Let me, briefly, describe the last four days of my life, the 12th, until the 16th.). Fever, chills, and diarrhea. Every muscle, hair, bone, and inch of skin has been incredibly painful, in between bouts of Ibuprofen, that is. Sounds like fun, huh?!? Nope. Not even one minute. This is the result of not disinfecting the greens, and that includes the cilantro I used for a garnish the other night.
Last Saturday evening, I made three Spanish tortillas, one with mushrooms, one with chard, and one, in the classic form of just eggs, onions, olive oil, and salt, which we ate on Sunday. Monday, I made some delicious Pechugas Rellenas de Jamon y Queso en Crema de Champiñones, which translates to Chicken breasts stuffed with ham and Manchego cheese in a creme of mushroom sauce made entirely from scratch. Turned out really nicely. Did I think to get a picture of it? No. Tuesday, I made the Birria de Res, which was amazing. Then, the highlight of my five nights cooking for the family, was the most fatal, but, mostly, only to me. We started the first course with a bowl of some of the best Sopa de Fideo soup I have ever made, complete with a small garnish of cilantro at the last few minutes of cooking to completely brighten the taste. (Not to worry, that cilantro had time to cook.) Next, was a beautiful, 4 oz. piece of Norwegian salmon, cooked approximately 7 minutes on the skin side in Olive oil and butter, and approximately 4-5 minutes on the presentation side. This was served with a butter sauce, infused with white wine, lime juice, minced garlic, and cilantro, (the cilantro was added off heat while making the butter/wine reduction- not cooked.) Along side this were the hand-mashed potatoes with plenty of butter, and steamed mixed, fresh veggies, also in butter. I had chopped onion, and cilantro, to garnish the soup, at the table, but forgot to disinfect the cilantro. It is something I doubt I will ever forget, if I live long enough.
You should be reading this on Thursday, the 19th. We should already have been to the American Embassy here in CDMX, and we should have gotten a few things straightened out with our Social Security Administration. I hope to be very much better by then.
I leave you with the familiar quote from one of the Star Trek movies , “resistance is futile. You must comply.” This is a lesson I will never forget- if I forget to disinfect the cilantro, and it is not cooked, thereby killing the bacteria, there will be consequences.