Super Bowl Sunday Eats and Treats

Last year I wrote about celebrating my birthday on Super Bowl Sunday. We're doing the same thing this year and we'll be enjoying all the same treats.

My birthday isn't on Super Bowl Sunday, but it's close enough that every year I double-down and celebrate my birthday and football on the same day.

I didn't much care about the sport until our youngest son, Michael, taught me to love all things football. From the time he was 3 years old, he watched Sports Center and would grill me about which QB was the best--I didn't have a clue. He's off at UC Davis now and all that's different now. These days, my favorite TV show--with the exception of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report--is Showtime's Inside the NFL.

We've invited a dozen friends to come by the house and watch the game. I don't want to get stuck in the kitchen, so everything we're serving will be made the day ahead.

Only the Bacon Wrapped Shrimp appetizer has to be grilled on the day so the bacon is crisp and the shrimps are juicy. Just before kick-off, we'll reheat the wings and ribs and we'll be ready to watch what promises to be a great match up.

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

You know the expression, "Bet you can't eat just one," well it applies to this appetizer. My son Franklin mastered this recipe when he was putting on feasts to entertain his college roommates. He taught me and I'm happy to pass it along to you.

Yield: 4 servings

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound shrimps (25-35 count/pound), washed, shelled, deveined

10-12 bacon strips

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 garlic clove, peeled, finely chopped

1 shallot, peeled, finely chopped

2 tablespoons Italian parsley, washed, finely chopped

Toothpicks

Method

Heat the olive oil in a pan and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sauté the finely chopped parsley, garlic, and shallot in the olive oil until lightly browned. Let cool. Spoon the seasoned olive oil over the shrimp. Toss well and let marinate for 30 minutes.

Organize an area on the counter so you can work assembly-line style.

Cut the strips of bacon into 3 equal pieces. Toss the shrimp again, then take one shrimp and lay it on the piece of bacon, rolling the bacon around the shrimp. Take a toothpick and push it through the bacon-shrimp-bacon to hold it together. Set aside and do the rest.

Using tongs, put the shrimp on a hot grill and close the hood. If you're using an oven, set it at 450 degrees and put the shrimp on a wire rack over a cookie sheet. Turn every 2-3 minutes so they cook evenly and don't burn, about 10 minutes.

Serve on a platter with napkins.

Carrot Salad with Lemon-Soaked Raisins

A great accompaniment for the ribs and wings, the salad also goes well with deli meats like turkey breast or ham or grilled steaks, chicken, or sausage. The lemon-pepper soaked raisins and the roasted nuts bring some surprises to a familiar side dish.

Yield 6-8 servings

Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

8 large carrots, preferably farmers' market fresh, washed, peeled, ends trimmed off

1 scallion, optional, finely chopped

1 small bunch Italian parsley, washed, dried, stems trimmed, finely chopped

2 tablespoons golden raisins

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Pinch of cayenne

Sea salt and pepper

1/2 cup mayonnaise

Method

Soak the raisins in lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper at least 30 minutes, preferably overnight Grate the carrots in a large mixing bowl. Roughly chop the raisins, reserving the lemon juice not absorbed into the raisins.

Mix together the carrots, raisins, parsley, and scallions. Season with the cumin, cayenne, sea salt, and black pepper and toss. Add the lemon juice and mayonnaise. Mix well.

Variations

Use cilantro instead of Italian parsley

Add 2 tablespoons capers

Top with 2 tablespoons roasted chopped almonds

Caesar Salad

The dressing can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 2 days, then all you have to do before serving is tear up the lettuce, shake on some cheese, add the croutons and pour on the dressing. Perfect for a half-time snack.

Yield 4 servings

Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 garlic clove, skin off

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

4 anchovies

1 large egg, farmers' market fresh

1/4 teaspoon Worcester sauce

2 hearts of romaine or 1 large frisee, leaves washed

2-3 tablespoons olive oil, to taste

1 teaspoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed

2-3 drops Tabasco, optional

1/4 cup Parmesan or Romano cheese, freshly grated

1/2 cup croutons, homemade

Black pepper

Method

Use a wooden bowl if you have one. Sprinkle the sea salt on a wooden cutting board. Mash the garlic back and forth on the salt with the flat side of a chef's knife, then sweep the garlic-salt mash into the salad bowl.

