An (un)forgettable night with "El Patron"

Last Thursdays at Worth Street was delicious. The theme: A touch of Mexico, which is exactly what we were craving for. Mexico had just won the game against the French in the World Cup, and it was time to celebrate, and what better way but to attempt beating them once again only this time, we would challenge them in the kitchen!

The invitees came with a touch of Mexico as well, besides having over a couple who were originally from Colombia and Venezuela, we had invited a good friend of Felipe’s from Mexico. He had brought with him yet another crucial touch of Mexico, the big guy, the dangerous one, a bottle of Patron.

Guests, check!

Food, check!

Alcohol, check! We were ready to go.

But “the touch of Mexico” didn’t really arrive until later, our Mexican friend as usual, and like a good NY banker, was working late. So for all of us who were already there, our night began with wine and conversations around the kitchen counter, Felipe cooking and me, pretending to peel a mango. Our friends were telling us about their trip to Colombia, it was the very first time they had gone as a couple, and the very first time she had visited his home country. From their trip, she had brought back a really interesting theory: Can the success of a country be based on the love its own people have towards it? What she loved the most about her trip to Colombia was to see the gratitude, faith, love and respect Colombians had towards their own country. Maybe it was the glass of wine, or the beer she had earlier on during a business lunch, but before she knew it the sentiment had taken over. Soon enough she felt a deep desire for Venezuelans to be able to love their own country in that same way so that her country could begin healing and recovering.

We heard the door knock three times, the touch of Mexico had arrived! And right off the bat, our friends called out the “banker” in him. I, personally called out “the nerd” in him. The guy had pretty much memorized the blog beforehand. And like a good student, was using language and words from it so that we would know he had done his homework. Ok, so the guy is really not that bad, and his banking mannerisms wore off soon after we cracked open the bottle of Tequila.

We talked more, about advertising and Obama. About BP and our dependence on oil. We talked about girls, or “touch of Mexico” and his now empty bottle talked about girls, and most importantly, we ate extraordinarily and drank some excellent tequila. No matter where this project takes us, if it guarantees us nights like this last one every week, then I gotta say, I put my cards on the table and call all in.

After a sweet victory, the celebration!

The dinner was, once again, a huge success! For me it has been a great exercise to work the creative mind as well as practice in the kitchen. Every week gets better and better, and this time I really feel as if I am coming into my own.

Let me cut to the chase and share with you what I consider delicious yet very easy to do recipes. Please enjoy and PLEASE leave comments if you want to share anything or give feedback.

Tuna Tartar

1 tuna filet
¼ cup of fresh mint chopped
¼ cup of diced watermelon
½ lime (squeezed juice)
3 tb spoons of soy sauce
3 tb spoons of sesame oil
4 tb spoons of toasted sesame seed

This recipe is very simple. Cut the tuna into small pieces and mix all the ingredients with the exception of the toasted sesame seeds. The plate is ready to serve, or you could let it sit in the fridge for 30. Add sesame seeds at the moment of serving.

Salmon Tartar

1 salmon filet (3/4 lb)
4 tb spoons of sesame oil
4 tb spoons of soy sauce

Cut salmon into small thin slices. Add sauces and mix together Very simple.

Esquite

1 bag of frozen corn (or 3 fresh corn on the cobs)
¼ cup of mayonnaise
½ cup of queso fresco shredded
¼ cup of grated parmesan cheese
2 tb spoons of lime juice
2 tb spoons of chili powder

If cooking frozen corn, cook per the instructions on the package (most likely boil salt ½ cup of salted water add corn and cook for 5 minutes). Place corn kennels in a mixing bowl add mayonnaise & lime juice and mix together. Mix in both types of cheese and serve. Add chili powder on top.

Chipotle Quinoa with Asparagus and Avocado

1 cup of quinoa
12 chopped asparagus
1 avocado chopped
2 cups of chicken broth
1 chipotle chili with adobe sauce
½ yellow onion
½ cup of heavy cream
½ cup of white wine
2 tb of butter

Previous to cooking the quinoa, rinse the quinoa thoroughly with water. Once clean, place quinoa in the pot under medium heat, add some salt and pepper. Begin by adding ¾ of a cup of chicken broth into quinoa and let it absorb the liquid. Continue to add more broth until the quinoa has slowly risen and absorbed all the liquid. Approximately 20 minutes.

Prepare the sauce separately, with melted butter and onions in a saucepan. Then add the chopped chipotle chili into the mix and stir. Add the wine and 5 minutes later the cream. Sauce might be a bit spicy, but remember it is going to be added to all the quinoa. Pour sauce into the quinoa and stir it in.

Cut the asparagus into small pieces and cook in a pan with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Once cooked (5 mn) add to quinoa. Add the avocado and mix all together. Quinoa is the ready to serve.

Scallops with Cilantro sauce

20 large sea scallops
1 tb butter
1 cup of finely chopped cilantro
¼ cup of olive oil
1 garlic clove
2 tb spoons of mustard
4 tb spoons of heavy cream

Sauce:
Add cilantro, olive oil, garlic, mustard and cream into a food processor and sop it all up nicely. Cilantro will feel a bit chunky, that is the way you want to present it. Once all ingredients are properly mixed, pass to saucepan and cook lightly for 2 minutes just before serving.

To prepare the scallops, salt and pepper them before cooking. Melt butter in skillet then add all scallops. They should take about 3 minutes to cook on each side with a medium high flame. Serve scallops and then add sauce on top of each one, drizzling a bit around the plate for more presence.

A Touch of Mexico

Wow! This week came with a rush. We found ourselves on Wednesday night almost 10:30 and we still didn’t have a complete menu. Time definitely flies when you are doing something you love. Between this project and the World Cup, time has become an abstract notion which its existence to me is non-reality. Unfortunately, to the outside world, time is still very much a reality and this is how we find ourselves on Wednesday trying to create a menu for the three new visitors that will join us the next day.

We actually already had one dish in mind, due to the fact that we had half of a tuna fillet left over from the night before along with some watermelon and mint. Now we had to retrofit a theme into this plate and create from the vastness of our imagination two new plates that would connect perfectly. Luckily the idea came roaring out from Tamy’s creative mind. Seeing as how the next day Mexico played a very important game against France, why not dedicate a night to the country that has given both of us so much. However, we had to be very careful because if Mexico lost the idea of a Mexican centric menu would be lost in defeat. So what we created was a menu focused primarily on seafood but with a touch of Mexican.

Every plate we created had something that would tie it to Mexico, a certain subtlety within the dish. Obviously we had to check before hand what level of spicy our friends would tolerate, but the menu was coming together with ease and flow. The first dish would be a tuna and a salmon tartar garnished with an esquite (Mexican corn dish). The main dish, scallops with a cilantro sauce and a special quinoa. The dessert was one that Tamy would create.

As the reality of time began to fade once again we had a final menu set in stone, all we needed now was a beautiful performance from Mexico the next day and a win!