Foodie Quest or Where is the Beef???
The theme song I have chosen again this month for part two of the last posting is On the Road. If you have registered Texas Annie Ecuador please click on the red link to access the full blog including music and slide shows.
Where’s the Beef?
Pursuant, to my last blog post the following is an update all about foodie quest. Yes, Milton in his magical rabbit located beef markets with a huge selection from Argentina and Uruguay. So, along with some of our favorite gang of friends, we began our “where’s the beef” search. Now you might wonder why we are in search of beef in Ecuador. Well, as Texan Bill and I grew up on tender steaks marbled with fat. But in Ecuador, the cattle are lean with no visible fat. Hence, a tough as shoe leather beef. We heard rumors about meat markets in Quito having tender steaks from Argentina and Uruguay. So we went on two separate road trips one to the smaller El Cordobes, Quito, and then on to El Cordobes, Cumbaya the larger meat market. So how was the beef? Well, the first steak from Quito we cooked outside was a tomahawk steak which we have had a Bob’s Steak House in Texas. Oh no! It was tough but had good flavor. I had one left which I used to make Swiss Steak in my new electric pressure cooker and it turned out great but what a waste using steak for this recipe. The verdict is still out on the steaks from Cumbaya but they are well marbled with fat so we are hopeful. Milton then took us to the Quito Farmer’s Market and oh my we found sweet potatoes and more! Never thought I would get excited about sweet potatoes but we just cannot find them here. So I plan to bake them and then smother them in butter, cinnamon, and sugar.
We had a great time with our friends on our ” where’s the beef” search plus we made another stop at Baalbek Restaurant for lunch.
Our good friends from Land of the Sun Hotel invited us over to try out new steaks that they are going to start serving. Wow, what a special treat. The steaks were tender and fantastic! Of course, having an endless supply of tangy Lemon Drop Martini’s certainly did not hurt!
El Cafe de La Vaca
Our plans were to have breakfast at Cafe el Jinete for the traditional English breakfast but we were disappointed when they were not open at 8:00 am as posted. Ah, this is Ecuador and you cannot count on a precise time for anything. This is just all about learning to adjust to manana time. So, Milton told us he knew a great place in Cayambe. We certainly were not disappointed! Roses were everywhere and we had a great breakfast casserole. I highly recommend this restaurant and plan to go back.
Maracuya Daiquiri
So what in the world is a Maracuya? Passion Fruit! Yikes! I grew these in Texas with the beautiful white and purple spiked flowers trailing on vines. I never realized they produce wonderful fruit that is so yummy with a flavor similar to guava. Hint make sure your fruit is very ripe so it will be sweet otherwise it will produce a tart daiquiri.
Roses, Roses, Roses
Each week I buy 25 long stem roses for $2.50. The variety of colors is unbelievable. The only negative is that they do not have the rose fragrance which I think may be due to hybrids with a focus on color, strength, and durability which results in the loss of fragrance since the lovely rose scent does attract insects. However, I do have some lovely varieties that are very fragrant growing in my garden. Anyway, the following slide show from all the roses displayed at El Cafe de La Vaca restaurant demonstrates some of the different varieties and colors available.
Well, I think this pretty well summaries February adventures on the road again with our band of special friends. We are blessed to have so many new friends. Our social life has tripled since moving to charming little Cotacachi. All you need is Ecuador!
Hugs to family and friends!