Boil water in a small saucepan. Add the egg and cook for 4 minutes. Remove the egg, let cool, open, scoop out the yolk and white with a small spoon, and add to the salad bowl along with the Worcester sauce, optional Tabasco, olive oil, and lemon juice.

Using a fork, mash the anchovies against the side of the salad bowl so they dissolve in the dressing. Mix well.

Tear the romaine leaves into pieces or chop up the frisee, add to the salad bowl, top with grated cheese, croutons, and season with pepper. Toss to coat the leaves.

Taste and adjust the flavors by adding more lemon juice or sea salt.

Variations

Add 1/2 pound grilled, shelled, deveined shrimp, whole or roughly chopped

Add 2 chicken breasts, skinless, grilled, thin sliced

Add 1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, roughly chopped

Brown Sugar Pork Ribs

The cooked ribs can be kept in the refrigerator covered 2-3 days or frozen in an air-tight freezer bag.

Yield 4 servings

Time Prep (20 minutes) Marinate (overnight) Cook (2 hours)

Ingredients

1 rack pork ribs

2-3 cups brown sugar

1/4 cup kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Olive oil

Black pepper

6 ounces Italian tomato paste

1 small yellow onion, peeled, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled, finely chopped

Method

Trim excess fat, the membrane, and flap from the ribs. Caprial Pence the owner-chef of Caprial's Bistro in Portland, Oregon and a fellow contributor to Eat Drink or Die shows how to prep the ribs with easy-to-follow photographs. Reserve the flap, trimmed of its membrane, to grill for tacos.

Spread a piece of plastic wrap on the counter 5” longer than the rack. Dust the meat side of the ribs with the cayenne.

Mix together the brown sugar and kosher salt. Spread half the dry mix on the plastic wrap. Lay the ribs on top, then cover with the rest of the dry mix. Cover with a second piece of plastic wrap, seal, fold in half and place into a Ziploc or plastic bag. Refrigerate in a pan overnight.

In the morning remove the ribs. The dry mix will have transformed into a slurry. Very alchemical! In a sauce pan sauté the onions and garlic with olive oil until lightly browned, season with pepper. Remove the ribs from the plastic bag. Use a rubber spatula to remove most of the liquid from the ribs and plastic bag and transfer to the sauce pan. Add the tomato paste and simmer the sauce on a low flame for 20 minutes. Taste and adjust the flavor if necessary.

Line a large baking tray with tin foil. Place a wire rack on top of the baking tray, then lay the ribs on the rack. The ribs can either be cooked in a 350 degree oven or on the “cold” side of a covered grill with the heat on high.

Whether on the grill or in the oven, cook the ribs 30 minutes on each side, then baste the ribs with the sauce and cook another 30 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from the oven, cut apart the individual ribs, and serve.

Kimchi Chicken Wings

The natural partnership of kimchi and brown sugar brings a sweet-heat to these finger lickin' good wings.

Yield 4 servings

Time Marinate overnight. Cook approximately 60 minutes

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds chicken wings, washed, pat dried

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 cup kimchi, finely chopped

1 tablespoon kimchi water from the bottle

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, washed, peeled, sliced thin

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Method

Dissolve the brown sugar in the kimchi water, olive oil, and soy sauce. Add the kimchi, onion slices, and chicken wings. Mix well, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking tray with tin foil for easy clean up. Place a wire rack on the tray and arrange the wings on the rack. Drizzle the wings with olive oil. Put into the oven and bake 30 minutes. Turn over with tongs. Bake another 30 minutes.

The wings should be tender and golden brown. If not, turn the wings over and continue baking another 10 minutes.

Check again and continue baking at 10 minute intervals, turning the wings each time, until they are done.

In a small saucepan on a low flame, reduce the marinade by a third. Reserve.

The wings should be eaten hot. Pour the heated, reduced marinade over the wings just before serving.

Serve with plenty of napkins and ice cold drinks.

Variations

Add 1 tablespoon julienned garlic and 1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley to the marinade

Just before serving, top with 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds and 1 tablespoon thinly sliced scallion

Banana Cake with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts

Now it's time for something sweet. The cake is best served warm, topped with powdered sugar and grated dark chocolate. Ice cream and whipped cream are good too.

