Gazebo Sandwich

The Gazebo was a restaurant near where I once lived in Brooklyn, New York. It was decorated to fit with the name with all kinds of white lattice and hanging baskets of flowers. The place specialized in healthy food and their signature sandwich they named The Gazebo.

Done according to the following recipe the Gazebo Sandwich is a meal. Just so you have a clear picture of the finished item, done properly it should sit on the plate like a big high round haggis. Try serving it to a Scottish friend and see the color of the highland heather come up in his face.

For 1 Gazebo Sandwich:

Single 6” pita. With knife open along 1/3 of circumference

On the inside bottom of pita round layer thin shredded lettuce, cucumber and tomato slices, and a few rings of sweet onion.

Over this add a generous serving spoon of tabouleh salad and another of dry cottage cheese. Then 3 stuffed grave leaves.

Finish with fresh alfalfa sprouts and finely shaved raw carrot and raw beet.

Pour into sandwich pocket tahini dressing made with sesame tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic.

Two hands and a good appetite are all else you will need. (Because of the way this sandwich is built, no two bites will be the same. A garden of healthy and delightful variety.)

Come to the Gazebo and refresh yourself.

If you want to mix it up a bit but not go too far from the original: Falafals, pickled vegetables, other salad greens such as mesclun or arugala. For a lift, add some "lift", mid-East style pickled turnip.

Mote Pillo --- Hominy With Eggs

(Lifted entirely from http://laylita.com/recipes/2008/03/27/mote-pillo/)

"Mote pillo is a dish of hominy fried with scrambled eggs; it is the perfect breakfast or brunch dish. Mote pillo is a typical dish from the highlands or Sierra region in Ecuador, the city of Cuenca (and the whole province of Azuay) claim this dish as their specialty. To me this is really a comfort food, like many other dishes from the Sierra it warms me up inside when I eat it. Mote pillo is very easy and quick to make, the mote or hominy is sautéed with onions, garlic, achiote, eggs, milk, chives and cilantro or parsley, it is almost always served with hot black coffee and slices of fresh cheese. Mote or hominy is dry corn that has been peeled and then boiled until soft, it is very easy to find it already prepared and canned in most grocery stores, usually in the canned vegetable section or in the ethnic section."

Ingredients:

1 lb cooked mote or hominy (can use canned hominy)
­­2 tbs butter
4 eggs
1 cup of chopped leeks (white part only) or white onion
2 garlic cloves, crushed
¼ tsp ground achiote
¼ cup milk
2 tbs chopped chives
1 tbs finely chopped cilantro or parsley
Salt to taste

Serve with: Queso fresco slices and black coffee

Preparation:

1.Heat the butter over medium heat in a large sauté pan, add the chopped leek or onions, crushed garlic, achiote and salt to make a refrito, cook until the leeks are soft, about 5 minutes.

2.Add the mote or hominy, stir in well and cook for another 2 minutes.

3.Add the milk and cook until the milk is almost all absorbed by the hominy.

4.Whisk the eggs and add them to the hominy, stir well and cook for about 3-5 minutes.

5.Stir in the chives and cilantro and add additional salt if needed.

6.Serve accompanied by queso fresco slices and hot black coffee.

Menudo

This is the Mexican recipe for the beloved “morning after” hangover cure, Menudo. It is a large dish, so make sure you know who your friends are and have them over some Saturday morning. Sunday morning, but only if they have gone to church first.

For the quintessential experience get on over to Guadelupe, Arizona any late Sunday morning after church. The Yaqui Native American and Hispanic community center has a social with some most delicious down home cookin'. There are also the most delectable tacos made with fry bread, your choice of fillings.

Menudo

Ingredients:

—3 lbs honeycomb tripe

—2 lbs pigs feet, cut in half, then 1-2 times across

—1 large onion, peeled and chopped

—*1 dried ancho chile, roasted, seeded, coarsely chopped (*optional, when used it’s Medudo Colorado)

—2 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped

—2-4 cups cooked hominy (if starting with dried hominy, 1-2 cups dried) Recipes vary on the amount, if any, hominy. Suit yourself. We recommend the smaller proportion.

—5 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

—1 tablespoon oregano (Rub it!)

—5 peppercorns

—Water to cover

Preparation:

If starting with dry hominy: Soak in water overnight. In a pan cover with water and bring to a boil, then simmer covered for 2 hours.

Cut tripe into bite-size pieces and add into pot. Add pigs feet, onion, oregano, garlic and peppercorns. Cover with 2-3 inches of water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Simmer covered 2 hours. Add chiles and drained hominy, cook for an additional hour and then serve hot.

The cooking tripe has, well, an aroma. Best to vent the stove or even cook it outside. But, if outside, make sure the set up is secure so you don't accidentally cook a racoon or possum.

Garnishes:

Lime or lemon wedges
White onion finely chopped
Cilantro leaves, finely chopped

Crushed red chile pepper

Dried Mexican orgegano (Rub it!)

Accompaniments:

Warm tortillas, corn or wheat as you prefer

Guacomole
Salsa (Homemade, please!)
Radish wedges

Breakfast beer (serve it Mexican cowboy style, in tall glass filled with crushed ice)

Options:

Enrich the soup with cow foot, beef tendon, pork spare ribs, pig ears or tails. Go nuts.