Como-No, Isla Mujeres

Tonight, Elke and I dined at a great little Israeli restaurant in Isla Mujeres, appropriately named "Como-No" (Why Not?). It was part of a side trip during my "annual" family vacation in Cancun (which I attend about once every five years) and came after a long day at a seedy beach with every immediate relative I have. We had "Comono hummous," which was hummous topped with very good falafel and slices of hard-boiled egg, and "Arabic salad" which was a salad of tomato, cucumber, and onion in a yoghurt-based dressing.

The place was very casual and very hip. It wasn't an Israeli restaurant, per se, so much as it was a place owned by a guy from Tel Aviv that served what appeared to be all of his favorite food. Before we talked with the owner, there was no real indication that it was an Israeli-owned restaurant except that the menu was rather odd for a tiny Mexican island and the people that worked there all spoke English. The menu had guacamole, but it was predominantly Middle-Eastern dishes like hummous and kebabs, with a few Spanish tapas thrown in for good measure. I determined that the owner must be Israeli because the menu also, curiously, has schnitzel, which I have come to learn is a "traditional Israeli dish" (at least for my friend Karen!). My suspicion was bolstered when the owner nodded knowingly to a customer that strolled in wearing what looked like a Mexican-themed, knit yarmulke and when Elke noticed a colorful, framed print of a menorah (which was directly behind me, so I initially didn't see it). It was confirmed when we met the owner shortly thereafter.

He was a nice guy, with a blonde, pregnant wife who was also from Israel (I don't recall the city, but Elke would). The place was a lot of fun, and tonight had a couple of Spanish-speaking guitar players as the entertainment. They too were great -- sort-of Jack Johnson types, only Mexican -- and we ended up staying for a full set. This was, of course, just long enough for us to miss the correct ferry back to the hotel zone, meaning we got on the wrong one and ended up in Cuidad Cancun. Fortunately for us, I have learned that nearly every stupid thing you do in Mexico is easily remedied with a few pesos. It this case, they went to a nice cab driver who entertained us with rather loud videos of deliciously bad American pop during the nearly 30-minute trip home from this remote port.

Original post: http://donrockwell.com/index.php?showtopic=8086&st=0&gopid=180768&#entry180768

Homemade Bagels

I made my first batch of bagels for brunch this morning. I used a recipe from the internet that used my bread machine to make the dough, then I boiled them on my stove and baked them in the oven. They were markedly better than any bagel I have ever purchased in the Washington DC metro area. That didn't surprise me, because the half-life of a fresh bagel is about 30 minutes. What did surprise me is that they are now, 8 hours later, still significantly better than any bagel I have ever purchased in the Washington DC metro area. What gives? Why can nobody here make a decent bagel? Or am I looking in the wrong place?

In case you were curious, the recipe:

BREAD MACHINE BAGELS

Ingredients
1 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
3 cups bread flour
1 package active dry yeast
large pot of boiling water
cornmeal
egg white

Directions
1. Place water, salt, sugar, flour and yeast in the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select "Bagel Dough" setting.
2. When cycle is complete, let dough rest on a lightly floured surface. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
3. Cut dough into 8 equal pieces, and roll each piece into a small ball. Flatten balls. Poke a hole in the middle of each with your thumb. Twirl the dough on your finger or thumb to enlarge the hole, and to even out the dough around the hole. Cover bagels with a clean cloth, and let rest for 5-10 minutes.
4. Sprinkle an ungreased baking sheet with cornmeal. Carefully transfer bagels to boiling water. Boil for 2 minutes, turning half way through. Drain briefly on clean towel. Arrange boiled bagels on baking sheet. Glaze tops with egg white, and sprinkle with your choice of toppings.
5. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes, or until well browned.

Topping
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon dried garlic flakes
1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
1 tablespoon kosher salt

This recipe is foolproof. I know this, because I am a fool.

Original Post: http://donrockwell.com/index.php?showtopic=5376&st=50&gopid=180140&#entry180140

Champagne

In my house, I either have Champagne, or I am out of Champagne. So I wanted to write an ode, to describe why I love it. Why it is impossible to be unhappy while drinking Champagne. Alas, I cannot hope to top the words of Terry Theise. So here they are.

From Terry Theise's 2007 Catalogue:

I have a friend who was about to marry when, a week before the wedding, he and his fiance learned of her diagnosis with cancer, a bad cancer, a killer. They married nevertheless, and the eighteen months of their marriage were marked by the disease, its treatment, the endless round of doctors and specialists, and the pathos of her death. She was in her early thirties, and they were each the other’s Great Love. His friends did what we could to rally around him.

Within a week or two after the death, we gathered in one of our homes to cook supper and keep our friend company. He and I had spoken often, of course, and shed many a tear together, but this was my first time seeing him, and so I brought a special wine, a Magnum of Vilmart’s 1991 Coeur de Cuvée. And this is the first thing I want to tell you; what other wine can be at once appropriate for both celebration and consolation? The very sight of the tiny rising bubbles, dancing upward as if to snub their noses at gravity and exploding in a soft wash of foam, are heralds of an unquenchable hope. And so it was; the Champagne itself was enthralling, and I watched my friend be drawn into its suave complexity, and I knew very well that for these few moments he was engrossed in life, free of the ache of his dead. The Champagne almost literally brought him back to life.

What other wine could have done this?
...
That’s why Champagne matters, and why you should care.

Original URL: http://www.skurnikwines.com/msw/documents/2007Champagnecatalog_Champagne2007_working.pdf