Yield 8-10 servings

Time 90 minutes

Ingredients

4 ripe bananas

1 1/2 tablespoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sweet butter, room temperature

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup half and half or 1 cup heavy cream

2 1/2 cups white flour

Pinch of sea salt

Pinch of cayenne

1/2 cup raw walnuts

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and paint the inside of a 9 x 3 round cake pan, then put the pan in the freezer for 30 minutes. The frozen butter prevents the batter from sticking to the pan.

Bake the walnuts on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes. Let cool, roughly chop, and set aside.

In a bowl mash the bananas with a fork, add the baking soda and vanilla. stir well and set aside. In a mixer use the whisk to cream together the softened butter and both sugars. Add the eggs, mashed bananas, half and half (or cream) and whisk until blended. Mix in the flour half a cup at a time, being careful not to over-beat.

Remove the bowl from the mixer. Use a rubber spatula to blend in the walnuts and chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the buttered cake pan. It will only fill the pan half-way, which is good because the cake will rise.

Bake the cake in a 350 degree oven for 60-70 minutes, turning the pan every 20 minutes so the cake cooks evenly. Test to see if the cake is done by inserting a wooden skewer. If the top is browning too quickly, lightly lay a sheet of aluminum foil over the top. When the skewer comes out clean, take the cake out of the oven and place on a wire rack for 30 minutes.

Remove the cake from the pan, putting it back on the wire rack to finish cooling.

Just before serving, dust the top with powdered sugar and shaved chocolate. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Ask the Locals Guide: The Sundance Resort and Park City, Utah

The Sundance Film Festival screens hundreds of films from January 20-30. Local insiders know that during the festival, the slopes are less crowded than usual. While filmgoers crowd the theaters, restaurants and bars, skiers enjoy shorter lift lines and uncrowded runs. I don't ski but I do eat. For those who are going to watch films, here are some suggestions about where to eat. 

With heavy snow falling in Atlanta and New York City where it isn't wanted, there's comfort knowing that snow is also accumulating on ski slopes, where it belongs.

At the foot of Utah's Wasatch Mountains, dozens of world-class ski resorts are within easy driving distance of Salt Lake International Airport.

The mountains make an impression the minute visitors land at Salt Lake International Airport. In summer or winter, the white capped peaks are evidence that this is rocky mountain country or, as the state logo has it, "Life Elevated."  Salt Lake City itself is over 4,000 feet, so don't be surprised if you are a little light-headed until you acclimate.

It is no surprise that an area devoted to active winter recreation also has good restaurants where visitors can cozy up to a warming fire and a good meal.

At Robert Redford's Sundance Resort, the only stand-alone ski resort in Utah, the pleasures of the mountain aren't limited to the ski slopes. Staying in one of the ninety-five cottages or in a mountain home puts a visitor up close and personal with the native spruce and pine trees growing close to the buildings.

Even the recently completed Redford Convention Center all but disappears in a thicket of trees, which makes it an ideal location for corporate retreats, weddings, and family celebrations.

Skiers riding the ski lift to the back mountain can stop at Bearclaw Cabin, a warming hut with a panoramic view of the Wasatch Mountains and the Heber and Utah Valleys below. The menu is limited to hot drinks, soup, and sandwiches but given the setting, that seems perfect.

Having completed their runs, skiers visit the Owl Bar, kick back and listen to country music, have a round of drinks and enjoy freshly made snacks, including the house cured pickled eggs and beef jerky.

For full-course, sit-down meals there is the upscale Tree Room and the more informal Foundry Grill, with a fireplace and wood-burning pizza oven warming the room.

Knowing their customers want well-prepared, comfort food, both menus offer dishes that feed the body and warm the soul, like mustard rotisserie chicken, crusted pork on the bone with mashed potatoes and broccolini, braised black cod in carrot miso broth, halibut with rice and vegetables, roast loin of Utah elk flavored with blackberry jus, baby back ribs and cole slaw, and ratatouille with vegetables and quinoa.

With the meal finished and the table cleared, there's no rush to leave. The desserts will hold diners a few minutes longer before sending them off to bed, dreaming not only of sugar plumb fairies but about Executive Chef Mark Shoup's dessert menu of caramel apple pie with mascarpone ice cream, pear cobbler with almond crumble, or banana split with bricks of chocolate and vanilla ice cream topped with a melange of strawberries, walnuts, caramel and chocolate sauce on a plate coated with Chantilly cream and, oh yeah, a split banana.

