Courtney Larsen and I gave a Mexican BBQ/Carne Asada class last night at Sonora Grill. Thanks to all who attended. We had fun. Copies of the class recipes are always included, FYI, but for those who couldn’t get there last night I wanted to kick this recipe to you because this smoky, spicy, garlicky salsa was very delicious.

Courtney’s Carne Asada Salsa
5 large ripe tomatoes
4 tomatillos
1 great big white onion, peeled
2 Anaheim chiles
2 serrano chile
Kosher salt , black pepper and lime juice to taste
Put the ingredients on a skewer and grill them till charred, with tasty bits, not too too burnt, and then pulse all ingredients in a blender.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Potatoes, as a New World food are one of the biggies… Though they were never eaten by anyone outside of the New World until about 1550 BCE, food anthropologists posit that tubers were cultivated in South America about 20,000 years ago. They were born, as it were, in Chile but ancient potato concentration seems to have been around Peru where they were blue, purple, pink and/or yellow…depending on the mineral composition of the soil in which any particular potato might be grown. Those types of colorful potatoes have become a kind of boutique potato today…with the purple Peruvian potatoes, the waxy yellow fingerling or  Russian banana fingerlings…they’re out there…and they can be quite good.
Here in the States we like our potatoes big and white. We like the Russet Burbank potatoes, and the kennebec at one time was a very nice variety I used to buy way back in the days before In-n-Out Burger bought about a third of Idaho and made some Kennebec spud farmers quite happy I’m sure…the Yukon Gold potato has become quite popular in recent years…french fries are everyone’s favorite…they’re from Belgium, BTW, not France.

Nevertheless, they’re popular in Mexico where they might sprinkle theirs w/cumin, dried chile arbol and salt…or any other various flavors of powders, for instance, ant salt…made from ground up ants and salt. It’s tasty, adds that bit of protein you may be looking for in your diet, you know…or ground up chapulines (that’s grasshoppers, people)…chile powder, etc. I once brought home a ziplock bag of hand-harvested Oaxacan Sea Salt from one of my trips. It was still kind of moist and tasted wonderful. Tasted like the ocean…

So we got off at the airport, grabbed a cab to the hotel and checked in. Way earlier than expected. After examining the hotel room for snakes and spiders, and finding none, we changed into our swimwear and huaraches and hit the beach. I recall thinking that we were starving to death, but the water distracted us…the water on the island’s west side is amazing. It was so clear, so blue with just a touch of clear greenness to it. The island itself is just a big flat rock, with very little surface water, i.e., no rivers or lakes…it’s just a great big plateau sticking up no more than 49 feet above the sea. There is some soil, lots of trees, but it’s really not very habitable…the drinking water comes mostly from a desalinization facility located on the island’s south shore. All the food is flown in from the mainland. The hotel served an odd kind of cuisine, food that wasn’t indigenous to the island, cooked by local cooks who were…to be eaten by tourists who, by and large, weren’t all that interested in local food or not local food to begin with…and yet, it was quite good…grilled beef steaks marinated in Dos Equis beer, slabs of grilled onions, canned diced tomato and canned pickled jalapenos, mixed together with fresh cilantro into a kind of de facto pico de gallo…long curly yellow fried plantains, fresh panela cheese from the mainland, packaged white flour tortillas and fried jalapeno poppers (the manufactured chile popper product having come from a box)…K. and I were surprised at the dearth of local culture here, but when you follow the tourists, that’s what you get. We stayed in the water till we were burnt to bacon. Next morning we got back in the water again. We still had a lot of Mexico to take care of but being in the ocean here, with its subtropical weather and underwater visibility like maybe a hundred feet, maybe 200 feet…swimming in this crystal water seems more like flying…it’s hard to just get up and get out, put on your sandals and simply walk away.

5 lbs. tomatillos (remove the husks, wash ‘em real good)
2 white onions, peeled and diced
1 lb. fresh cilantro, cleaned
2 whole serrano chiles
Juice from 6 limes
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

Put everything in a blender or food processor and puree. Salt and pepper to taste.

Don’t think I’m giving away all of my secrets. I have plenty more up my sleeve. 

