The Vegetarian Corner

Most of you know that Chefs aren't -as general rule- vegetarians, and I'm not the exception. I love cooking and eating meat; I enjoy a filet mignon, rib eye, burgers, even the delicious foie gras. 

However I know some friends who would like to eat something..let's say... animal friendly.

So, since most vegetarian food tastes like newspaper or grass, I decided to show you some few tricks to have a really decent vegetarian dish. Lets go trough my classic examples.

Spaghetti with à la minute tomato sauce:

As it's name implies, the tomato sauce is prepared à la minute, it wont take more than 10 minutes to make. 

Ingredients for 4-5 pax

-500 grs spaghetti  (or you can replace it for your favorite pasta)

-1 kg ripe tomatoes

-1 broccoli

-1/2 cup red wine

-1 garlic clove

-1/2 onion

-oregano

-salt

-pepper

-sugar

-optional cornstarch

Procedure:

-Put 2 pots with cold water and sea salt to boil. (One large for the pasta, add a dash of oil, and one small for the broccoli)
- Wash, clean and cut the broccoli in small pieces.

-In a pan with olive oil, saute the chopped onions, garlic and tomatoes in halves. (No need to chop finely since it will be blended)
-Blanch the broccoli, leaving it lightly undercooked, chill in ice cold water.

-Once the onions are becoming clear, deglaze with the red wine. Let it reduce. 

-Blend everything together and pass trough a fine colander. Put back into the pan and let it boil. Add water if needed, or vegetable stock.

-Season to taste, add the oregano too. 

-Serve with the broccoli florets (to enhance the flavor, re-heat the broccoli in a pan with butter)

Astuces (tricks): if it´s too acid, add a spoon of sugar. if its too thin and you want a thicker consistence, disolve 3 spoons of cornstarch with the minimal amount of cold water, then add to the sauce and let it boil for at least 5 minutes. 

Enjoy! It was good even for me, and I´m not a vegetarian.

Pasta for lacto-vegetarians:

Whenever I cook meat, I usually serve it with vegetables or fruits and have a nice glass of red wine, comme il faut. Last time, I had this extra peppers already sliced and ready to eat and a bechamel sauce from the last meal.  So what can you do with leftovers? 

I made this pasta in no time as well, so if you are in a hurry, and you have some leftovers in your fridge, check out how easy it is to convert  them into a nice decent meal!

Ingredients for 4-5 pax:

-500 gr. pasta

-1/2 onion, sliced

-1/2 red pepper

-1/2 green pepper

-1/2 yellow pepper (If you dont have leftovers, just use 2 peppers of your choice; or 3, what the hell)

-1/4 onion (dont slice)
-1 garlic clove

-1 cup unsweetened whipping cream (240 ml)

-3 tbs all-purpose flour

-3 tbs butter

-1 cup hot milk. 

-1 clove
-nutmeg

-salt

-peper

-parmesan cheese

-Optional: If you have mushrooms, broccoli leftovers, etc you can add them too.

Procedure: 

Prepare your mise en place: wash, and slice all the vegetables; have all your ingredients ready.
-Boil water + sea salt + oil for the pasta.
For the bechamel sauce you need to make a roux, a 50-50 mixture of flour and butter.
-Dissolve the butter in a pan. Add the flour and mix without letting it burn, it ´ll be a roux blond.
-In a pot, simmer the milk with 1/4 onion with one clove.
-Cook it for 5-8 min, until  its a thick paste and doesn´t stick to the pan; remember it has to be cooked or it will taste like raw flour.
-While removing the milk with a whisk, add small pieces of the roux. Dissolve perfectly and strain before bringing it back to boil.
-Let it cook until it starts thickening. Add the nutmeg, salt and white pepper; make sure it doesn´t taste  raw.
-Turn off the heat and add the whipping cream, whisk until is well mixed and recheck seasoning. (Make sure it doesn´t boil again). Cover with cling film touching the surface.
- Cook your pasta al dente.
-In a hot pan with oil, saute the onion, garlic, (mushrooms) and peppers. In that order.
-Once they are cooked yet crunchy, take them out, and mix with your pasta and the bechamel sauce. Don´t forget the parmesan!