For anyone achey from too much physical exertion on the slopes, massages are available at the Spa. At the Sundance Resort, fireplaces seem to be everywhere, including the Spa's quiet room, where it is easy to get lost staring at the logs, crackling and hissing as they are consumed by the flames. In the warmth of the quiet room, visitors sit and calculate the comparative benefits of another day of skiing weighed against the pleasures of a late breakfast in the Foundry Grill and relaxing with a good book in front of the fire.

Traveling between Sundance and Park City, locals know to leave time for a stop in Heber City to time-trip back to the 1960s at the Holiday Lanes (565 N. Main Street) to bowl a few games and have a burger, fries and shake. Come early enough and there may be homemade pie.

The Dairy Keen, "Home of the Train," is also on Heber's Main Street. Hamburgers are the specialty but the menu also includes fish and chicken with lots of treats for kids who love watching the model train that circles the inside of the store.

Park City has restaurants to satisfy just about anyone's budget or taste. Affordable family-owned restaurants serve pizza, hamburgers, salads, Mexican food, sandwiches, barbecue and sushi. If you crave fast food, you can find Macdonald's, Burger King and Subway.

Half a block from the Park City Town Ski Lift, High West Distillery & Saloon advertises itself as "the world's first and only ski-in gastro distillery." Taking advantage of the recently liberalized liquor laws, High West offers tastings of wines and spirits in a converted three-story house, with a spacious, family style restaurant on the ground floor in what was once a garage for horses and, later, automobiles.

The spirits served at High West are highly rated by whiskey aficionados. Although High West does produce some of their spirits in the 250-gallon copper still near the entrance, the aged whiskeys are not distilled on the site but are blends of whiskeys sourced from other distillers.

What is distilled at High West are clear spirits, ones not aged in oak barrels. The result is Silver Oat Whiskey and Vodka 7000, both of which are worth trying for their smoothness and unique flavor. In addition to drinks served in the saloon, bottles of spirits can be purchased in the small package store near the entrance.

Many of Park City's better restaurants, coffee shops and popular bars are located on Main Street, the center of the city's commercial life with stores selling tourist souvenirs, clothing, native crafts, the work of local artists, and the fun, interactive Park City Museum.

Insider's Tip: In the lobby of the Park City Museum, pick up a copy of the restaurant coupon book with discounts for local restaurants and attractions. Don't overlook the Park Record which sometimes has an even better selection of discounts.

At the bottom of Main Street, Robert Redford's Zoom specializes in large plates of hearty, well-prepared food. Ribs and coleslaw, herb roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, burgers, sandwiches, grilled fish, risotto, Caesar salads, mac n' cheese, onion rings, hot soup, and fresh salads fill out the menu.

Half way up Main Street, the Java Cow Cafe & Bakery is a local favorite for breakfast pastries, espresso beverages, sandwiches, and crepes. In summer, the homemade ice creams are a big seller, along with the hundreds of t-shirts featuring the Java Cow logo.

Nearby, Cafe Terigo, an intimate restaurant, has a wine bar in the inviting entrance way, a main dining room and two upstairs dining rooms, which are mostly used for parties, receptions and family celebrations.

The menu sticks to basics: soups, salads, sandwiches, grilled meats and fish, pastas and desserts. Run by husband and wife, Ed (he's the chef) and Debbie (she's the maitre d') Axtell, Terigo, as locals refer to it, is a family affair. The dining room has the friendly feeling of your home, only better, because someone else is doing the cooking. Save room for their most popular dessert, the bread pudding with butter rum sauce, pine nuts and dried cranberries. It's a keeper.

350 Main, a sprawling restaurant-bar, is a gathering spot for locals and tourists alike. Taking a global approach, chef Michael LeClerc is influenced by the cuisines of Mexico, Indonesia, India, Italy, Japan, France, and the American Southwest.

Locals crowd the bar ordering from the $6.00 tapas menu, focusing on the Ahi and Hamachi Tower, a tasty treat that goes well any of the drinks on the signature martini and cocktail list.

Something of a local legend, Bill White owns half a dozen popular eating establishments, as varied as one can imagine. Upscale Grappa, at the top of Main Street in a converted house, is well-known for quality meals in a homey setting. While the Windy Ridge Cafe and Bakery zero in on perfecting a salad-pasta-sandwich-comfort food menu in a cozy, unpretentious, country cafe setting.

