El Brujo II

El Brujo II...revisited yesterday.  Canadian friends met me at El Brujo for their wonderful ribs yesterday.  Yes, I wrote about this place in a previous blog, but it's worth re-mentioning.
 

 

Lorenzo, Juan Marcos, Sharon, Char, Doug, and Denise

 

So what's so great about this place? Good food and obviously good people make for great  dinner.  When you add a great price, which was 110 pesos/two dinners (less than $10 for two), and for those on a travel budget, you get to dine out a little bit more.  For those that know Bucerias, this used to be Eva's Brick House, and it's a nice place.  Cervezas were 24 pesos or about $2.00, not great, but it all works.  Bon Appetite!   

Mexican Shepherds Pie

What? Mexican Shepherds Pie? Are you muy loco Juan Marcos?  (si)  Have you ever watched the cooking show called "Chopped"?  Contestants must design a dish from a basket of surprize food items.  That's where I got the inspiration as I opened my refrigerator the other day.....let's see, I have potatoes, chorizo, carrots, celery, onions, and several kinds of peppers.  What do you make with that?



Mexican Shepherds Pie

 

For those that want to know how to make it, read on.

For ingredients, I used:
 1/2 kilo or 1 pound of chorizo, thank-you Sharon for connecting me to the chorizo lady.
4 medium sized potatoes
1 cup each chopped carrots, celery, onion, and red bell peppers (if you have corn, add that also)
1/2 cup total chopped poblano peppers and jalepenos
1 large finely chopped garlic clove
1 chicken broth cube (bouillion).
1/4 milk or cream
2 tablespoons of sour cream (divided)
2 tablespoons of cream cheese
1 tablespoon of flour
2 ladles  of broth (bout a cup)  (see instructions)
Olive oil, butter, salt, and pepper

Instructions:
In a large fry pan, with some butter and olive oil, saute the onions and all the peppers
When softened, set aside and using the same pan,
Brown the chorizo, and set aside, saving any bits and oil for the gravy part.
In a large pot/steamer, fill with 4 cups of water and add a chicken bouillion cube.
Steam the carrots and celery until just soft. ( el dente)  Then set aside.
In the same pot, add the cut up potatoes and return to boiling until tender. (the key here is to use the same broth that was used to steam the carrots and celery)  If you need to, add a bit more water.
Set aside 2 cups of the water for use later.
Drain the potatoes, set them aside,
In the same pot, add 2 tablespoons of butter and the chopped garlic. Heat on low until melted.  Do not burn the garlic. 
Now add the potatoes to the melted butter and garlic ,
Add the milk, cream cheese, sour cream, salt and pepper.
Mash until smooth-ish.  Set aside.
Hang on, almost there....
The gravy part begins by melting 2 tablespoons of butter along with 1 tablespoon of flour. (the rue)
Add 1 ladle of the warm chicken broth, 2 tablespoons of milk, and one tablespoon of sour cream. 
Heat and Stir until thickened....I usually add a 2nd ladle of broth, for more gravy.
Now I bring this all together.....
Lightly grease a glass pie dish with butter.
Begin with the layer of chorizo....
Next top the chorizo with the gravy.
Next the layer of all the veggies.  (mix them together beforehand)
Finally the layer of mashed potatoes....see photo.
I baked at 350 for 15 minutes....trying to slightly brown the potatoes.
Let stand at least 15 mintues or you will burn your mouth.
Serve with friends.

Bon Appetite!

My Sunday Challenge

My Sunday challenge was multi-fold, 1) Attend a live church service, 2) Play a chess game on-line with a buddy in Sayulita, 3) complete a Spanish session on Rosetta Stone,4) create a menu for my dinner & a movie night, 5) shop the local farmers' market for shrimp and a movie and 6) spend less than $10 for dinner.....all by NOON.

 

 

Ok, I watched a service from St. Peter, in Modesto, CA, played a chess game, listened to some basic Spanish, and checked the fridge for food ideas.  Pesto Shrimp con pasta was my choice and the camarones at the market looked great.

I was also able to find several new releases for tonight's movie night.  The Life of Pi, Flight, Safe Haven, Zero Dark Thirty, and Beast of the Wild South. 100 pesos/5 movies

Well, you cannot have pesto shrimp w/o some wine and good bread, so I added those to my challenge.

So how did I do on the food part of the challenge?  Camarones 22p/10 pcs, Pasta 10p, Pan 3p, vino 15p/glass, movie 20p, popcorn Free, Pesto Sauce Free. (fiends gave me the pesto and popcorn)  So the total for dinner, movie, popcorn, and wine was:  70p or $5.60 for one person.  or 117p for two/servings.  Bon Apetite!

Bucerias Art Walk

I'm the chap with the hat and cheering.

