Cooking in San Miguel - The Basics
by Atencion staff

If you’re unfamiliar with the Mexican kitchen and you would like to explore it a bit during your stay in San Miguel, there are many ways to start. Of course there are cooking classes available, but if you’re short on time or would like to keep things simple, a trip to the mercado is sufficient as your first lesson.

The bewildering array of produce, cheeses and other ingredients used in Mexican cuisine might be overwhelming at first, but don’t be intimidated by this exotic plethora. Pick a night to stay at home, try out your rented kitchen, and cook up an easy and delicious Mexican meal sure to expand the horizons of your palate.


MENU

Quesadillas con nopalitos (cactus pads) y chiles poblanos

Salsa de jitomates y jalapenos asados (roasted) 

Refried beans (here’s a time-saving shortcut - try La Sierra canned refried beans, both the negros and bayos are delicious; you can also try mixing in a can of enteros (whole) beans to add texture)


Sangria

Decadent fruit plate of cantaloupe (melon chino), pineapple (pina), mango and papaya.



INGREDIENTS:

Fresh corn tortillas from any tortilleria or the mercado

Asadero or Oaxaca cheese from the mercado or a grocery store

Nopales from the mercado, spines already removed (1.5 lbs, almost a kilo)

White onion (cebolla)

6 poblano chiles

Vegetable oil

Large bunch of cilantro

½ kilo of tomatoes 

1 jalapeno

2 cloves of garlic (ajo)

Limes

Red wine

Fruit



RECIPES

Nopales con chile poblanos

This dish is a great accompaniment to quesadillas and is an unusual taste sensation you just might get hooked on.



3 tablespoons vegetable oil

½ cup diced white onion

4 poblano chiles in rajas*

Salt to taste

1 ½ lbs nopales, cleaned and cut into small squares about 1/4 inch; makes about 5 1/4 cups

2 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro 

Heat 2T of the oil in a skillet over medium heat, add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the chile strips and salt and cook until tender but not soft, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Heat the remaining 1T of oil in a heavy, deep skillet and add the nopales with a little salt, cover and cook over medium heat until they are almost swimming in the viscous juice (about 5 minutes). Remove cover and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in chile strips and cilantro, adjust seasoning and serve either hot or at room temperature.

*Char the poblano chiles over a gas flame until they are blackened and fragrant. Wrap in a damp paper towel and allow to cool until easy to handle; then remove the charred skin of the chile and slice down the middle. Remove the seeds and veins and slice into rajas (strips). 

Salsa de jitomates y jalapeno asados

A favorite, simple salsa that is great with just about anything.


½ kilo tomatoes

1 jalapeno

½ medium onion

2 poblano chiles

2 cloves of garlic

Salt to taste



Roast all of the vegetables on a baking sheet covered with tin foil in the oven. Take out when the tomatoes are blackened, and the onion and garlic are soft (about 25 minutes). Remove the tomato, jalapeno, poblano and garlic skins. Blend all the ingredients and add salt. 


Sangria

Make limonada by squeezing plenty of limes, adding sugar syrup (either prepared jarabe or your own sugar syrup melted on the stovetop) and some mineral water. Pour into tall glasses and very slowly add some red wine until it fills half of the glass.


Don’t forget to finish off your meal with an enormous plate of fruit - dress papaya with lime and a sprinkling of sugar, and leave everything else as is. Buen provecho!

What’s blooming now?
By Richard Cretcher

Judio errante is the Mexican/Spanish common name for the specie, crassifolia, of the Tradescantia genus (spiderwort). It is common in Mexico, and found occasionally in the southern United States. It can be seen in several places in El Charco, but the easiest location is just southeast of the Conservatory. Look closely at the intricate detail in the three petals and six yellow anthers.

Another beautifully detailed little flower is the Solanum nigrescens. Although all parts of this plant are poisonous, scientific research is being focused on its anti-fungal qualities. The English common name is divine nightshade and it is in the family with potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco and chili peppers. The Mexican/Spanish common name of belladonna should not be confused with a similar specie Atropa belladonna, which is known as deadly nightshade and is highly toxic.