Given the mountain setting, Wahso is an unexpected treat--an Asian grill. Wahso doesn't so much fuse Asian and Western cuisines as it respects both, pulling the best out of each tradition with the result that Duck Breast "A L'Orange" gets the Peking treatment and ginger scented lentils accompany the Morgan Valley Lamb.

Another, different kind of fusion happens at Chimayo where French and Mexican cuisines embrace as happily as a newly wedded couple. In many of the dishes, Mexican heat enlivens classic French sauces. Pan seared sea scallops are enveloped with a Blood Orange and Jalapeno Beurre Blanc sauce. A rack of lamb eschews mint in favor of the sweet heat provided by a guajillo chile and cumin demi-glace.

A good wine list is supplemented with a selection of quality tequilas and imaginative riffs on the margarita, including one flavored with pomegranate, which might have been too sweet but proved to be light and flavorful.

Park City is cowboy country, so it's natural to expect to eat some barbecue. But only at Chimayo are spareribs marinated all day in a chipotle marinade As with many restaurants in the area, local game animals are proudly served as bona fides of locally sourced meat. In the hands of chef Arturo Flores, elk, which can be chewy, is meltingly tender and flavored with bacon, peppercorns, sesame seeds, and a green chile Béarnaise.

For the appetizers, soups and salads, there are Italian-Mexican combinations in the fried calamari served with lime cilantro and lemon chipotle aiolis and the goat cheese and mozzarella chile relleno with a poblano pumpkin seed pesto. But mostly the starters menu focuses on familiar Mexican favorites which are prepared with the freshest of ingredients: ceviches, queso fundido, duck enchiladas, guacamole and shrimp, tortilla soup, avocado salad with papaya and vegetables with a pasilla chile vinaigrette.

All too often culinary combinations mean propping up the weakness of one cuisine with the strengths of another. When a chef has classic cooking skills and a great palate, fusion means discovering the best of each and bringing new awareness to old favorites. That's what happens at Chimayo.

So if you are spending time around the Wasatch Mountains expect to enjoy great scenery, world-class skiing, and excellent meals.

The Sundance Resort's Pear Crisp, Rich with Almonds

Chef Mark Shoup knows about cold weather. The executive chef at Robert Redford’s Sundance Resort in Utah serves up a lot of hot comfort food when hungry skiers sit down in the main dining room, the Foundry Grill.

High on his list of favorites is hot pear crisp topped with ice cream. If you’re counting calories, use whipped cream or yogurt instead.

Perfect by itself for a cold-weather afternoon snack or to end a meal, the crisp can be prepared a day ahead, kept in the refrigerator, and popped in the oven just thirty minutes before serving.

Chef Shoup was kind enough to let me post the recipe on Zesterdaily.

Eating Well in Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo

In the fall, on assignment for Peter Greenberg, I travelled to the southern tip of Baja California. I had the good fortune to visit not just Cabo San Lucas, the most common tourist destination in the area, but also the nearby village of San Jose del Cabo, which, if truth be told, was more to my liking. 


In both cities, there are many restaurants and bars catering to the tourists who arrive by plane and on cruise ships. For the most part, the food in such establishments is unexceptional. But, with a little bit of effort, you can find restaurants that will satisfy your appetite and reward your soul.

I've attached the article I wrote for Peter's web site. To read the other articles about the trip, please visit:

Earth, Sun, Water and Art on the Southern Tip of Baja California

San Jose Del Cabo's Tequila Shrimp

Culinary Experiences: The Truly Local Restaurants of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo

