The other night Joe took me out to dinner at a place called Frida’s (named for one of my favorite artists, Frida Kahlo). It’s an authentic Mexican restaurant that we found via a Groupon, in our area but had not been to. The menu was filled with wonderful food descriptions that were new to my taste buds. They used cactus, huitlacoche (a corn fungus which grows naturally on corn), achiote paste, wrapped chicken in Hoja Santa leaves, stuffed poblano peppers with apples, plantains and castillian nuts. They prepared dishes in a different way than my traditional New Mexican cuisine. We were treated with appetizers, 4 entree samples and a dessert. They started by bringing us Caldo Tlalpeno soup. Upon the first taste we were both impressed by all the flavors and that heat of chipotle that sneaked up on us. I started taking mental notes on what I was tasting and when we returned home I immediately started looking up this soup. I found that a lot of recipes included carrots, zucchini, and garbanzo beans. Frida’s didn’t include them and we loved it so much that I didn’t include them in my version either. Besides, Joe wouldn’t touch it if I included squash or beans. They placed the shredded chicken and Mexican cheese on the bottom of the bowl, ladled a broth with garlic, onions, peppers, slices of avocado and chipotle and topped with the tiniest tortilla strips and cilantro. I added some chopped fresh tomato and a lime wedge. It was perfect!
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An Inspired Cook 