Not lacto-vegetarian? No problem,  skip the bechamel and cook the pasta, strain and add to a pan with minced garlic
and olive oil, add the vegetables and toss gently, 

I´m clearly not a fan of salads; I´d rather eat a nice pasta, than a bunch of grass; but hey, sometimes you just need to cook for people who enjoys a good salad; impress the girlfriend (or the mother in law)  so why not going the extra mile to have a dish that even us the non-vegetarians can enjoy? As I have always said "Eyes eat first" so let´s do a trick to make this salad appealing.


To decorate hot dishes, we have a huge variety of sauces, tourneed vegetables, fancy garnishes, microgreens; but what about salads? Vinaigrettes are too thin and they end up like a puddle under the food. What can we use, then?

Extra virgin olive oil: It`s dark green, and thicker than cheaper olive oils.
Cassis: Reduce it. It has a beautiful color.
Balsamic vinegar: Just reduce it until syrup consistence.

You will need: plastic squeeze bottles, toothpicks and a small brush. Use your imagination and make symmetrical designs for your dishes: here I used balsamic reduction with a brush.

If the balsamic is too thick, warm it in the microwave for 15 seconds.

Remember to include different flavors, colors, textures and temperatures in your salad.

Guillermo R. S. 

No more chicken wings

Being back home in Mexico, has been a challenge for me. I admit I liked working 13 hours straight, locked-up in a ship's galley, not being able to see or feel the sunlight. The question is: now what?.

Many friends, family and random people who knows about my kitchen adventures ask me that all the time. The answer is cooking. 

This post will show you 3 delicious snacks or hors-d'oeuvre that you can make in no time. Forget about chips, bbq ribs, wings, cucumber and carrot batônnetes. Thanks to my fellow colleague Eduardo who came back from the USA with new ideas that we improved as follows:

Zucchini Rolls

Ingredients for 10 pax: 

-3 zucchini or squash, all with an even, regular size. Avoid curved or irregular ones.

-1 goat cheese, natural. 

-nutty mix (pecans, peanuts, almonds), cranberries, pistachios.

-190 grs cream cheese.

-Whole pink pepper.

Procedure:

Wash the zucchini, and slice lenghtwise, aprox 3 mm thick. (If you dont have a mandoline, you can use a chef's knife. Cut as shown to avoid any accident.

Make sure you make one clean cut.

Blanch them in simmering water with a pinch of salt. (1-2 min) and cool down immediately in iced water to stop them from overcooking. 

Chop the nutty mix as even as possible, but dont grind it; you want to feel the different textures.

 Mix the cream cheese, the goat cheese, the nutty mix and a pinch of salt and pepper until it has
a nice smooth consistence.
Put a spoon of the mix over the zucchini slice and roll tightly, but be gentle or you'll break it.
Use a small brush with olive oil to make this rolls shiny. Decorate with toasted pink pepper and balsamic reduction.

Remember you can use chives, blueberries, fennel, figs , chipotle, to make varieties of this rolls.

Shrimp & Bacon lollies

Ingredients for 10 pax:

-10 U/15 shrimps

-10 bacon strips

-10 15 cm skewers

-Honey

-Truffle oil (if available)

Procedure:

Peel, devein and wash the shrimps. Pat dry them and brush them with truffle oil.

Cover the shrimp with the bacon, tight enough so it will hold on place when cooking. 

If you had a griddle or a big pan, you can use the skewers. If not, just secure the bacon with toothpicks and insert the skewer after its done. 

Warm the honey and glaze the lollies.

Be careful and dont overcook them, yet make sure the shrimps aren't raw. 5-6 minutes per side will do.

Remember to baste the shrimps in honey right before serving so they are shiny and moist.

And last but not least, the simple salmon-cheese rolls.

Ingredients for 10 pax:

-250 grs smoked salmon, better if sliced.

-100 grs cream cheese

-Fennel

-White pepper

Optional: chipotle chiles 5 grs

Procedure:

Cover the cutting board or table with cling film. There is no need to oil it, but you can brush some truffle oil / olive oil and place the salmon slices making a 15x25 cm rectangle.

Mix the cream cheese with finely chopped fennel, pepper, and blended chipotles. If you have salmon trimmings and leftovers, add them to the mix and blend until you get a smooth cream. 

With a piping bag place the cream  lenghtwise over the salmon rectangle, not at the very centre but at around 1/3 of the width.

Cut the cling film from the table or board, and use it to place one extreme of the salmon over the filling, and roll firmly, but evenly.

