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Monday, July 12, 2010

Hibiscus and the best sandwich ever

What is the most delicious sandwich that is also very easy to make, you might ask? The answer is an avocado and cheese sandwich. This is an old dad recipe of which many variations exist.

1. Take some bread (in this case an English muffin from the Cheeseboard) and toast it.
2. Put a slice of cheese (I used Pepper Jack) on each piece of toast and broil them for 5 mins or less.
3. Put avocado on the bread. Add chili flakes/other salsa depending on what's around. Salsa verde is very tasty or anything with tomatillos.

Now for some tasty drank. Have you ever had the Hibiscus iced tea at Peet's? That is where I was first introduced to this delicious beverage. Now that I think about it I've had it at Bissap Baobab, which is a Senegalese restaurant. If I recall correctly they make it with ginger! I should do that next time. My friend Alice made her own version last summer, using dried hibiscus from Mi Pueblo, a Mexican grocery store at 1630 High Street. I was in the Mission recently and I got some there. This is what it looks like:
I presume it comes from this plant. Which we now own. My mom wants to dry our own since those shrivelly guys kinda freak her out.In Spanish the word for Hibiscus is Jamaica, which is pronounced Ha-mike-ah. It turns out this isn't just a Mexican drink, it's popular throughout Latin America, and in some parts of Africa and Asia as well. It has its own Wikipedia page in fact. It's full of vitamin C too!

To make it, I kiiinda followed this recipe. I used different amounts of stuff though. I used 6 or 8 cups of water, almost a full cup of dried flowers (wash them off first and they expand), and a little more than a 1/2 cup of sugar.
I boiled the water first and let the flowers and sugar steep for 15 minutes.
Then you have to strain it and let it cool. I added the juice of 5 limes, which was a very good addition.
You might want to water down the juice or at least add a few ice cubes.

2 comments:

  1. for fourth of july i bought a costco-sized pack of sliced cheddar and we used like, none of it, so i've been eating grilled cheeses up the wazoo.
    so anyway tonight for dinner i also ate a cheese and avocado sandwich. except also with lettuce and tomato and some salad dressing for sauce. it was yummy.

    also, that hibiscus tea stuff looks delicious. also, we just got a mi pueblo market--IT'S THE BEST.

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