The mirasol amarillo or yellow cosmos is blooming early in Landeta and the matapulga or pinkweed is beginning to take over the east end of the presa.


Since over 130 of the plants listed in Flores Silvestres can be found in the Botanical Garden areas (El Charco and Parque Landeta), reference to location will, in the future, only be made if the plant is not found there.

Other wild flowers blooming now are the mal de ojo, engordacabras, maravilla, hierba del negro and perrito, all pictured in Flores Silvestres.





The night sky in San Miguel
By Atencion staff

Stargazing is a wonderful pastime to take up in San Miguel; dark skies aren’t as difficult to come by here as in larger cities and summer is a great opportunity to see the Milky Way stretched across the sky, a hazy glimpse of the greater universe..

The best way to enjoy this heavenly panoply is to head outside of San Miguel (it may not be big, but its lights can still block out constellations) and spend an evening in the campo

Bring a pair of binoculars and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much is visible—you don’t need a telescope to see galaxies, nebulae and, of course, our fellow members of the Solar System.

Other than your binoculars, you might want to carry along a sky map to help orient yourself—try this website for easy-to-print maps: www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky. Just plug in latitude and longitude (for San Miguel: 100 degrees 45' longitude W, 20 degrees 55' latitude N) and the time you plan to spend skywatching (in Universal Time, which is five hours ahead of Central Standard Time). You can also magnify certain areas of the sky on your map, which will help you find deep-sky objects, such as galaxies, nebulae and star clusters. Just make sure to adjust the brightness of the objects recorded on the map; the best range is probably from magnitude 8.5 and brighter.

At the moment, the Milky Way is the most prominent astronomical sight. Here’s a brief list of objects you can explore by constellation:

Virgo—This constellation should come up west of the center of your map, and is known for its large number of bright galaxies. Some of the easiest to find are M84 and M86, (the “M” stands for Charles Messier, the 18th century astronomer who catalogued deep-sky objects), which are both elliptical galaxies near the border between Virgo and Coma Berenices. Also try to find M49, another elliptical galaxy and one of the brightest in Virgo—it is in the same region of the sky as M84 and M86.

Scorpius —This constellation is found in the eastern part of the sky map for San Miguel. One of the stars forming the “head” of the scorpion is extremely bright —the red super-giant Antares. Near this hard-to-miss star is a globular star cluster, M4. This will look like a fuzzy patch of densely packed stars. M7 is an open star cluster at the tail end of the scorpion and is even visible to the naked eye as an undefined glow. Binoculars reveal a sparkling array of 80 stars in one group. Another object to note: Jupiter is currently found near the upper end of Scorpius.

Sagittarius —One of the most famous constellations of the summer sky and one of the 12 members of the zodiac. The most distinctive part is the collection of stars that clearly resemble a teapot; however, in times past, Sagittarius was viewed as a centaur, half man and half horse, and an archer. It too is in the southeastern part of the San Miguel night sky, just to the east of Scorpius. When you look at Sagittarius, you are looking towards the heart of the Milky Way; it is rife with star clusters and nebulae. M22 is a bright and large globular star cluster near the top of the teapot. At an estimated 10,000 light years away, it is one of the closest globular clusters. M8 (the Lagoon Nebula) is visible to the naked eye on a dark night, above the teapot’s spout. M20 (the Trifid Nebula) is right next door and is named for the three lanes of dark clouds that slice through the diffuse nebula. If you’re interested in spotting one more nebula, check out M17 (the Omega Nebula), which is also known as the Swan, the Horseshoe or the Checkmark; it is a lovely sight in binoculars on a clear night.

This small sampling of three summer constellations will hopefully whet your appetite for more deep-sky exploration. And don’t forget about our own spectacular solar system; as noted above, Jupiter can be spotted near the constellation Scorpius at the moment, but Saturn and Venus are also visible earlier in the night sky. Venus is a well-known early riser (the evening star) and is currently below the constellation Leo in the western part of the sky. And just a tad further to the northwest you’ll find Saturn. Both are very bright and always a pleasure to view through binoculars, as is the Moon of course. So, pick a night and venture beyond the pueblo for a stargazing adventure —you won’t be disappointed.