Culinary Experiences: The Truly Local Restaurants of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo Not many travelers head to Los Cabos, Mexico, in search of their next great meal. (The next great margarita, however, is another story.) But leave it to roving foodie David Latt to discover the authentic finds in Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, where travelers can immerse themselves in the local scene, one meal at a time.  Cabo San Lucas has dozens of restaurants worth a visit.  Mariscos Mazatlan, located at Narciso Mendoza at 20th de Noviembre, is worthy of notice as much for the interior as the food, with its soaring, 30-foot ceilings. The shellfish on the menu is fresh, although rarely caught in local waters. In Cabo, most of the seafood comes from the mainland, especially Mazatlan, just across the Sea of Cortez (also known as the Gulf of California). For appetizers, you can't go wrong with seafood cocktails made with shrimp, octopus, oyster, or sea conch. Shrimp or fish ceviche, raw clams and oysters or avocados stuffed with shrimp are also a great way to begin a meal. Fish at Mariscos Mazatlan is served grilled, breaded, fried, and stewed, accompanied simply with pico de gallo or overwhelmed with cheese sauces preferred by many locals. The specialty of the house is shrimp and they are difficult to resist, cooked a variety of ways, with coconut, tomatoes and chilies, garlic, or potatoes. If you're in Mexico, tacos should be a must-eat, but some visitors shy away because of health issues. For a taste of authentic tacos without the worry, try Tacos Gardenias located at Camino al Hacienda and Ninos Heroes. Housed in a rustic concrete building, with a dirt parking lot on the side, the restaurant is only open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. because their customers are usually on the way to the nearby beach or just coming back. Want to find great places to eat on the road? Visit the Restaurants section. Locals and tourists (hence the menu in English and Spanish) love the freshly made tacos (shrimp, fish, chicken, pork, beef, fried pork rind, and cactus) and quesadillas (shrimp and chicken). The tacos are served the way locals like them. A homemade tortilla with a topping of your choosing is accompanied with julienned fresh lettuce and cabbage, grilled jalapeño peppers, limes, cilantro and onions, pico de gallo, pickled onions, chile sauce, and squeeze bottles of mayonnaise and hot sauce. If you order the fish taco (which I recommend), you will be given a fat filet of flounder fried crunchy in a light batter and served on a homemade tortilla. It's up to you how many condiments you pile on top. Shrimp is also a specialty, hot or cold. The Molcajete de Camaron, known as the restaurant's "signature dish," is brought to the table in a heated, three-legged stone bowl called a molcajete. The shrimp are lightly cooked in a savory sauce made with cheese, onions, peppers. The shrimp cocktail, always served with the Mexican saltine, Saladitas, in their distinctive bright blue wrapper, has onions, cilantro, and a soupy tomato sauce that is irresistible. This being Mexico, cocktails (margarita, Bloody Mary, Cuba Libre, and tequila shooters) and beer are served all day. One way to get an overview of the area is to hire a guide for a day. For a little over US$100, companies likeTerramar supply not only a guide but a car and driver as well. With a guide you'll be given an insider's look at Cabo San Lucas, nearby San Jose del Cabo, and the surrounding area. Need a free guide to Mexico? Visit Destinations: Mexico & Central America. With the help of Terramar's Enrique Lopez, I discovered El Torito del los Mariscos, located on Janette Wilson 1530 Colonia Ejidal, which is described as "the most popular seafood restaurant for locals." The menu at El Torito is only in Spanish because although some tourists have discovered the restaurant, this is where the locals go to eat. Their reasons are simple: The food is good, portions are large, prices are affordable, and there is a large children's play area in back. El Torito has its roots in Sinaloa where the owners, Jorge and Monserrat Garate have another restaurant in Mazatlan. Rustic, family style seafood dishes are the focus, with a variety of sauces and a lot of deep frying. In fact, the most popular dish at the restaurant is the deep-fried bacon wrapped shrimp with cheese. The gastronomically incorrect shrimp are surprisingly light and delicious, not to mention soul satisfyingly crunchy. Ceviches are popular, as are aguachile, in which raw shrimp, fish, octopus, and squid are "cooked" by a sauce made with limes and Serrano chiles. Everything at El Torito is handmade. All the salsas, sauces, and tortillas are made according to Monserrat's recipes as she taught them to Jorge, who is the executive chef. Want to get the inside scoop on a destination? Try the Ask the Locals Guides. What distinguishes El Torito from other seafood restaurants is the size of the portions. When you order a shrimp cocktail from another restaurant you will be presented with a glass goblet filled with peeled, deveined shrimp. Here a dozen or more large, unpeeled shrimp with their heads still on are perched on the rim of a molcajete, the bowl filled with a sweet-hot-salty tomato sauce flavored with chunks of onion and pieces of fresh cilantro. You'll get your hands dirty when you eat here and you won't mind a bit. El Torito opened five years ago as a small, concrete block, cantina-style shack, with no more than a dozen tables. In December, the restaurant will move to a larger space next door. Even though the interior will be more finished, El Torito will keep the cantina feeling with open spaces beneath an elevated roof, even in the bathrooms. Besides good, affordable food, what keeps the restaurant popular is the friendly staff and the feeling that even though