Once you ve got a nice roll, twist the ends and place in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Without peeling the cling film off, cut with a hot, wet chefs knife or fish knife.

Take out all the remaining cling film and serve. Decorate with fennel.

Salmon & cream cheese rolls, simple and fresh. No more carrot sticks for summer meals!

G. Santamaria-

Minced meat and bread, worldwide.

I want to dedicate this post to a dear friend, who since young age, 

expressed his appreciation to good food, good drinks, and good life. 

Can you imagine three friends aged 14-15yo, eating dinner at a fancy

 restaurant, ordering foie gras, soup a'l oignon, lobster, wine and champagne?

 Yes, that was me and my friends. 

RIP Juan Carlos H.M 1989 - 2012

Most Chefs, and connoisseurs, foodies and, in general meat lovers will appreciate a 800 grs. sirloin steak, a rib eye, new york..or what about a filet mignon, and if you could choose between minced beef or a steak, you would choose the steak, right?

But what would some delicious food would be without the minced meat?

But what would the italian spaghetti bolognaise would be without meatballs? 

Swedish köttbullar?

British sheperd's pie? 

French hachis parmentier?

 Norwegian kjøttkaker? 

Mexican chiles en nogada? 

Heck,  even the american hamburgers would be simply nothing without the minced beef, however let's understand a little bit more about minced beef and the do's and don't's.

What would all of them be without minced meat?

First of all, lets point out something most of you might know and not like:

What's on the mince?

Unless you ask for a mince from a Prime grade beef, -and pay for it- you will get an average to lower grade mince (Commercial, Utility or Cutter grades), and your mince will be composed by

-water 49%

-solid meat 12%

-skeletal tissue

-connective tissue

-blood vessels

-nerve tissue

-fat

-and yes, sometimes bones and cartilages.

Ground beef is usually subdivided based on the cut and fat percentage:
Chuck: 78-84% lean
Round: 85-89% lean
Sirloin: 90-95% lean

How do I recognize a good quality mince?

Use the general rule for fresh meat: 

-bright red, with regular marbling

-odorless

-soft to touch, not dehydrated

-long, clean strips

I's better to go to your local butcher rather than Walmart or other grandes surfaces.

 What are some good ways to use the mince?
 -Meatballs
-Burger patties
-Picadillo
-Sheperd's pie
-Bolognaise sauce

Do's and Don't' s 
-Don't overcook; like any other meat, it will get dry and though. You want soft, juicy meatballs, right?
-Season correctly, pepper, rosemary, fennel, cilantro. Just make sure the spices match the dish you are preparing.
-In some preparations you may add tons of red wine (like the bolognaise sauce)

Continuing with the topic, I introduce you some of my favourite burgers, to finish with one I'm in love with. Let's go!

Despite you may only know la Bretagne as a region where Crêpes come from, 

there was this particular burger with really tender pulled meat, 

not really with ground  beef, but oh well. 

And with the obligatory frites, comme il faut.

 In Stavanger, Norway, I tried the elgkjøtt, med tyttbær og

 sopp Burger. (Moose patty, lingonberries and mushrooms)

I must say it was delicious, but maybe thats why Santa didn't show up last Christmas.

Elgkjøtt Burgers / Moose burgers

Serves 4

Ingredients:

500 grs   - moose mince

200 grs   - pork mince

1 tbsp     - thyme, chopped

1 tsp       - juniper berries, chopped

100 ml    - sour cream

50 gr      - lingonberries (Can be replaced for fresh cranberries)

100 gr    - oyster or shitake mushrooms

Salt and pepper

4            - burger buns (better if its rye bread)

Procedure:

1.- Mix the beef with thyme and the juniper berries, season. 

2.- Form burger patties and cook over high heat. Don't overcook!

3.- Add the lingonberries or cranberries to the sour cream and mix gently. Let the crushed berries color the cream.

4.- Slice the mushrooms and sautee over high heat, season to taste.

5.- Cut the buns and toast lightly, adding butter to the pan. 

6.- Serve the beef patty over the bun, add the mushrooms and finish with a spoon or too of the cream.

And least, but not last, since my photo on Facebook created so much interest, I'll post the recipe and procedure here. 