-Chef Chris

The plane skimmed just above the dark green carpet of lush treetops and I stared out the window. The jungle goes all the way to the horizon when you’re at such a low altitude. Telephone poles appear. Soon, a few dirt streets showed up on the scene, papayas, mango trees…a whitewashed plywood sign advertised Pepsi from where they’d gotten it propped up against a gray cinderblock wall in the tan dust. The plane released it’s landing gear and then the wheels touched down on the quote runway, if you could call it that…funny what passes in other countries, we wouldn’t even think about permitting…it was just a broken up concrete strip with grass growing up through the cracks that you might do a better job of making on a Saturday morning with a trip to Lowe’s and a garden hose in the back yard. I mean you wouldn’t want to drive your pick-up truck on it, let alone land a plane…and yet land we did…you could hear the ‘Captain’ stomping on the brakes and spitting out Spanish expletives. It was a pretty fine piece of airline pilotry, really… 

K. and I got out and wandered downstairs through the cement interior of the tiny Mexican airport. It was under construction at the time. We walked out into the sun and within seconds we had a local quote tour guide. He said where you going? Are you going across to the island? I get you tickets.
Thanks but we have tickets.
For when? How long do you want to wait here? I can get you there right now. A plane is leaving in like ten minutes.
Yes, but I’m not in any hurry. Are we in any hurry, K.?
No.
How long you two wanna hang out here to get bothered by guys like me? Come on give me 20 bucks each and you be on a plane over to the island in like fifteen minutes.
Well, how do I know you’ll come back? I stupidly asked.
Come on man, what are we talking about? 40 bucks? You a rich guy.
I gave him 40 bucks.
K. says what are you doing?
I go why not?
The ’guide’ said follow me, so we did. We never even put down our bags or took off our backpacks. We just followed him. Next thing you know, we’re in a plane that’s skimming over the sea to the island. The water goes all the way to the horizon at those low altitudes…we haven’t eaten anything that didn’t come out of a Mexican vending machine for days.

Come test your tongue! We are looking for contestants to participate in the 2nd Annual Habanero Eating Contest.

Winner will receive $100 gift card, $50 cash and a sweet mountain bike. Prizes will also be awarded to 2nd and 3rd place contestants.

If you are not brave enough to participate, come and witness the pain first hand.

Check out the pictures from last year here. And some video action here.

So it happens that some of my chef friends will ask me, what’s the deal with the funky Mexican food?
I really don’t know. I’ve been eating Mexican food since I was a wee lad and while I may not really understand what’s the deal with the Mexican food thing, I can’t deny how much I love it. I love a cheesy quesadilla. With pico de gallo. And guacamole.
I mean, I’ve spent my life as a chef making quote upscale food, or cooking from a classical tradition, i.e. French technique, knife skills, and Escoffier-esque terminology, I love ‘fine dining’ as much as the next arrogant foodie…and I’m not from Mexico, though I’ve had the privilege of going on several dining trips to various locations in Mexico…I’ve rode on the coattails of a few celebrity chefs, for sure…anyway, point being, let’s say you have some homemade flour tortillas that you just made and you put one in a frying pan with a little Mexican Manchego, a little queso panela, and some queso fresco….cook it gently, low heat, till it begins to melt, then fold it over, it’s very simple. It’s one of the first foods I ever cooked, this quesadilla, something from my childhood that still gives me the warm fuzzies…eat that quesadilla right up. I mean, what’s wrong with that?

Sonora Grill chefs were serving carnitas tacos with roasted tomato, garlic and chile salsa and basically having a blast at the PCFWC. A lot of the attendees were there to taste the many various wines and beers on hand. A lot of those folks were really doing some…tasting…nothing wrong with that…me, I was honored to hang out and try some food…got a chance to talk at length with Ryan of the Copper Onion, Bowman from Forage…cool chefs…very enjoyable event. There were some other hot shots there…can’t remember all their names… and those wacky kids Tom and Jen from Salt Lake Magazine , and also Whole Foods…when are we getting a Whole Foods in Ogden? Can someone please tell me when we’re gonna get a Whole Foods around here?

Every Friday and Saturday the Sonora Grill flies in fresh fish from Hawaii. Fish so fresh that when you come down to get your ceviche, it’s really going to blow you away. Chef Courtney is creating exciting new dishes utilizing this seafood that has been out of the pacific literally about 20 hours. You’ll be able to taste the freshness. My favorite today is the seared Tasmanian salmon with achiote, lime and honey glaze…It’s crazy how delicious this thing is!  So delicious! So crazy!

MARGARITA SPECIAL – ECLIPSE MARGARITA, IN HONOR OF THAT  TWILIGHT MOVIE COMING OUT. YAY! JOSE CUERVO, BLUE CURACAO ORANGE LIQUOR, FRESH LIME, CRANBERRY JUICE, CHATEAU MONET RASPBERRY LIQUEUR. ONCE YOU STIR IT, IT TURNS BLACK LIKE A VAMPIRE`S HEART! WE STILL HAVE HEINKEN LIGHT FOR THREE DOLLARS. GO TEAM EDWARD!