Fish carpaccio with 2 pestos and grilled vegs

Colder waters, in this part of the world, mean lots of yellow tail; it's a great fish, totally sustainable and I substitute it as much as I can to marlin, swordfish, mahi and tuna.

  Sierra mackerel and trigger fish are also very viable options, with two totally opposite textures and flavours...very interesting, both.

Start planning your prep:

1) in a baking pan place 2 parts of seeded red bell peppers, 2 parts of tomatoes, 1 part of onion and 1/2 measure of garlic. Froth with olive oil and bake until well done.

2) In the meantime prepare the olive and parsley pesto by blending 3 parts of good black olives, 1 part of flat leaf ( Italian ) parsley, garlic to taste..a lot, in my case, a few capers, evoo ,S&P

3) In a dry skillet toast some nuts,almonds or pumpkin seed and reserve; in the same skillet toast a couple slices of country bread and reserve; lastly toast a couple of guajillo chiles, until they puff, add a generous splash of water, shut the flame and let rest/soak.

4) Grill your choice of vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, peppers, green onions,...) and toss them in a bowl with some balsamic vinegar, chopped garlic, parsley and S&P.Reserve.

When the peppers, onion, tomatoes and garlic are ready place them in a blender along with the seeded guajillo pepper, a good pinch of Spanish paprika ( hot or sweet is up to you...), a splash of sherry or balsamic vinegar, one slice of bread and the nuts.
Start pulsing and add some of the soaking water to help the blender. Once you achieve a nice smooth paste, start adding olive oil till the whole thing turns pretty fluid. Taste for S&P and adjust.

Now you're ready to slice the fish, quite thin but not paper thin and assemble the plate.

Start with the 2 pestos , then the grilled vegs and, lastly, the fish.

I like to add a crunchy element to mine, in the form of baked hot and spicy tortillas strips or , if working with a rectangular or wide plate, extremely thin baguette toasts ( freeze the baguette for 30 min, slice it lenghtwise with a very sharp knife or a slicer, rub with oil and bake..)

As wine pairing goes, well, this is a tricky one  ; )  and I don't really feel like pointing you in any particular direction, even though I would go on a limb and say : "heavier, full bodied and buttery white...".

Enjoy!

Spring is coming...

Thank God February is over..as for as far as I can remember it has been the worst month of the year for me; March is here at last and it started with a good kick in the right direction!
Last Friday night I cooked for 10 beautiful and really fun ladies from the US,; the occasion was a birthday and what follows are some pics of part of the courses taken by my friend and collegue Giulio Lupori ( @Actorando, his Twitter handle).

We started wit a fillet of roasted red pepper rolled around a smoked tuna panzanella, flavoured with Spanish smoked hot paprika and served with a sliver of aged sheep's cheese, as sharp as they come, and a drizzle of 25 y.o. balsamic vinegar.

Next was a light salad of grilled peaches, heirloom tomatoes, basil, mixed greens and dry ricotta that I featured once already on these blog.

The first of the two main courses was this great yellowtail carpaccio

served with a roasted tomato and peppers sauce, on the lines of a Romesco, a black olive and parsley pesto, an assortment of grilled vegetables and spicy hot tortilla crisps.

The lamb barbacoa followed... I tried to give this traditional Mexican lamb dish a little contemporary twist and I think I pulled it off.

The lamb has been cooked in the traditional barbacoa style but I choosed to sear it a bit before serving it. It caame atop roasted poblano peppers tortillas, with a puree of the chickpeas it's been cooking with, some smashed avocado and a reduction of its own stock.

On the side we served a little salad of grilled new nopales and red onion lightly pickled in sherry vinegar.

The dessert was a little spicy chocolate number with a spicier tequila creme anglaise.

The event was a round success and a great time was had by all...yours grumpy truly as well....

Left to right: Giulio, CookAndTheFly, Lupita

Recipes will follow, starting tomorrow...

From the Land of Mañana,

Ciao,

E.  : )

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!

