Juan Marcos, Silvia, Jessie, and Carmina......The Staff.

The Shamrock Pub: Where eveybody knows your name and the time. It's 5 o'clock somewhere! Good food, good beer, good music, and just good friends.

Muy bueno!

Juan Marcos

Sous Vide is the category and I'm wondering if any of my culinary inclinded friends have ever tried it. This is relatively new for the home chef and one must have the ever shrinking counter space to be able to sport one of these.
A bit more info that I have gleaned from the internet is that: Sous vide combines the gentle, steady heat of poaching and an airtight seal, as in traditional methods of cooking in clay. “The food literally stews in its own juices: no air, no water, no evaporation.”
Although the phrase “sous vide” translates to “in a vacuum,” the selling point of the cooking method is the steady, low temperature, not the airless environment.
In sous vide, the cooking temperature is around the same as the serving temperature. For example, medium-rare steak is about 135 degrees in the center. In sous-vide cooking, the entire piece of meat is cooked at 135 degrees, for as long as it takes for the heat to slowly penetrate to the center. The whole steak, edge to edge to edge, reaches 135 degrees and cannot overcook, because the water temperature never goes any higher. (That said, meat can become overly tender if left too long in the bath.)

More on this later as knowledge is aquired.
Bon Appetite!
Juan Marcos

Doesn't everybody need a bobble head of a cowboy riding an armadillo? These are a few of the bobble heads that you can find here in Bucerias. For about a $1.00, you can have your choice of colorful turtles, fish, dragons, spiders, armadillos, and centipedes. A bargain at half the price.
Juan Marcos

RECIPE:
Roasted Jitomates y Pimiento Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:
8 lg. Roma Tomatoes (jitomates)
1 lg. Poblano chili pepper
2-3 Jalapeño peppers
2 Tbsp EVOO oil
1 Tbsp of Fagundes, Cavender’s, or POPS seasoning

1 large red onion (cebollas) Chopped. finely
5-6 cloves of garlic, minced (about 2 Tbsp)
1 lg carrot, (zanahoria) Chopped finely
2-3 stalks of celery (apio) Chopped, finely2 Tbsp EVOO oil
1 Tbsp of butter (mantequilla)
1/2 cup red or white wine (vino rojo o blanco)
8 oz. tomato sauce (350 g of La Costena Tomate Frito)2 Tbsp dried herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc)* mixed, total
1/2 to ¾ cup of Half n’ Half for a creamier sauce, but not necessary.Salt to taste
Tbls. Brown Sugar
Ground pepper

Process:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. or 176 degrees C or with the condo oven.....2. As it only has 1-5 on it.
Part A:
1. Begin by cleaning and de-seeding the poblano and jalapeño peppers. Cut into large chunks.
2. Clean tomatoes, remove center stem, and cut into large pieces.
3. In a large Ziplock, place prepared tomatoes and peppers.
4. Add 2-3 tablespoons of EVOO and 1 tablespoon of favorite seasoning.
5. Shake bag until well coated, and then place everything on a parchment covered cookie sheet. (please don’t put the plastic bag in the oven, but save for later if you want to coat some bread with the oil & seasoning mixture)
6. Pop into oven for 35-40 minutes.

Part B:
1. In a large soup pot, heat up some olive oil & butter. Add the chopped onions, garlic, carrots, and celery and cook slowly, on medium heat until they start to caramelize. They should be evenly brown and soft. Cooking them this way brings out the natural sweetness in the onions.

2. Add the garlic and dried herbs and cook for 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the 1/2 cup of red or white wine and cook for 2-3 minutes more.

3. Add the roasted tomatoes & peppers and their juices and stir to combine.

4. Stir in the tomato sauce or paste.

5. Add a tablespoon or two of brown sugar.

6. Add heat, if desired. Cayenne pepper works well, and/or a teaspoon of red pepper flakes

7. Using an immersion blender, mix all the ingredients until you reach the desired consistency. (Option to chop in a blender, but you might have to do it in batches) At this time you can add the cream for a lighter and smoother mixture.

8. Bring to a simmer, add salt and ground pepper to taste and cook on low, stirring occasionally for about 2 hours. Note: You can place in the fridge for another day to let the ingredients blend.

