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Farmers Market – Pedregal

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Farmers Market – Pedregal

Saturday and Wednesday Mornings, 7:00 to 11:00 am

Camino del Colegio 225, Just off Miguel Angel Herrera, Cabo San Lucas, Phone: (624) 172-0129 | Inquiries call Monica cell 624-122-5560

I stopped by the Farmers Market in the Pedregal on Saturday morning to see what was going on.  Unlike most Farmers Markets, our markets pretty much close for the hot summer months, but the Pedregal Market stays open all year.  It is located in the courtyard of the Mar Adentro Spa and Wellness Clinic.  Mar Adentro means “Inner Sea” – Whole Body Wellness.  Monica Diez Rivera is the owner and she “walks the walk” when it comes to holistic well being.

There were only two vendors selling produce along with organic eggs and chickens.  But that said, I still found beautiful arugula micro-greens, tomatoes, grapefruit, summer squash, mangos, fresh herbs, cabbage, sweet potatoes that had a cream colored skin and purple on the inside and nopal cactus paddles.   I was given a yellow fruit that I have not seen before called Sapote.  It is a soft edible yellow fruit that dates back to the Aztecs.  It is not quite ripe yet so I am unable to give you a report on how it tastes. There were loaves of beautiful fresh bread and muffins.  The Taco Bar was open and busy as was Penny Lane Cafe.  I would call before you make a trip there as their hours seem to change and I was told that they may be closed the first two weeks of September.

Arugula MicroGreens

Basket of Vegetables

I met a lovely young woman named Melissa Castaneda who works with Atelier Naica  Jewelry Studio where they offer custom tailored jewelry courses and workshops.  This is a hands on course and your creation is yours to take home at the end of the day.  Melissa was selling some of her creations of lovely silver pieces with precious stones.

Melissa Jewelry

If you are interested in taking a class or doing a workshop, her contact details:

Melissa @ateliernaica.com, www.ateliernaica.com, 624 128 1921

Even though the market is quite small, I still felt it was worth making the trip.  All the produce that I brought home was very fresh, organic and of high quality.

I have a fantastic recipe for Nopal Cactus with Carmelized Onion, Guajillo Chile and Cheese   Nopal Catcus paddles

Ingredients

  • 3 dried guajillo chiles, seeded and torn into flat pieces
  • 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
  • 1/2 14.5 ounce can diced tomato (preferably fire roasted)
  • 1 lb nopales cactus paddles (I prefer the smaller size)
  • 3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
  • 1 large white onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
  • Salt
  • A little sugar if necessary
  • 1 cup (4 oz) crumbled Mexican queso fresco or other fresh cheese such as feta or goat cheese
  • cilantro leaves
  • tortillas

Instructions

  • Prepare the guajillo base.  Heat a medium 10 inch skillet over medium.  Toast the chiles by using a metal spatula to press them against the hot surface for a few seconds, until very aromatic, then flipping and pressing the other side.  Roast the unpeeled garlic, turning from time to time, until soft and blotchy-black in spots, about 15 minutes.  Cool and peel off the papery skin, break the chiles into smaller pieces and combine in a blender jar with the garlic and undrained tomatoes.  Blend until smooth – this will take a minute or so because of the tough chile skins.
  • Cut the cactus into squares that are a little larger than 1/2 inch.
  • Prepare the dish.  In a large 4 quart saucepan, heat the oil over medium.  Add the onion and cook, stirring regularly, until richly browned, about 10 minutes.  Add the cactus, cover the pan and cook 5 minutes.  Uncover, raise the heat to medium-high and cook stirring frequently until all of the cactus’s sticky stuff has evaporated and you hear the cactus sizzling in the oil.  Immediately set a medium-mesh strainer over the pan, pour in the chile mixture and press it through.  Stir everything together and let it cook until the chile mixture has thickened to the consistency of tomato paste.  Stir in 1/2 cup water, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer 20 minutes.  Taste and season with salt (usually about 1 teaspoon) and a little sugar if necessary to balance the chile’s natural astringency.
  • Serving.  Serve the warm mixture with the fresh cheese, cilantro and warm tortillas.

This recipe is from Rick Bayless.

 

 

 

 

Shrimp Curry Dinner Party

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I prepared dinner on Monday night for a good friend and neighbor who is originally from England. He has been missing the Indian Curries that he grew up with that were prevalent in most English neighborhoods and are so popular in that part of the world. Being the nice neighbor that I am, I offered to cook a Shrimp Curry for him.  It was another hot night here in Cabo but I remembered reading somewhere that eating hot, spicy food in hot weather is good for you. So when my husband suggested that it might be better on a cold, rainy night in London than during a sweltering heat wave in Cabo, I would not be swayed. My neighbor loved it and it was perfectly accompanied with a cool cucumber raita and light salad.

The curry has a lot of ingredients and it is time consuming because of prepping all of the vegetables and the shrimp.  My niece recently wrote me and suggested that I add the time it takes to make a dish including all the prep.  I think this curry would intimidate most people so I am just going to give you the simple Cucumber Raita recipe that works really well during the summer months.  But if anyone would like the curry recipe, let me know and I would be happy to send it to you upon request.

CUCUMBER RAITA

Prep and Assembly time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 medium cucumber (Note:  Can substitute diced fresh pineapple or mango)
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • Pinch of Garam Masala* (optional)  – thank you Gwen for bringing it to Cabo for me
  • 2 cups plain, whole-milk yogurt or Greek Yogurt
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh coriander/cilantro or mint leaves, chopped
  • cayenne or sweet paprika to garnish

Preparation

Peel cucumber. Cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch strips, then into thin slices crosswise or grate with a box grater. Blot off moisture with paper towels and squeeze out as much juice as you can. Toast cumin seeds for a few seconds in a small, heavy frying pan over high heat. In a bowl, stir yogurt until it is smooth. Mix it with the cumin seeds, garlic and coriander/cilantro or mint leaves. Combine mixture with cucumber slivers, sprinkle with cayenne or paprika, and chill before serving.

* Garam Masala (a mixture of spices) is a blend of ground spices common in North Indian and other South Asian cuisines.

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My idea for starting this blog was “all things” Los Cabos.  My dinner guest, Tom Cosgrave, is a really hardworking and friendly photographer providing photographic and video services for real estate and rental properties. He also provides free marketing, video and photographic services to Liga MAC and The Los Cabos Youth Orchestra. Through his use of video marketing, he has brought innovation, a British, quirky sense of humor and bar setting standards to the Los Cabos property scene. Tom lives in Cabo Real with his two rescue dogs and he is a passionate supporter of animal welfare and Dementia / Alzheimer support groups.  Tom provides stunning photos to realtors, rental agents and homeowners.

As a good neighbor and friend, I can personally state that his hobbies include getting injured when running and watching his football team in London lose most weeks.  On a more serious note, I can personally recommend Tom for any of your real estate or rental needs.  See a few of his photos below and contact details:

Blog: http://thecabochannel.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/videobythecabochannel

E-mail:  info@thecabochannel.com

DSC_6168 (Copy) TC Photo 1 TC Photo 2

 

 

Contact me at email:    akiba@bajabeat.com

Blog:                                      bajabeat.com