I suppose you could use lightly green tomatoes if tomatillos are hard to source in your part of the world. I wouldn't know if it'd turn out the same though. The recipe can be pureed in a blender if you like; but me; being currently blender-less and mixer-less in my new kitchen merely chopped up the roasted vege's into tiny bits and tossed them together.
1 red bell pepper (capsicum)
1 orange bell pepper
1 jalapeno pepper
4 tomatillos
2 garlic cloves pressed or crushed
1/2 cup chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
salt and pepper to taste
juice from 1 lime

Half and deseed the peppers. Lay vegetables top side up on a sheet of foil. Grill/Broil vegetables with a drizzle of olive oil till skins are lightly charred and roasted. It shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes on high heat. Peel off charred skin from the peppers and dice roasted vegetables into tiny cubes. Toss together in a large bowl with pressed garlic and lime juice. 'Salt+pepper' your bowl. Toss in the shredded cilantro; pop out the toasted chips and you're ready to 'salsa'~ *giggle*

1 comment:

mtw said...

That sounds like a great recipe. Here in California, I grow tomatillos in my garden. They are easy to grow and will spring up every year whether you plant them or not. I had way more than I could use last year!

Tomatillos are also excellent to use in Chile Verde.