Now We Eat!!!! - Tacos- Gorditas - Yucca -

Here are some of the meals we ate while staying at Casa Del Corazon.
As I had mentioned before the fruit and vegetable stand had really good stuff, and I really tried to keep things simple, always easier said than done!!!

The first picture is of tacos with BBQ potatoes, avocados and salsa. Kind of boring except the avocados defy description, firm and very flavorful. The salsa is made from grilled poblano chilis, tomatoes, cilantro and onions.

The next plate was inspired by chalupas that we ordered at a restaurant. I bought Masa Harina and made corn flour dough, which I fried in coconut oil, which took them to a whole different level of goodness/badness. I have always considered these to be gorditas not chalupas, but who's to say!
I make gorditas at home on occasion, the dough, Maseca Flour - water and salt is easy to make, then you form patties about a 1/4 inch thick, and about as round as an English Muffin. You then fry them until golden brown. You can top them with any vegan topping you like, Tofutti sour cream, faux cheese, veggies, veggie crumbles, roasted veggies, or whatever you have in your pantry.
I topped these gorditas with refried black beans, grilled onion and pablanos, and salsa fresca (tomato, cilantro, lime juice and serrano chile) I grilled the new potatoes almost every night we were at the villa because Addison really liked them and the were fairly easy.

I found nice looking yucca while I was at the veggie stand, so I got some. I have cooked yucca/cassava before but was not really sure of the exact times, and procedures, so I went on facebook with my iphone and contacted a friend in New Mexico, she gave me some hints on prep, and cooking method. I loved having internet access, I was able to post food pictures as soon as I took them!! I was also able to request cooking instructions online several times. The plate below is the yucca, which I ended up boiling for about an hour before it was tender. I took half of the yucca and served it with mole(not the animal - say MO-lay) which I made from a Chilimole that was vegan and had remarkable flavor. I served it with white rice, avocado and tortillas. Yucca is similar to potatoes, but it has more of a "tooth: to it and it more of an earthy flavor, which was nicely complemented by the slightly sweet and robust flavor of the mole. I had hoped that I would be able to buy the Chilimole cubes online when I returned, but I have been unable to find it;( I guess I will to go back and get some.

The final plate is a picture of yucca fries. I had coconut oil left from making the gorditas so at the suggestion of my friend Mariela in Santa Fe, I made yucca fries. I took the boiled yucca and fried until golden, and served with ketchup, THEY WERE FREAKIN AWESOME... I generally do not fry things, not good for you, messy and it stinks up the house. I did fry bananas one night, I used to fry bananas all the time when I was the chef at Cafe Brazil in Denver, but they are hard to do without a large commercial fryer. They tasted good, but looked awful.
The villa did not have windows, it had screens and shutters, so while I was cooking I had everything open, it was like cooking outside.
The last picture is from the front patio of the Casa Del Corazon, this basically the same as the view from the kitchen sink. I wish this was my everyday view!!!