9. Sample the wine continually throughout the process until it has disappeared. Hopefully you remembered a 2nd bottle.

Part C:
1. If you are using shrimp (camarones), or chicken (pollo), then prepare them in a garlic, butter, EVOO pan, similar to what you did for the onions & garlic.

2. When they are just barely done, remove from heat and set aside until almost ready to serve. If you add them to the sauce too soon, you will overcook them and the results will be just not as good.

Part D:
1. If you are going to serve this recipe over pasta, prepare the pasta in a boiling pan with chicken stock or bouillon. (it adds a nice flavor to the pasta, especially if you have some extra for the next day)

2. This sauce will also work well with rice. Prepare the best way you know how…..a rice cooker is the simplest. Some Italian herbs in the water add a nice twist.

Part E:
Really? You should be feasting by now. Some nice ciabatta bread, a glass of wine, and your very own marinara sauce con camarones.

Bon Appetite!

Sharon serves some awesome meat pies. For 95 pesos you get a lot of food. For 50 pesos, you get a lot of beer.

What's not to like at The Shamrock? Tequila or Irish whiskey, you're choice.

Silvia always seems to be wearing that great welcoming smile. Love it.

The Shamrock: Where everybody knows your name! What can I say. They also know what time it is; exactly 5 o'clock when Juan Marcos appears. I almost stopped at noon one day, but reconsidered knowing that they would have to reset all the clocks and completely mess with their schedules. I returned at ...... 5pm.

Today’s spotlight is on the Luna Lounge located in Bucerias a stone’s throw away from The Shamrock. Let talk about RIBS. Baby Back Ribs. I love good ribs, but where do you go for great ribs in Mexico?
We found a place last night right here in Bucerias. The Luna Lounge. Go figure. I had noticed the week or two previous that they had a Monday night special for 2 for 1 ribs and tucked than info away in my virtual Dave Ramsey wallet. (2x1 is part of my gazelle intensity program)
Mi hermano, Pedro, and I arrived 5 minutes before their happy hour ended and snagged a couple of cold Dos Equis Ambers for 15 pesos each. ($1.15 each). The dinner began with some warm bread and infused butter, nice. Then came 4 types of salads: pasta, cabbage, celery, and potato. Next the ribs and baked potato. I was not expecting such a generous portion. Sweet. Great taste. Very tender. Nice sauce. Perfect. But the best was the price: 80 pesos for the entire meal. ($6.00) And there were enough leftovers for another meal. I can highly recommend this place.
I had spoken earlier in the week to Hugh, the owner, and he said that they usually sell out of the ribs quickly. 140 orders were sold in the first hour or so. Get there early! Like 5pm. Or just before, as their happy hour runs from 2-5. I speak from experience, as last week Pete and I arrived a bit too late.

Bon Appetite!

Juan Marcos

The finished product with toppings.

Step I of the cooking process. They go to the oven for step II.

Hand grated pototoes, onions, and peppers are the key.

Spanish Latkes
Yesterday I decided to try my potato pancakes but with a twist…..always a twist. Fiesta style latkes. The recipe calls for grated potatoes and onions, but I took a step further by grating the jalepeno and poblano chilie.
Once completed, the eggs, molida salt con ajo (ground garlic salt), raw sugar, flour and a pinch of Chili Piquin was added. For those unfamiliar with Piquin, we need to go the Scoville scale so that relativity is included.
Pequin peppers are very hot, often 13-40 times hotter than jalapeños on the Scoville scale (100,000-140,000 units). Flavor is described as citrusy, smoky (if dried with wood smoke), and nutty.[1]
They are hotter than cayenne and serranos which are hotter than jalapeños.
To top the latkes, I am preparing a fresh salsa to add to the sour cream. I also have some fresh pineapple & habenero salsa from last night’s street tacos. I love to try different foods, and what a great place to do just that….Mexico.
Bon Appetite
or better yet: Disfrute del Alimento

