Easter dinner in Palmilla

Here's the menu of last week's dinner we catered in Palmilla Estates, Los Cabos.

Botanas, Snacks: coconut shark ceviche;

sesame breaded chicken fingers with saffron aioli and tamarind sauce
Appetizer: grilled local baby octopus with lavander cauliflower puree and warm pork belly vinaigrette

Salad: shaved asparagus, tender green fava beans, mixed tender lettuces,aged sheep's cheese, citronette
First course: gnocchi with artisanal ricotta, prosciutto, arugula and oven roasted tomatoes
Second course: loin of yellowtail(hamachi) with chickpeas and spinach stew

Dessert:individual coconut custard tarts.

As always, recipes to follow..... 

Ciao,

Emilio.

Yellowtail and pumpkinseed with balsamic and honey vinaigrette

Yellowtail or, if you want to sound fancy, hamachi, is one of the ingredients that throughout the winter months you can be sure to find fresh every day at the market, here in Southern Baja.

Once in a while I get to enjoy a panga fishing outing, almost every time as a guest of one of my clients.
Today it was no exception...what we do for our business, right?

Here's a quick and slightly different way to prepare a piece of raw, top grade yellowtail.

Fresh from the Sea of Cortez

Start by making sure every utensil you're going to use for this preparation is well cleaned and sanitized, with special attention to the cutting board and your hands.

Slice the "loin" in finger size strips and arrange them on a platter.

In a dry skillet, over medium heat, toast a handful of pumpkin seeds, pepitas in Spanish; you'll know they're ready because they'll start popping and jumping right out of the pan and onto your hands... ouch!

While the pepitas cool down, mince some shallot and  a tiny bit of garlic and mix  with 3 measures of extra virgin olive oil, 1 measure of lemon or lime juice, 1 measure of GOOD balsamic vinegar, s&p and a bit of  honey to balance the dressing.

Chop the pumpkin seeds and add them to the dressing; mix well and pour over the fish slices.

Simple as that...you can add some hot peppers and some cilantro, if you like, and serve it with a cold beer and grilled country bread.

Enjoy!

Fish fillet with yellow peppers "coulis", chayote squash and Swiss chard

This is a very good recipe for almost any fish.. I like it particularly with yellowtail (Hamachi), snook roosterfish or swordfish. The important thing is that the fish is thick enough to cut a nice loin steak.

Prepare the fish any way you like... on the grill, seared in pan, broiled, it doesn' t really matter.

Let's start with the sauce: toss in a bowl 3 parts yellow bell peppers ( deveined and seeded ), 1 part white onion, garlic to taste, a few stars of anise,  olive oil, S&P.

Put it in baking sheet and bake, stirring occasionally, till everything is nice and soft.

Pour the mix in the blender, reserving the star anise for the decoration. Blend it till fluid and add some vegetable or chicken stock as needed. Balance with brown sugar, till you get the sweet just right.

At the restaurant and at private dinners at this point I sieve the sauce... I personally like a bit of texture in it and never strain it at home.

 Dice the chayote ( with or without peeling it.. up to you) blench it and saute it with olive oil and garlic.. add some stock if needed and when it's ready add the chard long enough to wilt it.

Plate it like in the pic, for the "WOW effect"!

NOTE: You can also make a red version, which looks more dramatic, using red peppers and substituting sugar with grenadine syrup

This one ( snook ) had  charred eggplant and roast garlic puree "smeared" on top.. YUM!