Greetings my dear friends!I hope you are feeling marvelous. As always, it gives me great pleasure to share my culinary secrets with you. Did you know that we are deemed to be the second most important city for gastronomy in Mexico, after Mexico City? The truth is, bearing in mind how comparatively small we are geographically and demographically, we should be considered the most important city owing to the impressive variety, diversity and exquisiteness of flavors that make up the bay.
Furthermore, while we are on the subject of excellence, I would also like to draw your attention to the forthcoming Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit International Gourmet Festival 2011, which will take place this year from November 10 to 20. We have already started the preparations for Mexico’s most important culinary festival where you can follow your favorite chef or restaurant and, of course, attend the events and try out the sazón (flavors) of the guest chefs.
Last week, yesterday, today - every moment I become more and more inspired to try out new flavors so that I may share them with you. Personally, I have my favorite flavors, but I find that during the adventure of re-living them I discover others worth sharing. I hope what I write for you this week is to your liking.
This Week’s Guest Recipe
This week I am going to share one of my own recipes that is really easy to prepare: fried fish. Here we go!
CATCH OF THE DAY: BATTERED TENDER MINI FILLETS
with lobster and shrimp mashed potato, herbs and vegetables.
1.Cut a fresh fillet of sole, red snapper or dorado into wide strips, as wide as two fingers.
2.Soak the strips in milk seasoned with salt and pepper.
3.Drain the fish strips.
4.Dip the strips in flour.
5.Coat in orly or tempura batter
To make the batter: 250 grams of flour, half a liter of beer, one teaspoon of olive oil and salt all mixed together (it should be a semi-liquid cream, not too thick).
6 . Fry the fish in plenty of vegetable oil at 180 degrees Celsius, until the batter is golden brown.
7 . Remove from the oil and allow to rest on absorbent paper for a few seconds. Season with salt and serve immediately.
I love to serve two or three strips per person over delicious lobster mashed potatoes (mashed potatoes with added chopped lobster and lobster sauce). You can prepare it yourself and then come and compare it at Café des Artistes.
By the way, you could also fry some Chinese parsley, seasoning the fish with a coat of fried crunchy parsley.
I recommend that you accompany your battered fish fillets with a good white wine - a slightly woody chardonnay.
If you have any questions, email me or ask me directly in the restaurant.
Tip of the Week: Well-prepared Fried Food is Delicious!
When it is prepared well, fried food is delicious; however, when it is badly done it is greasy and inedible.
When frying potatoes or battered fish strips, the most important elements are the oil and its temperature. I recommend that you use vegetable or soya oil; don’t use olive oil, which burns quicker and has a really strong flavor.
Heat the oil to 180 degrees Celsius, 190 degrees maximum. To check when it is ready, drop some potato peel or a vegetable slice into the oil. If the peel or vegetable slice sinks to the bottom of the pan and little by little rises to the surface covered in bubbles, it is ready.
I suggest that you put only a few potatoes in at a time, so that the oil doesn’t suddenly cool down. When you remove the potatoes from the oil, drain and place them on absorbent paper, then season immediately with salt. Eat them straight away, nice and crunchy!
We have arrived at the most pleasant part of all: the extravagant variety of flavors from around the bay. I would love to know how many of you, and who, ventured to take the trip to the Costa Alegre. How did you like el Tuito? How was your stay in el Hotel Mayto? How did you get on in Tehuamixtle? Did you meet Don Galleto? Who had the opportunity to try the best seafood in the region? Finally, for those who went, I would love for you to share your experiences with me so that I may then share them with everyone else; and for those who didn’t go, I encourage you to take the opportunity and escape for a weekend – you will have a luxuuuuurious time.
Anyway, today I am going to confess that I also love to eat tacos, which leads me to my recommendation for the best carne asada tacos in the bay.
I invite you to take a trip to la Cruz de Huanacaxtle where you should ask for “Tacos de Yogurt” or “Tacos on the street.” You will be greeted by a street corner full of tables. North Americans fill the place and take their own bottle of red wine to dine (which has now become a custom).
There are tacos asada, volcánes de asada (barbequed meat served on a hard tortilla) and quesadillas de asada on the menu, as well as delicious homemade flan for dessert. The corn flour tacos are served on coffee filters (like a sponge it absorbs the fat). The meat is grilled on coal in the moment and the tacos are extremely well prepared and taste delicious.