Let’s talk about food. Specifically the Camarones/Shrimp Alfredo that I prepared last night. Consensus was that it was pretty good.
Here’s the recipe:
Short version: Go to the market and purchase 80 pesos of camarones y uno botella de vino blanco and wing it.
Longer version: Carrots in your alfredo sauce? Really? Upon my brother’s suggestion, we tried it. Carrots, celery, jalapeños, poblano chilies, garlic, red y white onion were finely chopped and softened in butter and EVOO. Then drained and set aside.
The pasta was cooked in a chicken broth while the alfredo sauce simmered next to it. This time I tried using a ‘store’ bought alfredo sauce and kicked it up a bit. For those that watch Chopped, you will understand that sometimes you have to improvise with what you are given. With some of the white wine, a bit more cream, and what I thought was a healthy dose of chile piquin. It turned out pretty good. However, next time I will try alfredo from ‘scratch’ and more heat.
Last but not least the ochenta (50) shrimp were sautéed in a butter and EVOO until just barely done.
The veggies, alfredo sauce, and camarones all came together for a few minutes until serving time. YUM. Note to self: add this one to my cookbook.
Sharon made a delicious salad and we all shared a liter of vino blanco.

To those that are curious about the numbers in the photo....they are the prices, in pesos, for a kilo of shrimp. I liked the 110p/kilo size. That comes to about $3.75 per pound. Not bad.

Cocinero Juan Marcos

Buenos Dias mi Amigos!
66 degrees this morning, perfect for that power walk. The menu tonight includes camarones (shrimp), so the walk had several purposes. The photo gives you a glimpse of Banderas Bay…..beautiful. Tonight’s meal will take advantage of the bay which is a wonderful source of camarones. Con la pasta de camarones alfredo in Spanish. A nice loaf of ‘French’ bread along with a salad should do the trick. (although the French get no credit for this particular bread)

Bon Appetite

Juan Marcos

Lavendaría Día en Mexico! Laundry day in Mexico for those that a Spanish challenged.
And I belong to those ranks, but every day I’m working on improving. Isn’t that what you’re supposed do whilst on a sabbatical…..learn something!
For those that know me as Towel John, know that I have a pub towel collection of nearly 50. They were acquired during my 2 year British sojourns, and I might proudly state, all were gifts from the tenders at the local pubs in Salisbury, County Wiltshire, England.
The weekend is finally here, so I can relax. Yeah! The soup I made the other day was finally completed, after 24 hrs of messing with it, to my satisfaction. Rustic Roasted Chicken Corn Chowder: Mexican Style. I had to substitute some of the spices, didn’t use dirty reds, forgot the celery and came up a bit short on the chicken, but other than that….I think it tastes good.

Juan Marcos

El Burro! It was a name that my dad had given me and for the longest time I thought he was referring to my best attributes of determination, obstinacy, and tenaciousness. Later, when my friends learned of this particular term of endearment, they used the shorter 3 letter version.
Later in life, I was crushed to learn that it simply meant stubborn beyond the norm. Ouch!
All these feelings came rushing back as I was walking the dusty streets of Bucerias on Sunday and came across this fine looking means of transportation.
Needless to say I was overwhelmed with emotion and found myself at The Shamrock for a liter of Negra Modelo. Oh, the pain!

Just kidding. Except for the liter.
Juan Marcos

What’s on the stove today? Chicken stock. One the great foods in this part of the country is roasted chicken. It’s great and you can find it everywhere! During last Sunday’s walk-about, I found 4 places that sold roasted chickens with prices ranging from 60-120 pesos for the chicken, including salsa, chilies, papas, y tortillas. ($4.50-$9.00) A nice reasonable priced meal for 3 personas. (see photo)
But what do you do with the bits and pieces that are remaining? Answer: chicken stock. Sure it’s cheap to simply buy chicken bouillon, but with a simple recipe, you can fill your kitchen with the wonderful smells of stock simmering on the stove. And if this blog could impart those odoriferous scents wafting from the kitchen, that is exactly what you would be enjoying.
So what’s it going to be used for? The goal is to make my Rustic Chicken & Corn Chowder, Mexican style. It calls for: chicken stock. Chicken (pollo), potatoes (papas), peppers, onions (cebolla), garlic (ayo), peppers (pimientas rojas, verdes, y amarillas), and roasted corn (maiz tostado) are easily found in Bucerias.
Back to the stove y kitchen.
Bon Appetite
Juan Marcos

