Pepitas Crusted Chicken Winglets Reimagined in Tokyo

Miso as a secret ingredient. Not necessarily a japanese or fusion dish. Straightforward south-western flavor – hot hatch chiles powder, oregano, roasted garlic, but with some white miso mixed into a marinade.
Irresistible!

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Arroz a la Tumbada

Arroz a la tumbada is presumably one of the favorite dishes of Veracruz. And Rick Bayless chose to answer the question of Where you’ll be heading in the future by cooking this dish at the Top Chef Masters final episode…
Well, after making this dish tonight i’m fully with Bayless and the people of Veracruz. But [...]

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Pollo en Ajillo

Speaking of bold flavors – this dish is big! It’s rustic! It’s bright!
Just imagine – ancho chiles puree, paste made of two garlic heads, and plenty of guajillo chiles strips.
In the words of Diane Kennedy:”This is a very robust and colorful dish, but only for those who love garlic and not surprised by this toughish [...]

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Papas Pastores, Huevos en Baturillo

Two back to back dishes from My Mexico. Shepherd potatoes and scrambled eggs with creme fraiche. Both sounded like they meant for breakfast (Kennedy doesn’t mention a particular meal except that papas pastores are generally served as a botana (snack).
The finished papas dish looks like roasted potatoes with green salsa but the recipe is smarter [...]

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Hands-On with Okra and Shrimp

Chefs, open your baskets! For the dinner tonight you have okra and shrimp.
Evidently those two are meant for each other. Think hearty gumbo. Not in this hot and humid weather though, no way. Light, spicy and still southern felt like the right approach…
Roasted okra is great but it became like a rut. Several sources suggested [...]

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Yerba Mora

Yes i never met a chartreuse drink i didn’t like, especially when it involved tequila.
Add to this that Yerba Mora came with a profound quote from its creator, Joaquin Simo: “The thing about good traditional Mexican food is that you can never tell exactly what’s in it. It’s the same with cocktails…”
Well, thankfully the drink [...]

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Chef, What Was Your Inspiration…

The Inspiration… It comes from all the strange places. And limitations… Like you want to bake the Diana Kennedy’s mushroom pudding but you won’t dare to start the oven – it’s damn hot and AC is still broken… Or your friend comments on somebody’s pic on FB, you click out of curiosity, and start looking [...]

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Acelgas con Elotes y Crema

Fantastic dish i just learned from my friend, Rancho Gordo. He made it already twice in the last three days and i’m planning to do the same.

RG made it with watercress as the original idea suggested – i went with chard. There was not watercress in the store and in hindsight chard was no less [...]

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Green, and Greneer

I liked greens in Kennedy’s arroz verde so much so that i decided to use this to flavor grits. In fact, it sounded like the right thing to do. And even more than that – the sauce seemed a natural as a shrimp marinade. Don’t need to explain where shrimp came from – you know, [...]

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Trout Tacos with Braised Chard

Excellent tacos tonight, from unassuming ingredients really. Trout fillets pan roasted on high heat to crisp the skin.
Niman Ranch bacon cut into strips and browned. Red onion sliced and added, then garlic, fire roasted tomatoes and chile chipotle, then 1/4″ sliced chard stems, and finally leaves. Perfect side, quite rich in a good way. Fire [...]

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