Grand Velas Chocolate Fondant

Grand Velas Riviera Nayat, Mexico, a Five-Star Leading Hotel of the World

The chefs at Grand Velas Riviera Nayat's French restaurant, Piaf, whipped up this chocolate treat for Valentine's Day but I think it would be perfect for any day of the year.

Grand Velas  Riviera Nayat Piaf Chocolate Fondant

9 oz. dark chocolate
8 oz. butter
4.5 oz sugar
4.5 oz. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
5 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Lightly butter the inside of ramekins and dust with powdered sugar.

In a medium heatproof bowl combine the chocolate and butter. Set it over but not touching simmering water in a saucepan and melt, stirring often, until smooth and blended.
Stir in the sugar until dissolved.
Incorporate the flour and baking soda into the mixture.
Whisk eggs and add a few at a time, mixing consistently.
Pour the mixture into the ramekins and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Is something you ate away from home still lingering deliciously in your memory? Let me know what, where and when and I'll try to get the recipe so you can taste it again!

Easy Summer Salsa

Jorge Sierra, chef at Velas Vallarta's Andrea, whips up a Pico de Gallo Salsa perfect for your summer's nachos, tortillas and quesadillas. Just in case you can't make it to the Puerto Vallarta, Mexico resort in person, here's the recipe.

Velas Vallarta Pico de Gallo Salsa

7 tomatoes
1/2 large white onion
4 tsp. cilantro
2 serrano chiles
1 oz olive oil
1 oz. lime juice
salt
ground black pepper

Dice the tomatoes, onion, cilantro and chiles. Mix with the olive oil and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.


Si, no-sweat easy.

Shrimp Stuffed Mahi Mahi, Oh, My

Grand Velas Riveira Nayarit's Italian-Mediterranean-inspired Lucca Restaurant was one of the standouts at last November's Puerto Vallarta's International Gourmet Festival. Chefs at the AAA Four Diamond Award-winning resort on Banderas Bay share the magic they created from this combination of popular ingredients.

Dorado Relleno de Camarones

Shrimp Stuffed Mahi Mahi over fried risotto with smoked tomato sauce

Serves 4

Fried Risotto
1 cup cooked risotto
4 TBS carrots, finely diced
4 TBS zucchini, finely diced
4 TBS cream
4 TBS grated Parmesan
2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
Combine all ingredients in pan except panko and cook until blended. Allow to cool and shape into patties. Cover in panko and fry in olive oil right before serving.

Smoked Tomato Sauce
4 TBS olive oil
1 cup pomodoro sauce
2 sprigs rosemary
Warm oil to smoking point, add sauce and rosemary and cook over low heat.

Mahi Mahi
4 mahi mahi filets
12 small shrimp
4 slices Serrano ham
salt and pepper
Season fish with salt and pepper and stuff with shrimp. Wrap with ham and sear in pan. Finish in a hot oven.

Plating
phylo pastry decorations
2 TBS pesto
1/4 cup sauteed spinach
1/2 cup vegetables, julienned
1/4 sauteed mushrooms
2 TBS balsamic reduction

Mussels Ole

Here's a preparation for mussels from south of the border.

The Five Diamond Mexican resort La Ventanas al Paraiso in Los Cabos is on most of the world's best-of lists. Since its opening in 1997 it has hosted the rich, famous and infamous, satisfying their every whim and valiantly guarding their privacy against paparazzi.

Executive Chef Fabrice Guisset, a native of France, fell in love with Mexico or, to be more precise, the senorita he married. For 13 years Chef Fabrice has turned his classical skills to Mexico's native bounty, thus this recipe that simmers mussels in tequila rather than wine. Fortunately, we don't need Ventanas' wood-burning oven to recreate one of his most popular dishes.

 Clay Pot Oven Cooked Black Mussels with Aged Tequila and Herbs

Serves 4

Ingredients:
4.4 lbs. fresh black mussels
1 bunch flat parsley, well chopped
1 bunch cilantro, well chopped
1 bunch chives, well chopped
14 oz. cherry tomatoes
8 serrano chili peppers
1 cup Reposado Tequila (aged up to 12 months)

Preheat oven to 525 degrees.
Thoroughly clean the mussels and place inside a large clay pot with lid (any oven-proof pot with a lid will do). Pour the tequila over the mussels and add the cherry tomatoes and the chilies. cover the pot and cook in the oven for 15 minutes.
Remove, top with chopped herbs and mix in well. Discard any mussels that have not opened and serve immediately in clay bowls.