‘The Devil in the White City’ is a great book by Erik Larson. Bringing Chicago circa 1893 to vivid life. Erik intertwines the true tale of two men – the brilliant architect behind the legendary 1893 World’s fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death. A really great read. Thanks to my daughter, Jamie, for recommending it and loaning me this history lesson.
The photo was taken at Vista Vallarta, in Bucerias, Mexico; minutes after I had completed the book. It had been a particularly tough day having traveled over 2 miles by foot to mail some Christmas cards at the local post office, buy some herbs for tomorrow’s dinner, and price some camarones. (shrimp)
I fell exhausted into one of many of the provided chaise lounges overlooking Banderas Bay. Vista Vallarta is one of numerous resorts here in Bucerias and they permit ‘outsiders’ to come and relax by their pool, restaurant, and beachfront property. Gratis. With a generous happy hour from noon – 7pm, it is easy to soak up the bargains and sun. i.e. you can have two very cold Coronas for about $1.10 each. With lime. (Dos muy frias cervezas, con limon, por favor!) They also serve a variety of sandwiches, salads, tortillas and salsa.
Juan Marcos

Finally after having taking 4 years of Latin at Manitowoc Lutheran High, I was able to use the following word: pulchritudinous which means ‘beautiful’.
The sunset last night was the inspiration. Praise to its Creator. Enjoy!
Juan Marcos

It’s Jan, 2012 and as the NFL play-offs descend on us, all thoughts go towards location. “Where are we going to watch the games whilst in Mexico?” The answer lies right here in Bucerias at YoYo Mo’s. The one photo shows the addition with the main bar off to the left and back.
It’s a great place to catch any sports from around the world. To ensure nearly uninterrupted viewing pleasure, there are multiple feeds. This means different commercials on different monitors while watching the same game. Think about that. (especially if you like commercials)
The place has too many TVs to count on two hands, unless you’re from the Tennessee mountains. (you can change that state if it offends you)
Besides reasonable beer prices, $1.50/cervezas during happy hours which are normally from noon to 5pm, they also have pretty good pizza. Four sizes beginning at only $6 with the EX-lg going for about $15. It will easily feed three hungry men or a small country. And that’s with up to 7 toppings. Sweet deal. Wings, fries, pizza bread, and YoYo’s homemade potato chips also adorn the menu. Great place, great deal. (note the ATM conveniently located outside!)
So what you have is cold beer for a $1.50 and good food reasonably priced and lots of NFL football…..you now know where to find me for the playoffs.
Juan Marcos

As in the past, I am amazed at the colorful flowers that are indigenous to this part of Mexico. The photo is your 1000 words.

The sunset photo is a bit mis-leading. It was actually only 4:45pm and dusk is a better term to use as I wandered around Bucerias in search of great photo opportunities. Or was it because I was waiting for happy hour to begin at 5pm. You decide.

I met with my Terralta I friends, Mike and Sheri, at The Shamrock for a few ceverzas and after sharing some laughs and stories, I headed back to the condo to prepare dinner.

Juan Marcos

Dinner last night began with the 1-hour oven roasting of a kilogram of jitomates salade, medio-kilo of chile poblanos, olive oil, and Fagundes seasoning. Meanwhile the garlic/ajo, onions/cebolla, and olive/aceite de Oliva were cooking on the stove, along with the ground sirloin/carne molida.
The roasted veggies came together with the pure de tomate (tomato sauce) in a blender. Then all of the ingredients were married with a couple tablespoons of brown sugar.
The $2 bottle of wine was breathing (20 seconds) and after one sip, it was clear that I was only drinking a $1 bottle of wine. My dad would have called me Jaunstein.
I boiled the spaghetti rigati in chicken stock and brought the meal together. Ok, it needs some work. Perhaps it will taste better tomorrow when all the flavors have melded.
Bon Appetite!
Juan Marcos

The new face of the Shamrock Pub in Bucerias. Well done, Sharon!

Greetings and Day 3 here in Bucerias.

It has come to my attention that some of you believe that I am on vacation. This is not true. I have chosen with the assistance of Mr. Webster, to use the following word, Sabbatical, to describe my absence from Fond du Lac. One must go to the 5th definition to accurately describe my state of mind. Visual snippets from my work here will be incuded to clear all misconceptions.