The whole family works in the business. They open from 6:00pm to 10:00pm and close on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Take your red wine, order loads of tacos and bon appetit!
Furthermore, while we are on the subject of excellence, I would also like to draw your attention to the forthcoming Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit International Gourmet Festival 2011, which will take place this year from November 10 to 20. We have already started the preparations for Mexico’s most important culinary festival where you can follow your favorite chef or restaurant and, of course, attend the events and try out the sazón (flavors) of the guest chefs.
Last week, yesterday, today - every moment I become more and more inspired to try out new flavors so that I may share them with you. Personally, I have my favorite flavors, but I find that during the adventure of re-living them I discover others worth sharing. I hope what I write for you this week is to your liking.
This Week’s Guest Recipe
This week I am going to share one of my own recipes that is really easy to prepare: fried fish. Here we go!
CATCH OF THE DAY: BATTERED TENDER MINI FILLETS
with lobster and shrimp mashed potato, herbs and vegetables.
1.Cut a fresh fillet of sole, red snapper or dorado into wide strips, as wide as two fingers.
2.Soak the strips in milk seasoned with salt and pepper.
3.Drain the fish strips.
4.Dip the strips in flour.
5.Coat in orly or tempura batter
To make the batter: 250 grams of flour, half a liter of beer, one teaspoon of olive oil and salt all mixed together (it should be a semi-liquid cream, not too thick).
6 . Fry the fish in plenty of vegetable oil at 180 degrees Celsius, until the batter is golden brown.
7 . Remove from the oil and allow to rest on absorbent paper for a few seconds. Season with salt and serve immediately.
I love to serve two or three strips per person over delicious lobster mashed potatoes (mashed potatoes with added chopped lobster and lobster sauce). You can prepare it yourself and then come and compare it at Café des Artistes.
By the way, you could also fry some Chinese parsley, seasoning the fish with a coat of fried crunchy parsley.
I recommend that you accompany your battered fish fillets with a good white wine - a slightly woody chardonnay.
If you have any questions, email me or ask me directly in the restaurant.
Tip of the Week: Well-prepared Fried Food is Delicious!
When it is prepared well, fried food is delicious; however, when it is badly done it is greasy and inedible.
When frying potatoes or battered fish strips, the most important elements are the oil and its temperature. I recommend that you use vegetable or soya oil; don’t use olive oil, which burns quicker and has a really strong flavor.
Heat the oil to 180 degrees Celsius, 190 degrees maximum. To check when it is ready, drop some potato peel or a vegetable slice into the oil. If the peel or vegetable slice sinks to the bottom of the pan and little by little rises to the surface covered in bubbles, it is ready.
I suggest that you put only a few potatoes in at a time, so that the oil doesn’t suddenly cool down. When you remove the potatoes from the oil, drain and place them on absorbent paper, then season immediately with salt. Eat them straight away, nice and crunchy!
We have arrived at the most pleasant part of all: the extravagant variety of flavors from around the bay. I would love to know how many of you, and who, ventured to take the trip to the Costa Alegre. How did you like el Tuito? How was your stay in el Hotel Mayto? How did you get on in Tehuamixtle? Did you meet Don Galleto? Who had the opportunity to try the best seafood in the region? Finally, for those who went, I would love for you to share your experiences with me so that I may then share them with everyone else; and for those who didn’t go, I encourage you to take the opportunity and escape for a weekend – you will have a luxuuuuurious time.
Anyway, today I am going to confess that I also love to eat tacos, which leads me to my recommendation for the best carne asada tacos in the bay.
I invite you to take a trip to la Cruz de Huanacaxtle where you should ask for “Tacos de Yogurt” or “Tacos on the street.” You will be greeted by a street corner full of tables. North Americans fill the place and take their own bottle of red wine to dine (which has now become a custom).
There are tacos asada, volcánes de asada (barbequed meat served on a hard tortilla) and quesadillas de asada on the menu, as well as delicious homemade flan for dessert. The corn flour tacos are served on coffee filters (like a sponge it absorbs the fat). The meat is grilled on coal in the moment and the tacos are extremely well prepared and taste delicious.
The whole family works in the business. They open from 6:00pm to 10:00pm and close on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Take your red wine, order loads of tacos and bon appetit!
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