As Chef says, Buen provecho.

Notes on Chiles en Nogada

I'm going to make a confession: Not every recipe here has been tested in my kitchen. Between travel and writing and normally cooking for one, I haven't had time. Usually, I've already cooked something similar so I go over the ingredients and instructions then ask the chefs to clarify anything that seems off or confusing.

So, whenever I go back and actually try a recipe unlike anything I've ever done before, I'll add notes if it seems helpful.

Such is the case for Bugumbilia Chiles en Nogada [see 10/23/09 posting], one of the best dishes I had in Mexico. Having grown up in Florida and Georgia and having lived in New England, the Northwest and Turkey, poblano chiles had never entered my kitchen. Having friends for lunch changed that, so here are my notes on Mercedes Arteaga Tovar's family recipe.

1. Chiles. Start way ahead of time. If you don't have a gas range, the recipe's method of boiling the chiles in hot oil works well to get the skins off. Don't waste time peeling off of the tops; you'll cut those away in removing the seed pods. As a newcomer to chiles I started three days ahead, marinated them overnight then stored the skinned chiles in a covered dish in the 'fridge. Worked fine.

2. The filling. I only needed chiles for four but I made the recipe for eight a day ahead. The filling was even better left over and I froze what I didn't use for later. It makes a lot - given the size of poblanos in the stores here I probably could have fed 10 or even 12. However, it smells and tastes so good you're likely to nibble away at least one portion during cooking. I hadn't noticed in transcribing the recipe that although sugar isn't listed in the ingredients for the filling, the directions mention putting the sugar in last and don't say how much. I sprinkled in a tablespoon which added a nice, caramelized flavor. I never did find "sweet peppercorns," but it's hard to tell what if any difference that made. Tasted pretty darned good to me.

3. Assembly. At Bugumbilia in San Miguel de Allende the chiles come out in one neat piece, the meat filling tidily stuffed through a single slit. My chiles needed plastic surgery. I assembled the stuffed poblanos the night before and refrigerated them in a covered oven-proof dish. An hour before lunch I put them in a 200-degree oven and they came out evenly warmed.

4. The sauce. I cut the amounts in half and still had enough for eight servings. But then my guests - women - all said, "Don't give me very much sauce." The pomegranate seeds I had frozen around Christmas when the fruit was plentiful and that worked fine.

Taken in stages like this, the dish was as easy and convenient as it was delicious. I now have poblano chiles in the vegetable crisper. Can't wait to experiment with them.

Cazuela - Drink Healthy

Sailors and pirates would have found this the perfect way to avoid scurvy.

The Saturday night I dined at El Parian in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, Mexico, three to four mariachi bands were circulating at all times in the huge restaurant. I found  Cazuela the perfect way to deflect the dissonant sounds of dueling bands.

It is traditionally served in soup bowl-sized vessels with a straw

El Parian Cazuela

 For each person, include
 2 oz Tequila   
1 dash Salt   
1 slice Lime   
1 slice Grapefruit   
1 slice Lemon   
1 slice Orange   
1 tsp Grenadine   

Squirt and mineral water

 For each slice of fruit, squeeze in another slice or two worth of its juice into pitcher or the traditional, large shallow clay bowl each person gets. Fill serving glass or bowl with salt, tequila, grenadine and fruit slices. Fill to top to taste with Squirt, a bit of mineral water and/or more tequila. Add wide straw and serve.

This is a good drink to serve at family gatherings where children are included. Make a big pitcher full without tequila and let the adults add liquor to taste.

Quick Appetizer a la Hacienda el Carmen

We were a batch of hot, tired travelers who had flown to Guadalajara, Mexico from Canada, California, D. C. and Florida among other places via one to three planes (starting as early as 3 a.m.) then had ridden through afternoon rush hours traffic on what should have been a 45-minute drive to reach Hacienda el Carmen.

