more experimental cooking and salvadorian food

We need to go grocery shopping again. But I'm hoping we can hold out until tomorrow when we go downtown to the Wednesday Farmer's Market. The last time we went was with Eva and I've been wanting to go back ever since.

Last night I decided to make chicken noodle soup following my own mind (read- not quite following a recipe). I mashed up some garlic, lots of ground pepper and curry powder. To this I added some soy sauce and mashed it up some more. I lightly fried/cooked all of this in a saucepan with a little bit of oil and then added the cut up pieces of chicken. I fried everything until it the chicken was no longer pink and then added water. I think I may have added too much water so it tasted a bit watery. To counter this I added more pepper (lots more) and curry until I was satisfied with the taste. I added a teaspoon of sugar too. Not sure what that does but I think it worked. Peppery with a hint of curry and the fragrance of garlic and soy sauce. I cooked the chicken for some time and when the water was boiling nicely I added a bunch of noodles (I used pad thai) and waited for about 4 minutes for the noodles to cook. I also chucked in two boiled eggs right after the noodles. Oh and some sliced up crimini mushrooms for a different texture.

I was pretty satisfied with the taste though I think when I do it again I'll add more pepper and curry right from the start and probably use less water.

Alexander made enchiladas with a New Mexican sauce (I think you call it a sauce on Saturday. He used corn tortillas for the enchiladas and I think it was the first time I tasted it. It was delicious. The corn tortillas has a very distinctive maize-y flavour and smell that complimented the spiciness of the sauce.

Ooh and we had Salvadorian food on Friday. Pupusa, tamales and a dish with a really long name that consisted of friend plantain, pastries and sweet potato. The last dish was incredibly sweet, but it came with a watery corn sauce on the side which I assume is used to counter the sweetness.

The tamales was the highlight of the meal for me. I wonder if it is possible to make tamales with a South African flavor...