The Bucerias Art Walk
Located on the North Shore of the Bahia Banderas is the little known village
of Bucerias. Now home to one of the most unique art walks of it's kind.
Over 17 galleries participate at this weekly event, where we "Bring Art to the Streets".
Stroll under the palm trees, enjoy a traditional Mexican taste treat and a cool
sip of sangria while discovering the  un-discovered art and artists of Nayarit and Jalisco.

Every Thursday, Bucerias has this Art Walk and all the galleries are open for you to stroll through them.  They are quite generous in providing you with food and beverages....Gratis!

Now the photo has absolutely nothing to do with the Art Walk, except it is art.  But what happened was that my freinds, Bill and Shirley told me about this Art Walk, and last Thursday I got to experience it.

Who are Bill and Shirley?  Two of my BC-Canadian friends.  Here we see them at LaMorenita a tiny restaurant in the Art Gallery district of Bucerias.  (I made that up that term district)

 

The owners of this restaurant, mother/daughter, also teach cooking classes and rumor has it they have excellent tortilla soup, beside other culinary delights.

 

 

So you need to put the Thursday Bucerias Art Walk on your wish list and this wonderful tiny Mexican restaurant......La Morenita.  (Larzaro Cardenas #19)



 

 

 

Vista Vallarta II

Today we're back at Vista Vallarta and I love this place.  In a previous blog I may have explained that this resort is about a 15 minute walk from my condo.  It's well worth the walk.  They welcome 'outsiders' to share their amenities.  The photos are self-explanatory....


Happy hour starts about noon and I've never been around to know when it actually ends.....now that's a proper happy hour.



Ice cold Corona's are about $1.25 each.  A glass of ice and some slices of lime make the perfect Cerveza cocktail.  And the view of Banderas Bay is incredible.  A suggest some good binoculars, as whales are often seen from Jan-March...

The restaurant next to the pool has good food, so Enjoy!

Yellow Fin Tuna

I don't know about you, but I like a good tuna fish sandwich, and after just posting the winners of my own sandwich war, I realized that I had forgotten to add another worthy entry.....The Yellow Fin  Tuna Sandwich. So here it is..

 

Wait, that's not a sandwich...that's Lorenzo, Silva, and Scotty (right). 2012 photo.





The story starts with Scotty, who went fishing one day off of Punta Mita and caught the Yellow Fin Tuna and was gracious enough to share some with me. 

 

 

. Wait, that's not a sandwich...you're grilling it on the stovetop.....Yes, I know, but that amount you see is enough for at least 4 meals.....tuna goes a long way...and please don't overcook it. 

The completed meal is Tuna y Zanahoria (Grilled Tuna con Arrroz with an Orange/Pineapple Ginger sauce served with Moroccan carrots)
And this made the list of top sandwiches?  Yes....the next day, and the next day, and today....the best tunafish sandwiches that I have tasted and not becuase I made them, but because, thanks to Scotty, I started with great tuna.  Served on your choice of bread, I chose fresh ciabatta but a simple hamburger bun will work just fine.

Sandwiches

Those that know me, know that I like to cook, both in Wiscosnin, and here in Mexico.  Today's post is about sandwiches from leftovers....good homemade sandwiches. 
After 6 weeks in Bucerians the winners are:  The LaPenita Burger made from freshly ground sirloin bought in a meat market in La Penita.

The Shamrock Fish Sandwich

The El Brujo Rib Sandwich where ribs are 2 x 1 on Wednesdy nights.

 

Happy Saint Valentine's Day

Feliz dia de San Valentin!
The senorita at OXXO made me say it correctly and then gave me a Free coffee. Sweet! I began the day with a sunrise on the beach and found my friends, Angela and Agustino sitting on their patio. It was great to see them but with sad news that Angelos dad was failing rapidly and they had to leave for Canada today. Safe travels to these two good friends.

 

From sunrise to.....

 

 

Pasta con Camarones y Vino Blanco

 

 

Almond Joys for my friends at The Shamrock

 

 

.....to sunset

Feliz dia de San Valentin!

 

 

El Brujo

Today's spotlight is on a restaurant here in Bucerias.  El Brujo actually has three locations, two in Bucerias, and one in PV.  It was brought to my attention that their newest location on Galeana has a Wednesday night rib special.  Two for one. (2x1)  And priced at $110 pesos, for two meals!  I have to check this out...so I did.

 

 Bill and Shirley and I had some Coronas at Adriaticos for their happy hour and walked about a whole block to El Brujo's.  Reservations are recommended, on Wednesdays, as the place was quite full.  The service was pretty good and cold beers were quickly delivered. (the word 'quick' is relative here in Mexico) 



 

Since it was 2x1, one of my rib orders was to go.  The ribs were pretty good, lots of bbq sauce, St. Louis style, and quite meaty.  The twice baked potatoe was also very good.  For all you ecomomist out there, this was a pretty good deal, as these 'extras' made 3 nice sized servings as sandwiches.

