Salsa Heaven

I hesitate to write this post.   You know that feeling.  You had your favorite little restaurant, or hair salon, or mechanic.  It was perfect, they knew you, you could always get in, it was amazing and a steal.  Then the word got out, and while you're glad for the owners, because excellence should be rewarded, you're wistful, too.  So I hesitate to write about Rancho Pescadero, because it is, well, heaven, and I hope it stays that way.  But when one blogs about food, one must write about her time at Rancho Pescadero.

Doug and I first went here six years ago, for our 20th anniversary. The trip started off as something of a debacle.  Doug was biking home from the city and I was printing our boarding passes at 9pm for our 6am flight and found, to my utter shock and horror, that my passport was expired.  I had never even thought to check, as I've had an active passport since age 20.  But, alas, it had expired. And we were screwed.  Doug was incredibly understanding and cool about it, suggesting we just pivot to another, domestic location, since we had a sitter and five days off.  But, having spent months looking at pictures of Rancho, I couldn't accept this alternative.  And it turns out, if you live in Chicago, one of six regional passport centers, you can get a passport in a day.  In a few hours, even.  Obviously we had to change our flight and it cost a fortune but, 24 hours after originally planned, we arrived at Rancho Pescadero, and had one of the most amazing five days of our married life. Incredibly relaxing.  Amazing attention to detail.  Total sensory satiation.   Casual but elegant, comfortable but  stylish, Rancho Pescadero is a boutique resort on the pacific ocean about an hour north of Cabo.  Doug had found it on a NYT story and we absolutely loved it and vowed to come back.

Six years have gone by, but we are still on their email list. We got an email a couple months ago saying, Rancho is closing for a remodel and expansion - and there was a special offered.  I emailed a couple couples to whom we'd raved, one of whom had gone on our recommendation last year, and boom, it was on the calendar.

Two weeks ago, we drove back up. I hoped it would live up to my memories of it.  It did. I hoped it would impress our friends as much as it did us.  It did.  I hoped it would be a respite, a recharge, a chance to just be in a beautiful place and appreciate the simple beauty of the pacific and baja.  It was.  It slayed.

One of the highlights of the trip was the cooking class that Jean, Dave, Celeste and I attended one afternoon. The food at Rancho is sublime. They grow 60% of the food they serve (and all of the ubiquitous flowers.)  Chef David Coronce taught a class on Mexican salsas:  tomatillo, borracho, molcajete and a simple enchilada salsa.   

The setting, like everything at Rancho, is stunning.  The class took place in the open-air restaurant in the Garden Restaurant, which is immediately adjacent to the resort's vast organic gardens.

 

Chef talked a lot about the basics of Mexican salsas, and the most common peppers.  

 

chipotle, pasilla, guajillo, serrano, jalapeno, habanero chiles

some are smoky, some are sweet, some are extremely hot.

Mexican food is such a pleasure in every way.  Such simple ingredients with a premium on transforming simple ingredients in a variety of ways.   Charring, blending, sauteing, roasting - it all tastes good.   The chef shared these recipes with us after we returned.  They are all worth making.

 We started with a tomatillo salsa - or green sauce.  So simple - no cooking required. It is KILLER.

RAW GREEN SAUCE

·       5 pieces of tomatillo

·       ½ piece of onion

·       3 garlic clove

·       1 piece of serrano pepper

·       50 gram of cilantro (about 1 cup)

·       salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.     Wash and disinfect.

2.     Put all the ingredients in a blender, and mix.

3.     Finally season with salt and enjoy.

RECOMMENDATION:

Excellent option to eat with pork, or to serve with corn chips.

 

 Next we tackled borracha, molcajeteado and a simple enchilada salsa.  Each salsa we then enjoyed with fish or pork that chef had sauteed up.

The ingredients for all the salsas were simple & fresh. 

MOLCAJETEADA SAUCE (recipe below)

While the enchilada salsa's ingredients simmered in water, Chef gave us a tour of the gardens.

purple cauliflower

acres of flowers, basil, rosemary, tomatoes, zucchini, melon - it was amazing.

Viva Mexico!  I can't wait to go back.

finally

We had a tough April around here.   Here being Chicago, specifically, but this BS persisted across much of the northern USA.  April was historically cold in the midwest, and both New York and Boston had a significant April snowstorm.

But, finally, the switch was flipped and it's SPRING.  It's almost worth enduring a horrible April to enjoy this kind of shift, in scenery and in attitude.  There is so much COLOR.  Everyone is so HAPPY.  The world is stunning and I find that, suddenly,  I like all the people in it so much more!

 

 But let's get back to food.  I got home from Dylan's track meet at 7 last night 

and had to pull a fast one.

Baked tilapia, cous cous and spinach salad on the table by about 7:30.

Tilapia is our go-to fish:  easy to prepare and quick to cook. I had thawed a pkg of  flash frozen tilapia

 I made a crust of grated parmesan, bread crumbs (equal parts) and lots of  kosher salt & pepper

 I brushed a little oil on the fish then crusted it in the crusty-stuff, then put on a greased baking sheet.

 Bake at 400 for about ten minutes.

Cous cous is so yummy and so quick.  I boiled about 1-1/2 cups low sodium chicken stock with a little butter and salt & pepper. Once it boils, add a cup of cous cous, then stir, cover and remove from heat.  In five minutes open it up and mix with a fork and you're ready to go.

And there you have it.

But the best part of all? We got to eat it out here.  Not fully open for business but close enough.

Hello gorgeous!  We missed you!