Sea scallops with fennel and pear

A quick and easy carpaccio that takes advantage of the best the season has to offer.

Start by cleaning the scallops of all chewy and sinewy tissue.

Even though you can use any kind, I prefer Garra de Leon (Lion's Paw) or Callo de Hacha.

With a SHARP knife slice them in 5mm thick rounds and gently pound the slices with the side of the blade or a weighty object.

Prepare the dressing by mixing a few crushed toasted fennel seeds, S&P,lemon juice and the best olive oil.

In the dressing mix 2 measure of finely sliced fennel and 1 part of finely sliced pear( any kind...), peeled and cored.

Arrange the scallops on an cold plate and top them with the dressed fennel and pear and more dressing.

Garnish with some fennel tops or, if you have a kitchen garden, some fennel and peppers microgreens, as in the picture.

Get a good Fumee Blanc or any other flowery but crisp white wine and , really, enjoy!

Tomato, peach, onion, dry ricotta and basil salad

The first heirloom tomatoes are showing up in the Baja farms and, paired with other great local fruit and produce, make for some fantastic and inventive salads... like this one:

Very easy, as it should be...
cut tomatoes and peaches into wedges, slice the purple onion very fine and toss with S&P and the very best olive oil you can get.

Plate it, drizzle with good balsamic vinegar or reduced balsamic, sprinkle a few basil leaves and freshly grated dry ricotta.

That's it, done and ready to serve!

Buen provecho!

Marinated salt cod terrine and olive "dirt"

In Mexico as in Northern Italy, one of the most common ingredients on the Christmas table is the baccala' or, in Spanish, bacalao which is nothing else than the old and "plebeian" salt cod.

The following is an elegantly rustic recipe that carries sunny notes from both the Mediterranean and the the Baja peninsula and that elevates this traditionally poor ingredient to a higher status.

Start by placing in a mixing bowl shredded rehydrated salt cod, finely chopped shallot, a grated tomato, an idea of garlic, chopped fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley, S&P, a pinch of Spanish paprika, the best olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinagre.

Mix and let macerate for a few minutes while you'll prepare the garnish.

Mince very fine a few good black olives, sprinkle them on a baking dish and place in a medium hot oven until dry.

Plate the baccala' with the help of a ring or a cut can and top with grilled country bread rubbed with garlic.

Dust with a bit of parsley and the olive "dirt".

Enjoy with a good dry white or younger red and the company of your loved ones.

Salute!

Yellowtail "al sale" with cucumber and yogurt

Winter is here full blown in Baja as well.

Wanted to hit the beach this morning, but as I walked outside I was welcomed by a frigid 10° and did a quick 180 and got back inside.

Winter down here also means a lot of yellowtail, or, if you want to sound fancy, hamachi.

It's readily available and always super fresh and it's just the perfect fish for raw preparations.

This recipe calls for a piece of loin, the part of fillet ABOVE the lateral line.

 First step is to completely cover the fish with sea salt and let it rest a few minutes.

While the fish cures, prepare the dressing.

Blend whole, unsweetened yogurt, a squeeze of lime juice, a bit of garlic, peeled and seeded cucumber, fresh dill or mint, S&P to taste and a bit of the best olive oil you have.

Next, remove the fish from the salt, rinse it extremely well and pat it dry.

Slice it in fingers as in  the pic and arrange on a cold plate.

Pour the dressing on top and serve immediately with tortilla chips or crostini.

In the pic I served it with a bit of shrimp and kumquat ceviche, as an appetizer at Opus.

A nice, crisp white wine, that can cut through the fish and the dressing would be my choice : Verdicchio, Orvieto, Lacryma Christy ...

As always, enjoy!

Rib Eye "3 chiles" with fava beans puree,eggplant, scalions and annato oil

I've been posting quite a bit of fish and seafood recipes so far; it's time for a chunk of cow, a man's meal... je jeje

You should start with the fava beans puree; use fresh or frozen ones if you can, even though dry ones will do as well.

Sautee the fresh beans with olive oil and a bit of garlic, onion, S&P.
Add a splash of white wine and/or stock.
Cook down and smash.
Reserve.

In a blender powder equal amounts of dry Guajillo, Ancho and Pasilla pepper, seeds and all.

Grab your thick rib eye ( one inche or more ), very lightly brush it with olive oil and coat it with the peppers mix.

While the meat rests toss yer scallions and the sliced eggplant with olive oil, coarse salt, cracked pepper and a bit of garlic and grill them.

Now, put the steak on the grill, 5 to 7 min  each side turning only once.
Don't pierced, don't smash it, just let it seat there on the grill at medium high heat...

When the baby is ready, rest it on a board , loosely covered wit aluminum and be strong; wait 8 to 10 min and then slice it across the grain in 1/4 inch thick slices.

Plate it like in the pic: fava beans puree on the bottom of the plate, and the steak and vegs all tossed together with the steak juices.

Drizzle with annato oil and serve.

NOTE : Annato  is sold in Latin markets under its  Spanish name : "ACHIOTE" ; if you cannot find annato oil, this is the easiest way to make it :

dissolve annato paste in olive oil over LOW heat...when the oil looks like it's beginning to fry shut the the heat off and let it sit there to cool down. Done.

How did I get here?

I was living in Victoria,BC for a few years when two things ahappened: I was growing stale and needed an adventure AND my boss/friend wanted to open a second location of his restaurant with me.
So I decided to kill the proverbial two birds with one stone and loaded up the old Jeep and drove down Highway 1 to Cabo...fishing my way South.
Why Cabo, you might ask...
I needed money, fast, and so I decided to jump into timeshare sales (I take the opportunity to apologize to all the good people whose money I took ... ) . Everything was going great , till the bubble burst and got stuck with a lot of bills and no real income.
A fortunate chain of events brought me to open my first restaurant: Cocina L'Oliva

All we had was a second hand metal rack,a really old 4 burners Wolf range and plastic table and chairs...but the food was good and the prices were CHEAP and very soon the good reviews started tocome in and bam! we were busy as hell!

At the end of the lease we are faced with the decision: put our moneyhere, fix up the place and deal with a first grade A-hole lanlady or move somewhere else and start anew  The answer presented itself when a couple of customers/friends put some money on the table and offered to go at it together..mistake! RULE #1: don't go in business with friends.

We regrettably did......

We moved and opened OPUS Ristorante with raving reviews and support; wonderful, right? NO! The friends realized hey actually had to work and got scared and let me and Lupita (my fiancee) alone, with no physical and financial help.RULE #2: Careful what you wish for.

Opus was successful and busy, considering the crappy tourist season we had, and Lupita,the part time help and I were working ourselves to death untill the season ended ,the money shrunk and the lease was up.

That's when we sat down and took the decision to close and capitalize on the experiences we made in these past few year in the restauant business in Baja.

RULE #3:adapt,overcome and survive. Never been so true; I am workinng on a couple new projects as we're speaking and wichever gets the green light first I'll go with.

Soooo, here's the "How I got here" part...

From now on , only new stuff and daily,or so, posts on my life here...from cooking,fishing,business, adventures and...didsadventures plus the random thoughts.

Hope I did not bored you .

Emilio