this is a restaurant, you're being served as if you were at home. Twenty minutes to the east, San Jose del Cabo is the exact opposite of Cabo San Lucas. Where one is big, bold, noisy, sexy, and modern, the other has its identity sunk deeply in the history and traditions of the area. The Plaza Mijares and Mission San Jose del Cabo anchor the downtown with its narrow streets, many restaurants, and small stores selling jewelry, handmade local goods, and quality art. Learn more about San Jose del Cabo from David Latt: Cabo San Lucas Vs. San Jose Del Cabo: Adventures in Baja California The authenticity of the city is reflected in the decor and menu of Salsitas, at Alvaro Obregon 1732, an intimate bar, restaurant, and art gallery open for lunch and dinner on the border of the historic Art District. The specialty cocktail of the restaurant takes two hands to drink. Served in a large clay bowl filled to the brim, a very generous helping of reposadotequila (aged between 2 and 11 months) is flavored with slices of grapefruit, orange, and lime and chilled by a handful of ice cubes. On a warm evening, the refreshingly cool drink was the perfect accompaniment for the chips and four salsas that started the meal. The other appetizer was a traditional Mexican taste treat: deep-fried peppers stuffed with tuna, seasoned with lime. Even if you aren't hungry or thirsty, Salsitas is a great place to stop and enjoy the colorful rooms and beautiful Mexican art. Also open for lunch and dinner, La Panga Antigua Restaurant & Bar is an intimate restaurant with a reputation for friendly service and quality food. The dinner menu is somewhat pricey, but the prix fixe lunch menu, with a starter, entree, and dessert is a bargain at under US $20. After a long morning walking around the Art District, La Panga's shaded patio offered a good meal in a pleasant setting. Also in Baja California: one of the 5 Unexpected Gay Pride Festivals. The organic green leaf lettuce salad with grilled whole cherry tomatoes (a nice touch), escabeche pickled onions, and cracked pepper dressed with a honey vinaigrette was delicious. A basket of freshly baked grilled focaccia bread with onions and basil went well with the salad and the entree: a pan sauteed, salt crusted white fish (basa) with roasted new potatoes and mixed vegetables (carrots, asparagus, bell peppers, and zucchini) and basil-oil dipping sauce. A bit less salt on the fish would have been preferable, but the dish was otherwise well-prepared and delicious. Dessert was a light cheese cake with caramel and fresh strawberries. A cafe con leche caliente finished the meal. If you can stay in San Jose Los Cabos for dinner, make reservations at Don Emiliano Restaurant at Boulevard Mijares 27, where Chef Margarita C. de Salinas presents dishes she describes as "Mexican haute cuisine," with traditional ingredients benefiting from the chef's training at the Culinary Institute of America and Le Cordon Bleu. Expect to spend several hours enjoying a meal in the lovely courtyard, sampling not only dishes from the menu but premium Mexican wines from their extensive cellar. More casual, Tequila Restaurant has a small dining room just inside the front door. But the main dining room is in the large courtyard at the rear of the building, shaded by giant avocado, mango, African tulip, and guava trees planted in the 1920s. Lights hung in the branches create the feeling of a place out of time. Trained as an agricultural engineer, Enrique Silva, chef and co-owner with Fernando Hernandez, opened the restaurant in 1996 because he wanted to serve organic, locally sourced food. He buys much of his seafood from the fish market at Puerto Los Cabos, the nearby fishing village, with the rest bought from fisherman who sail out of Palmilla and La Paz and Puerto San Carlos on the Pacific. Most of his produce comes from his own certified fair trade, organic farm called Huerta Los Tamarindos, just outside of town. He grows herbs, lettuces, arugula, heirloom tomatoes and many varieties of peppers. Because he has his own farm he can cook with fresh guajillo and cascabel peppers, typically only available dried. According to Silva, farms in lower Baja California have been growing organic produce for 30 years. The area is a pioneer in Latin America, where farms began by growing herbs and then vegetables, and has evolved into a hundred-million-dollar business. Since he never went to culinary school, Chef Silva didn't learn how to make stocks, but rather learned to use fresh ingredients and herbs to create food that tastes fresher and lighter." Find more great eating experiences, visit our Culinary Travel section. The menu proudly features fresh produce from his farm in the many salads. Seafood and vegetables are prepared Italian style, grilled and flavored simply with olive oil and fresh spices. A Mediterranean bias appears in the use of rosemary, the inclusion of pastas and risottos, and fish baked with wine and basil. The tequila shrimp locates the dish thoroughly in Mexico with tequila sauce and sides of plantains and black beans. The large shrimp were sweet and delicious. A braised octopus used the fresh guajillo peppers from the restaurant's farm, together with chilies and garlic in a dark, rich sauce. While the food at all these restaurants is good and definitely better and (mostly) less expensive than what is offered at the hotels, the additional pleasure is in the setting. Adding to the appeal of good food is the pleasure of Salsitas' art-filled, colorful interior, the open, casual cantina feeling of El Torito, Mariscos Mazatlan's deep blue walls with their fish-filled scenes, and the lush landscaping of the patios at La Panga Antigua and Tequila Restaurant. At any one of the restaurants I visited, I could easily spend hours with friends, eating, drinking, and hanging out in the welcoming environments.  Cabo San Lucas on Dwellable

