Vegetarian appies at Green Cabo...and eco/green festival in Cabo San Lucas

That was a quite interesting setting for an  organic and green living festival:  an unfinished parking garage in a convention center inside a quite polluted (and polluting...) marina, next to a dolphin "concentration camp". 
But, hey! who am I to judge? Better stop before I bruise some overinflated ego.
Happily decided to be present with a little stand ...the only caveat was : only vegetarian food. Quite a surprise and a challenge for yours truly who "likes his vegetables with the peel on and his animals whole" LOL.

This is what we agreed on : 

* Roasted garlic, toasted almonds,honey,cranberries, chickpeas pate'/marinated cherry tomato/ multi grain sourdough

*Seared farmers' queso fresco/mango chutney/baked plantain

*Smokey eggplant caviar/dill + garlic yogurt/capsicum + fennel coulis/sprouted seeds + coconut+corn blini 

 presented as a trio of amuse gueules an a cute leaf shape white plate.

Here's a few pics that my new friend Alejandra, a very talented Argentinian artist from La Paz   (http://www.alejandramorante.com ), took for me, since there were no pics whatsoever taken by the event staff and/or organizers.

Overall, despite the poor organization, planning and advertising of the event , it did not go bad...not stellar, but not bad either.

I met some interesting people, 
some definitively peculiar persons and made a few new friends.

Since the whole vegetarian theme was quite of an unsuspected challenge I did not follow any recipe and went instead by pure inspiration, instinct and taste and I haven't organized my cooking and tasting notes yet.

I will post recipes of the dishes as soon as possible.

For now, 

Ciao from Los Cabos,

Emilio  : )

Mexiterranean St. Patty : Nopal gelatine

Ok, ok...I tried not to get caught up in the St. Patty thing but old habits are hard to die.

Here's a GREEN, think out of the box, dessert: a gelatine made with nopal (cactus), with a foamie top and tomato marmalade on the side.

It's very easy to make and for sure it will raise some of your guests' eyebrow..."wow effect" guaranteed!  HAHAH

Start by blending 2 cups of cleaned and chopped up nopal with 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar.
Blend it like you want ot kill the thing...and then blend some more.

In 1 cup of water hydrate 2 envelopes of gelatin. Add to this another cup of water and bring to a boil.

Combine the blended nopal and the boiling gelatin base and whip very hard until a froth forms on the top.

Pour the green thing into a square baking mold, making sure the froth stays on top,cover tight with plastic wrap, punch a few holes in the wrap to allow steam to escape and refrigerate overnight.

For the marmalade : equal parts of peeled tomatoes, the riper the better, and sugar.A bit of lemon juice and cook down till ready.

Cut a square of gelatin from the mold, place it on a white plate, pour a spoonful of marmalade next to it and, if you have it, a cactus flower, a slice of prickly pear  or some ground toasted pumpkin seeds (pepita )for garnish.

That's it...provecho!

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.