 



 





 

So for 110 pesos, or about $9.00, you got a full meal at the restaurant, drinks not included, and 3 more servings for lunch.  My math says that for about $2.25 you got four meals.  Not bad Ramsey students and grads.  Not bad.   Miercoles/Wednesday on the calendar.

Restaurante Adriatico

Restaurante Adriatico

Address: Lázaro Cárdenas 162, Buceriae, 63732 Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, Mexico Phone:+52 329 298 6038 Last night I met my Canadian friends, Bill and Shirley at Adriatico's.  To those that know Buerias, it is on the South side of the river.  Do those that don't know Buerias, it's still on the South side.

 

 

The restaurant and bar are gorgeous and you are surrounded by that almost in the jungle feeling.  Note the granite bar top.  We met there for happy hours, 4-6 pm,  but of course, and Adriatico's served mucho frio cervezas por 30 pesos for two Coronas or Pacificios.  Rumor has it that all their drinks are 2 x 1.  Sweet deal. 

 



 

My pub towel summarizes it nicely:  "Refreshing"

 



These two pics are from their website.  Adriatico's has a woodburing oven in which they cook their pizzas.  Very nice.  Having said all that, we decided to explore another place for dinner.  Stay tuned for Ribs in Bucerias. 

Hamburguesa La Peñita

I call this menu item, “La Peñita Hamburguesa”  It is made with freshly ground carne molida (lean ground sirloin) from the butcher in La Peñita and served on a fresh ciabatta bread from Panino’s here in Bucerias. Excellent.  I top it with tocino (bacon) also from La Peñita, and queso Oaxaca. Garnish is lechuga (lettuce), jitomates (tomatoes), and cebolla rojo. (red onion)

Ciabatta (Italian pronunciation: [tʃaˈbatta], literally slipper bread) is an Italian white bread made from wheat flour and yeast. Ciabatta is somewhat elongated, broad and flat and is baked in many variations.  A toasted sandwich made from small loaves of ciabatta is known as a panino (plural panini).

Queso Oaxaca is a white, semihard cheese from Mexico, similar to unaged Monterey Jack, but with a mozzarella-like string cheese texture. It is named after the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, where it was first made. It is available in several different shapes. It is also known as quesillo Oaxaca or thread cheese when shaped like a ball. Shaped in bricks for slicing, it is called asadero (meaning "roaster" or "broiler") or queso quesadilla.^[1]

(for the economists out there, it costs about $150 pesos for 6 of these deluxe burgers, about $2 each)

 

 Bon Appetit!

La Peñita

La Peñita de Jaltemba, Nayarit, Mexico or more commonly called " La Peñita " is a small beach town on Jaltemba Bay with approximately 10,000 inhabitants. La Peñita is an active,dynamic community of Mexicans and Internationals living and working in agriculture,fishing and the tourism industry. It is located 64 kilometers North of Puerto Vallarta.          

I try to get to La Peñita at least once every trip and only on Thursday, which is their big market day. It stretches for what seems like a mile, because it just might be that long.  Fresh fruits and vegetables along with a huge variety of handcrafted wares can be had for bargained prices. 

I particularly like to look for blown glassware, honey, and occasionally, silver jewelry.  I was not disappointed on this trip.

This photo to the left has a ton of radishes and a mystery fruit/vegatable on the tailgate.  If you can identify it, you will win something. (Pete and Sharon excluded because they already know what it is)

This last visit, I rode with Lorenzo, Sharon, Sonja, and Sheri and we met at their favorite restaurant (Hinde y Jame's) for 10 peso fish/shrimp tacos.  Excellent. And cervezas were only 16 pesos.  I enjoy Indio beer as it is the closest to an pale ale that I can find.

As one leaves town, it’s important to stop at a local butcher which I feel has the best bacon, cut to your desired thickness, while you watch. I also pick up some of the leanest ground sirloin I've ever seen, to make my La Peñita hamburgesas.  Muy bueno! 

Potato Latkes

Hola mi Amigos!  I am working on a pictorial menu for "210 Laurel" for my future visitors and guests. 

This morning I added a variation of my potatoe latkes to my menu.  I call it Potato Latkes con Manzanas or potatoe pancakes with apples.  (sin cebolla) And I served them with three options, 1) Crème fraîche, 2)mantequilla y jarabe (butter and syrup), and 3)piña reducción ( pineapple reduction)  Muy Bueno!  Served with a side of La Peñita  tocino  (bacon) and your day has started fantastico.

Por favor, únanse a mí par el desayuno?