Beef sandwich with cranberry jelly and spinach

Individual serving

Ingredients:

1 piece    - 200 gr Prime burger patty (best if homemade, oval shaped to fit the bread)

30 gr.      - sliced onion

1 tsp        - rosemary  

2 pieces   - 1.5 - 2 cm slice of bread loaf (rye, multigrain, not brioche, its too fragile)

30 gr.      - fresh clean spinach

2 tbsp.     - homemade cranberry jelly (preferably not too sweet)

Salt and pepper.

Procedure:

 Cook the meat on a skillet over high heat to sear the patty, and add rosemary and the onions.

 Butter the pan and toast the bread slices both sides, you can add some chopped garlic for extra flavor

Its better to make a homemade jelly. If the cranberries are dehydrated, 

boil them with a cup of water, strain, blend and cook again with sugar 

and pectin or 2 drops of lemon juice.

 Be generous with the spinach, it will give a great taste to your sandwich

 Cook the patty as desired, I recommend a point or medium rare. 

This one is medium well for photo purposes. 

And I added some parmesan cheese on top.

 Add the cranberry jelly and spread 

 Add the beef, and the onions on top, of course eat it while its still hot!

 Enjoy!

Chilaquiles time!

Some people  asked me  why if this is a blog about food, I have no recipes in here.
Well, I'm a Chef, yes, but so far I tried to share experiences, thoughts and ideas. And of course I'm very visual so I love posting pictures. However tonight is a good time to post one of the most traditional recipes regarding the mexican cuisine.
A recipe that its so simple anyone can do it; you just need to know how to.


I'm not going to write you 45 ingredients, with complex procedures, bogus pictures and  leave you with NO idea of what you are doing (Like most recipe websites do) I will make this -Simple -Organized -Visual.

Green Chilaquiles
Serves 5-6 PAX

As you can see in the picture; you will need:
1 kg              - Green tomatoes or Tomatillos (If you can't find fresh ones, use canned ones) 
1piece           - White onion, peeled.
1-3 pieces     - Serrano chiles (Depending on how spicy you want the sauce)
1 piece          - Garlic clove, peeled.
1 piece          - Fresh cilantro, washed. 
1 cup            - Chicken stock (You can also use Knorr, but I recommend fresh homemade stock.
1/2 kg           - Fried corn tortilla chips. (You can either fry them or buy them already fried)
1/2 cup         - Sour cream (crema acida, rømme, creme fraîche)
250 grs         - Grated fresh cheese (you can replace it for cured goat cheese or grated emmental)


Optional: Eggs, or pulled chicken breast.


Procedure:

 Peel and wash the green tomatoes, boil them 5 min or until they get a dark

 military-green color. If they're canned, skip this step. 

 Add the garlic, onion and cilantro to the blender. Add one half of serrano chili.

Add the strained green tomatoes and blend. Add the chicken stock too, 

to get a sauce consistence. Not too thick, but not too thin either. If desired, 

add the chili halves one by one, stopping when you reach the desired level of spicyness

Almost done; in a heavy pot, add a dash of oil and leave it on high heat. 

Once hot, pour the sauce quickly but carefully. Let it boil and add salt and pepper to taste.

 If its too thick, add more chicken stock. If its too thin, let it reduce uncovered. 

 If you want crispy chilaquiles, put the desired amount of tortilla chips.

 And pour the green, hot sauce generously. If you want them softer; serve the desired amount of chips on the plate, and then pour them into the sauce pot. removing for 1-2 minutes (without breaking the chips) Then use a spider to take them out and place back into the plate. 

Add the cheese, sour cream, chopped cilantro and serve immediately. Feel free to add the pulled chicken or the eggs before adding these toppings. Enjoy!

Note: If you want red chilaquiles, replace the green tomatoes for red tomatoes. 

If the sauce is too acid, a tbsp or two of sugar can be added to balance the taste. 

What do you think now? Easy, right? 

Working for a mouse, my adventures on the Disney Magic, pt I

"You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world...

but it requires people to make the dream a reality". -Walt Disney

"Our boss is a mouse, isn't that funny" -I heard some people talking behind me, and thought the comment was funny. I never imagined that some months later, I would feel as if, indeed, there was a mouse directing not the company, not the ship, but at least the F&B department, and more particularly, my co-worker and  so called leader was a mouse, or maybe a rat. But this will be explained later on.
I must say Disney Cruise Line -from now on DCL- is probably the best cruise line in the market, and I woudn't expect nothing but the best considering that The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) is the largest entretainment company in the world, not mentioning the legacy of cartoons and movies that had been in everyone's childhood.