Shrimp carpaccio, zucchini spaghetti and jalapeño marmalade

Really neat, a little off the box apetizer and a personal twist on Mexican aguachile de camarones



You should start with the marmalade, by placing seeded and deveined jalapeños in a sauce pan, cover them with an equal amount of sugar, a bit of lemon or lime juice and a small apple (grated, with skin...).
Let the mix simmer, on low heat, until peppers are really tender and the marmalade comes together.Cool and reserve.

With the help of a mandolin slice zucchini into spaghetti and ball them up on the plate.

Peel, devein and butterfly the shrimp and , placing them between pieces of food wrap, flatten them pounding them lightly with a weigh.

Place the shrimp atop the zucchini spaghetti, add some very thinly sliced onion, drizzle generously with lime or lemon juice, adjust S&P and sprinkle plenty of cilantro leaves.

Add a few grape tomatoes and dollops of jalapeño marmalade and you're in for a treat!

I suggest you serve it with  good totopos/ tortilla chips and an ice cold XX Amber....  Salud! ;  )


NOTE: since you're working with a raw protein be extremely clean  and sanitize throughly your knives, hands and cutting board before and during the preparation...

Lobster carpaccio with lobster and onion fritters

I've just been asked by somebody in a very popular fishing forum , if I could do anything a bit off the beaten path with lobster.  My first thought was a pasta or a risotto, but then I started thinking OFF the box... Here's the idea....

 The dressing : with a blender mix lime juice, S&P, extremely thinly chopped garlic (to taste), lemongrass, ginger, Serrano pepper or Habanero, cilantro and a bit of brown sugar to balance the dressing.

The lobster:  clean, devein and shell the lobster, over a strainer and a bowl in order to collect all the juices, which you'll reserve for the fritters. Reserve the brains and the organs as well. With a SHARP knife slice the lobster as thin as you can, without ripping it... nicely arrange the slices on a chilled plate and reserve in the cooler.

The salad : thinly julienne some slightly unripe mango, green onion and radish. Reserve

The fritters : in a mixing bowl whisk together one egg, one cup of flour, a generous pinch of salt, the juices and the offall of the lobster and enough room temperature beer to obtain a batter you'll be able to spoon into shape. To this add an average size white onion, sliced as thin as humanely possible .

Let's put it all together:

Warm up the frying oil... while it gets to temperature, strain the dressing atop the lobster meat and pile the julienned salad in the center of the plate.

With the help of two tablespoons shape the fritters and pour them into the oil.

Let them fry till they get nicely puffed and golden, place them on kitchen paper and remove excess oil and quickly add them to the plate..as in the picture, if you like it.

That's it! Simple and fast..all it takes, remember, is neat prep work and all the pieces will fall into place effortlessly.

Pair it wit a good beer for a snack or with a good Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc for a dinner starter.

Either way: CHEERS!

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!

Scallops,prickly pear and passion fruit carpaccio

I was going through the old pictures of Opus' dishes and I found this...
It's a scallops (callo de hacha) carpaccio with purple prickly pear and passion fruit citronette.
Great eat with a fresh, floral white wine on a warm summer evening.
The dish pretty much speaks for itself and there's not really a recipe...

Scallops
Prickly pear
Passionfruit
Squeeze of lime
Good olive oil
 S/P

Scallops carpaccio with citrus and lentils

A little easy recipe to get us started...


Put a plate in the freezer to chill.
Start with carving nice wedges out of on orange and/or grapefruit; do it above a bowl since you want to save the juices.
In a sauce pan pour the reserved juice and the juice of one orange and one lemon AND the same amount of water..boil the lentils in it till AL DENTE ( wich means "FIRM").
Chill the lentils.
While you wait, reduce over low heat the juice of another orange and a lime to HALF; you'll wisk it with S&P and olive oil to dress the dish.
Sanitize everything:cutting board,knife,hands...
Now you can slice the scallops nice and thin (make sure your knfe is sharp or you'll tear the tender scallops to shreads ; ))
Time to plate up!
Arrange scallops,as you slice them, on the chilled plate;
Sprinkle lentils all over them;
Drizzle with the dressing;
Garnish with a bit of FRESH tarragon.
Buon appetito !