Sab·bat·i·cal
 /səˈbæt ɪ kəl/ Show Spelled[suh-bat-i-kuh l]
adjective
1. of or pertaining or appropriate to the Sabbath.

2. of or pertaining to a sabbatical year.

3. bringing a period of rest.

noun
4. sabbatical year.

5. any extended period of leave from one's customary work, especially for rest, to acquire new skills or training, to explore new pubs in the area, etc.

Juan Marcos

I had my list prepard from last year, so shopping was a breeze. I love exploring all the new items and trying to translate into English. It might not look like much for $526.57 (pesos). 21 items in total. Try getting that on your back, ride a bus, and then hike a 1/2 mile to your condo!

Jalapeño pan (bread) for about $2 USD. Excellent. Truly a great find.

Greetings from 210 Laurel, Terralta II, Bucerias, Nayarit, Mexico (that's a mouthful)

Today, Day 2, was the customary Mega shopping trip. (Mega is the large grocery store a short bus ride south)

After my morning siesta, I headed out for my weekly grocery store adventure. And they really are great adventures. This was no exception. It began with a 6 pesos (45 cents) bus ride on a custom but ancient painted school bus. 20 minutes later I was deposited in front of the Mega store. I immediately noticed a new "Costco" style store had been added to the area. Sweet.

Many of you now know that I am a 'extreme coupon shopper' and it almost pained me to enter the store essentilly naked. (figuratively speaking of course. please don't picture that) But I felt I found some nice bargains with relativity coming from Festival and Pik n Save. For example, if you're still reading this exciting blog: lechuga for $5.90 pesos (42cents), cebolla for $10.90 pesos/kg (35 cents/pound), or jitomates for $15.90 pesos/kg (52 cents/pound) Can you guess what's on the menu?

But the best deal besides the incredible looking Jalapeño Bread metioned above, was that at least 6 wines were priced below 70 pesos ($5 usd) with one coming in at 28.80 pesos ($2 usd) That's a sweet deal. More on that wine after I sample it.

So what was I planning: makings for 4 or 5 days of sandwiches with Jamon Corona y queso esmeralda y pan, 1/2 kilo of molida de sirloin for some killer burgers con queso azul, spaghetti barilla rigati with the fresh veggies and tomatoe sauce. Can't wait. Pair that with the 2 buck wine and you have.......something to write about tomorrow.

Trivia question: what do you call that squiggly line above the "n" in Jalapeño? No you can't look it up. (yet)

Bon Appetite!

Juan Marcos

I just had to add: that on the 'hike' home tonight in a dimly lit lateral, I greeted all that approached me with my traditional WI smile. (that was my game plan) It took a nice turn, about halfway home, when a well dressed couple just stopped after my greeting and exclaimed...."JUAN , you're back!"
Here it was the lovely Gabriela Hernandez, my property manager (and amiga), along with her Canadian friend. Indeed this a very cool part of returning to Mexico.....re-unite-ing with last year's friends. I don't have words to explain it....yet. But I've only been here a few hours.
The eyelids are heavy.....buenos nochos!
Juan Marcos

Feliz Ano Nuevo!
It's Wednesday, Jan 4, 2012 and I arrived safely in Mexico. (I had little doubt, except for flying through Dallas Fort Worth, Texas) After meeting Eduardo the owner of the condo at 210 Laurel in Terralta II, and after a much needed siesta and shower, I hiked down to The Shamrock. (no shock there, eh?)
Sharon has done a complete remodel of the pub and it looks fantastic! Great job. In attempting to take it all in, and enjoy the people and surroundings, I found myself in the middle of happy hour. Coincidental? I think not. I loved the changes.
I learned that Gil had moved on to other things but that Silvia was still working. Carmina was a new 'tender, and did a great job.
The first photo of Bucerias is above and has Lorenzo, Silvia, and Scott posing with the new background. I was happy to hear that Silvia is planning a marriage in the near future. Congratulation to you, Silvia!
It's good to be back to my 2nd social home and did I mention that it was 80 degrees today?
Look forward to many more post to my idle blog and Happy New Year.
Juan Marcos