So this story goes like this.
After I quitted the mexican restaurant in Mexico City, I had no intention of working in Mexico anymore, and one suggestion was to work at a cruise ship. I sent my resume to a hiring agent in Cancun, and they offered me a job in Royal Caribbean International, which as far as i remember, was a pretty lame deal, $1400 USD per month and I had to pay for my flight to Cape Canaveral to board the ship. However I agreed and the hiring process was about to begin; however due to my decent resume and mastering several languages, the agent offered me a better position: Assistant Chef but for the DCL. In resume, a better pay, more benefits, extensive safety training and the prestige of being part of TWDC. I had a long interview via Skype with the Shoreside HR Manager and later that day, they emailed me saying I was accepted for that positon. Then I applied and got my visa at the US Consulate and then my contract was sent to me.
In the inbetween, I changed my email addresses and therefore time went by and I never recieve further information about the flight or anything.
Thursday evening I decided to check my old email account just to notice that the DCL Casting Assistants sent all the info since monday. Oh damn. My flight was due to saturday afternoon.
Needless to say I ran like a headless chicken to prepare my suitcase, documents, drycleaning clothes, buying new clothes, and preparing myself for one of the biggest challenges in my career.

I remember walking through the main gate of the airport again, just as I've been doing for many years, seeming totally natural to say goodbye to friends and family; everyone used to this particular situation.
After the 13 hour flight to Frankfurt had the time to buy a nice german beer, buy a new watch and new lotion before boarding the plane that would take me to Barcelona , the Embarkment Port of Call for DCL.
(Oh yeah! I thought I was going to the Disney Dream, sailing from Port Canaveral, but at the end I was sent to the Disney Magic, doing the Mediterranean 14 and 7 day cruises.)

At Mexico City Airport, ready to board the 747-400

that would take me to Frankfurt.

 The flight was pretty smooth, and the attention was excellent. Speaking some german is always handy, and this time was the perfect example, asking kann ich habe apflesaft bitte, saying guten morgen, guten tag, vielen danke, bitte, tschüss made me gain the sympathy of the flight attendants, what led to an excellent service and special attention.

After taking a second plane from Frankfurt, I arrived to Barcelona

I took a shuttle bus which took me to FrontAir Congress Hotel, in the outskirts of Barcelona, where I'd be staying for 3 days before embarkment day. We attended Traditions, part of the DCL welcoming/training/familiarization program for 2 days, and last day we had a safety training at sea.

Now that was interesting. After watching some videos of what can go wrong on a cruise ship, and having safety lessons, we headed up to the dock, where we had to put on neoprene suits and jump into the sea. In short, I learned how to properly wear a lifejacket, put on a full body neoprene suit (pretty complicated) inflate a raft, carry a injured, light up flares and smoke bombs, etc. It was pretty much an interesting training and we recieved our certification.

We spent the rest of the day in Barcelona. 

This is Las Arenas, a brand new shopping mall at an antique plaza de toros 

that luckily stopped performing that cruel "entretainment" 

After visiting Las Ramblas, and going to Fnac (almost felt like I was in Paris), I went back to the hotel, ate dinner (btw the food at the hotel was horrible), and went to my room to prepare everything for the big day. The embarkment day.

We woke up early that morning and met up at the lobby. I was impressed of how many people was there, around 200 of us, although from those 200, only 14 of us were new hires. 

We arrived to the port around 6 am, and this is what I found:

The Disney Magic, a 294mt- long, 32.2 mt- width and over 10-deck height ship, 

with capacity for 2400 guests and 1000 crew/staff. 

Despite having seen the Queen Mary 2 in Stavanger, Norway, which is way larger than the Magic, I was quite impressed since I was going to spend several months working there. But lets not hurry.

After several hours in the HR room and more training and orientation, we headed up to the the upper deck to see the sail-away time.

Detail of one of the funnels

Preparing for the sail-away show, when all the passengers go to upper decks and the whistle is blown and their magical moment officially starts

 Me, walking on the upper deck. 

No training, welcome party, induction etc would be official

without a picture with Mickey and Minnie, right?

Part II coming soon!