Assembling under the shade of the outdoor arcade for dinner, we were a motley crew more than ready for a bath and bed.

No one from the kitchen spoke much English, we were too tired to dredge up much Spanish so when we understood the word "avocado" in relation to the appetizer, that was what we selected.

Served cold, vaguely familiar and refreshing, the dish was a hit.

The next morning - refreshed and ready to go

When I later asked Chef Manuel Rodriguez how it was prepared, his answer surprised me with its simplicity.

Easy Appetizer from Hacienda el Carmen

1-2 fresh avocados, cubed or sliced into bite-sized pieces
1 can hearts of palms, drained
1/4 bell pepper, minced
2 cups ketchup
1 cup white wine

Mix ketchup and wine, pour over avocados, palm hearts and pepper. Serve cold in appetizer-sized glasses.

I've since tried this at home but fearing ketchup would be too sweet, used V-8 juice instead. Next time I'll use ketchup and mix in wine to taste.

A Favorite Flavor from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

For three generations, the women of Mercedes Arteaga Tovar's family have lovingly prepared Chiles en Nogada.

There are many versions of this specialty of the San Miguel de Allende area. This one, however, is served at Mercedes' beautiful Restaurante Bugumbilia in San Miguel.

I and a small group of other Society of American Travel Writers members were blown away by the dish when we dined there in mid October.

I E-mailed Mercedes on the off chance that she would share the recipe and she graciously agreed.

As she said, "I am like you, when I taste the Chiles en Nogada; my mouth is full of happiness and sweet water-like joy. Of course, and with pleasure I give to you the recipe of my version of Chiles en Nogada. I mean very clear, it is my version, and my mother's and my grandmother's version."

Bugumbilia Chiles en Nogada

 Filling

1 Tbs. oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds ground beef
2 pounds tomato puree
1 cup of sliced pecans
1 cup of sliced almonds
1 cup of raisins
½ cup of chopped citron
1 stick cinnamon
Salt, black pepper, thyme, marjoram, bay leaf, cloves, black pepper, sweet peppercorns and sugar to taste.

The filling can be made one day ahead:

1. Place oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add the onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes.

2. Stir in the ground beef and cook until browned. Add the tomato puree, raisins, almonds, pecans and citron. Cook for another 15 minutes.

3. Season with all the herbs, spices, salt and pepper. At last add the sugar.

4. Cook for another 10 minutes.

Chiles

8 Poblano Chiles
Oil for frying
1 cup white vinegar
½ cup vegetable oil
1 Tbs. salt
1 Tbs. sugar
1 small onion
1 garlic head
Fine herbs

1. Make a small cut in the chiles and deep fry them in oil until blistered.

2. Place the chiles in a large bowl and cover with a damp cloth for 30 minutes to steam.


3. Peel the chiles. Cut a slit down one side and remove the seeds and large veins.

4. Place the vinegar, oil, salt, sugar, onion, garlic and herbs in a large pot of warm water.

Let marinate for a least 12 hours or overnight.

Cream topping:

8 cups sour cream                 
3 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
2 cups chopped pecans
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup pomegranate seeds
shredded lettuce
10 radishes

1. Beat the topping ingredients, except for the radishes and pomegranate seeds.

Assembly:

Stuff each chile with a sufficient amount of the filling. Place on a platter covered with shredded lettuce and radishes. Top with the cream mixture. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

Serve, sit back and share the compliments Mercedes Arteaga Tovar, her mother and grandmother have received for generations.

Because it can be served warm, tepid, room temp or cold, Chiles en Nogada is a perfect, make ahead luncheon or dinner party dish. Add some bread, a desert and you're done.

Note: This is the first of several posts that will feature recipes from Mexico and the wonderful chefs I recently encountered there.

I'd love to get your favorites too. Do you have another, preferred version of Chiles en Nogada? Send it in and I'll post it. Have you eaten something else wonderful in Mexico? The food there is nothing like the Mexican food we tend to get in the U.S.A.

Oh, and for more posts on traveling through the state of Jalisco, go to my other blog,  Travel on the Level.

 Look forward to hearing from you!

Judy