Pineapple Salsa

 Juan Marcos Fresh Pineapple Salsa

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of freshly cut-up pineapple

½ cup white/yellow onion

½ cup red onion

½ cup red bell pepper, or yellow, or green, or orange. (or all four kinds)

½ cup chopped tomato. (I used 1 roma tomato)

1 cup of frozen corn. (unless you can get fresh corn)

1 clove of garlic, minced finely

¼ cup of jalapeno, poblano, or Serrano peppers. (this a total of ¼ cup of all three peppers)

¼ cup of chopped cilantro

¼ cup of fresh orange juice

¼ teaspoon of freshly grated orange zest

½ teaspoon of ground cumin

½ teaspoon of salt (or to taste)
¼ teaspoon of pepper (or to taste)

 
Directions

1.      I like to chop all the veggies, unless otherwise noted, the size of a corn kernel.  That helps to ensure that you get a nice variety and mixture with every dip of those broken up tostados

2.      In a large bowl, toss together pineapple, onions, bell peppers, corn, tomatoes, onions, chili peppers, orange juice and zest, garlic and cilantro. (ok, I could have said, ‘throw everything in a bowl”, but I didn’t)

3.      Season with cumin, salt, and pepper. Cover, and chill in the refrigerator until serving.

4.      Now mix yourself a perfect Mexican margarita, and wait for the salsa to meld.

Bienvenidos a Bucerias, México

 

Sayulita Day

 

 

Sayulita Day!
Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 was the day to relax in Sayulita.  It began with a walk to DeCameron Resort where I met with The Green Bay girls. (7 including 5 women and 2 teenagers) 
The above photos are from the lobby of this resort, which is located on the very south edge of Bucerias.

We decided that riding the bus was our best and most adventurous option.  We weren't disappointed.  It was standing room only for the first few stops.  But we all got seats before heading north and leaving Bucerias.  Here we have Sig and Emily sharing some space. 

A little about Sayullita:   Once a sleepy fishing village, Sayulita, Mexico, was established as a community in 1941 when families from the neighboring state emigrated to the area. After completing Highway 200 in the late 1960s, it was discovered as a popular surf destination for its consistent wave breaks and has become quite diverse with its native Cora and Huichol population and the growing attraction of international tourists and local craftsmen.

Since then, Sayulita has continued to gain popularity not only for its great surfing but also for its art galleries, delicious restaurants, trendy shops, nature activities, and a relaxed lifestyle. Currently home to about 4,000 residents (many English-speaking expatriates) who cherish their community and aim to protect the environment, development has been limited so it’s not likely that it will become an impersonal mega resort.

Sig, Amy, Wendy, and Dawn prepare for an afternoon of Beach

After walking from the bus stop through town, which by the way has completed their street projects, we decided on Captain Pablo's Beach Side Dining. Emily and her two teenagers seemed to fit right in and were soon soaking up the rays.

Buckets of Sol, Dos Equis, and Indio were delivered in regular increments. For 100 pesos, or $8 USD, you got to enjoy 6 muy frio cervezas, con limon.  Excellent.  Thank-you ladies for treating. That was very nice of you. 

 

 

 

A fun day was had by all in Sayulita. Here we have the departing gestures eminating from the bus windows. Both: dé la bienvenida and bueno adiós.

Spring Rolls

Chinese Spring Rolls:

Today was really cool as several of us met at Sharon y Lorenzo’s casa for a ‘culinary’ lesson on Spring Rolls.  S y L also live in Terralta II, about 3.4 blocks from mi casa. 

At 11:30am Sheri, Sonja, Juan Marcos, Sharon y Lorenzo gathered for the lesson, and a nice variety of veggies were chopped, diced, and shredded to be mixed with the ground pork. A few spices, an egg white, and some Chinese noodles that looked like wire were added to complete the filling.

Separating the thin layers of dough was a full time job for Lorenzo.  Meanwhile, the girls and myself rolled out almost 80 wonderful Spring Rolls that had me drooling.

At Noon:03 the first round of cervezas started, and Sharon began, much to my delight, the frying of our combined culinary efforts.  Served with a Thai spicy sauce and some Franks Red Hot sauce, these rolls were absolutely delicious.

Thank-you Sharon and Lorenzo and Sheri and Sonja for a wonderful lesson in Spring Rolls.  I was amazed how fun and easy it was to make these delights.  It will certainly be added to my recipe book.    

This is a quote from the web,  “How authentic Chinese Spring Rolls* should be: smooth, light, crisp-crackly skin and small enough to enjoy in 2-4 bites. The filling is also light, full of tender-crisp vegetables and you should be able to taste and distinguish every single ingredient in the filling.  Unfortunately, the only time you can find really awesome Chinese spring rolls are when you make them at home, Chinatown restaurants or at my Mom’s house.”