For New Year's Eve: A Favorite Cocktail

The holidays are a great time to break the work routine, slow down the daily tempo, and hang out with friends and family.

Cold weather makes the outdoors less hospitable. A warm kitchen invites like no other room in the house.  Pulling together appetizers, a salad, main dish, and a couple of desserts, is a lot of work but also great fun. 

With New Year's Eve fast approaching, the search is on to plan a festive meal. What better way to begin the celebration than with a drink that evokes the sweetness of the tropics.

Because there are edible pieces of fruit at the bottom, include a spoon so the cocktail can be enjoyed as a drink and an appetizer all in one.

Tropical Rum Cocktail

Yield: 4

Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup white rum

2 Fuyu persimmons, ripe, slightly soft, finely chopped

1 cup fresh orange juice, sweet

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

4 tablespoons powdered sugar

16 ice cubes

Method

Pour the white rum into a pitcher, add the powdered sugar, and stir well to dissolve. Add the finely chopped persimmons, orange and lime juice, and stir well to combine.

Put 4 ice cubes and a spoon into each glass, pour in the drink, making certain that the persimmon pieces are divided equally and serve.

Variations

Top with a fresh sprig of mint

Adjust the proportion of orange and lime juice, to taste

Substitute finely chopped mango, strawberries, kiwi, or fresh passion fruit for persimmons

Tempura Vegetables and Shrimp Congee

Congee is rice served "wet" in a broth with vegetables, tofu, meat, seafood, or poultry.

Congee is the Asian equivalent of Jewish chicken soup, perfect when the weather is cold and damp or you're fighting off a cold.  Served in a variety of ways, depending on the country of origin or what's in season, the basic dish is made with cooked rice, a liquid, and flavorings.

You'll find dozens of authentic, regional recipes in cookbooks and online, but in our kitchen "congee" is another way of saying repurposed deliciousness.

Whatever we don't eat at a Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, or Thai restaurant we bring home. Invariably, a container of rice is included along with the kung pao chicken, tempera shrimp and vegetables, stir fried beef with broccoli, or sweet and sour pork that we couldn't finish. 

Reheating these dishes at home is one option, but transforming them into congee is better.  For example, converting vegetable and shrimp tempura into an aromatic, deeply satisfying and delicious congee is one way this simple technique can turn left-overs into the best comfort food you've ever eaten. 

Tempura Vegetable and Shrimp Congee

Serves 2

Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 tempura shrimp, tail removed

4-6 pieces tempura vegetables

1 cup cooked rice

1 garlic clove, skin removed, finely chopped

4 cups spinach leaves, washed to remove grit, stems and leaves finely chopped

4 shiitake mushrooms, washed, tips of the stems removed, thinly sliced

1/2 cup corn kernels, fresh or from a can

2 cups water or miso soup or a combination of both

1 tablespoon olive or sesame oil

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Method

Cut the shrimp and tempura vegetables into bite-sized pieces and set aside.  Saute on a medium-low flame the garlic, shiitake mushrooms, and corn kernels until lightly browned. 

Add the cut up spinach and water or a mix of miso soup and water. Raise the flame and simmer 10 minutes.

Add the cut up tempura vegetables and shrimp to the broth. Stir well and simmer 10 minutes.

Add the cooked rice, stir well and simmer a final 5 minutes.

Serve hot.