contest BEGIN! Combo de Mayo Throwdown
- Thread starter The Hot Pepper
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This was a fun TD. Here's some shenanigans and tomfoolery.
Pico de Gallo. I throw all the fixin's in a jar, close the lid and shake it up. Easy.
Then I whipped up some sauce for the fish.
Butterflied a Yellowtail Snapper and got it marinating with the juice of two limes.
Coated the skin side and the inside with the sauce and threw it on the grill with my pork tenderloin.
Pico de Gallo. I throw all the fixin's in a jar, close the lid and shake it up. Easy.
Then I whipped up some sauce for the fish.
Butterflied a Yellowtail Snapper and got it marinating with the juice of two limes.
Coated the skin side and the inside with the sauce and threw it on the grill with my pork tenderloin.
Sum's Guerrero Combo Plate #5
Guerrero, Mexico. It touches the Pacific Ocean with fantastic beaches. It's tropical, so tropical fruit is abundant. It's mountainous, and these peaks have allowed different subcultures to emerge cuisine wise. I found a lot of their traditional foods to be quite exotic. Iguana, for instance... my supermarket doesn't stock that, even though they run all over Miami as an invasive species.
The combo plate #5 is a Chilapa (a Chalupa with meat) and Pescado a la Talla. It also comes with a rum spiked Horchata. The hot tortillas are extra, and the sauces can be found at the salsa and chip bar.
Rum spiked Horchata:
The preparation of Horchata is time consuming, but well worth it. It is a sweet drink made with rice, milk, sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Here's how you do it:
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
2 quarts warm water (8 cups)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cup milk
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup rum (or to taste by the glass)
ice cubes
1. Mix rice with warm water in a bowl and let sit for at least 1/2 hour. (I do 1 hour) Reserve the water, drain and place the rice in a blender with the cinnamon. Add a little of the rice water to help puree these ingredients into paste. Return this paste to the reserved water and let sit for at least 2 hours. Stir occasionally.
2. Strain the rice through a fine sieve (I use a coffee filter) into a bowl or pitcher. Stir in the milk, condensed milk, and vanilla. (It's actually best to put the milk and condensed milk in first, then add the strained rice water.) Refrigerate at least 2 hours to let the flavors marry. Overnight is even better.
3. Add a few cubes of ice to a glass, pour your dose of rum in, and fill the rest of the glass with Horchata.
See my process.
A chalupa is a corn tortilla deep fried in a cup shape and filled with beans (or refried beans) along with other vegies. It is technically a vegetarian dish that is associated with Antojitos de Mexico (Mexican street food). Chilapas are basically the same thing with one difference... meat is added.
Chilapa:
pork tenderloin
corn tortilla
vegetable oil
avocado
salsa (Pico de Gallo)
shredded lettuce
Deep fry the corn tortilla in veg. oil into a cup shape. You'll need something circular and slightly smaller than the tortilla to hold it under the oil. Obviously this will need to withstand high temps. (I used a circular potato masher.)
Fill with your choice of meat. In the pic above it is filled with ~ 1/2 cup grilled chopped pork tenderloin. Add cubes of avocado, top with salsa and shredded lettuce. This combo #5 chilapa also comes topped with ancho/mayo sauce.
Pico de Gallo:
tomato cubed
1/2 onion diced
poblano diced fine
2 cloves garlic diced fine
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste
Pescado a la Talla:
Grilled snapper covered in an ancho chili based paste is found in towns along the coast of Guerrero. It is one of their traditional fares and for good reason... it's delicious. It's traditionally made with whole snapper.
You'll need:
1 whole snapper (fillets are fine... so is substituting grouper or other white fish)
2 limes for marinade, more if you'd like to serve with wedges
Ancho chiles - seed and soak in water till soft
2 garlic cloves - roast on griddle then peel
1/2 onion - roast on griddle then peel
3/4 cup mayo
salt (to taste)
lettuce - shred
Butterfly the whole fish with a sharp boning knife. This is done by painstakingly cutting each rib out and then filleting past the spine. This must be done on both sides in order to cut the spine and ribs out. You'll have to cut through the bones above the spine during this process. Marinate the fish with the juice of two limes for ~20 minutes. Pat dry.
Place chiles, garlic, and onion in blender, add some of the chile water and puree into paste.
Mix puree with mayo and spread over both sides of the fish.
Grill until flaky.
Serve on shredded lettuce with lime wedges.
The above pic shows chimichurri on one side of the Yellowtail Snapper.
Chimichurri:*
1/2 cup cilantro
1/2 cup broad leaf parsley
3 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons dry oregano
1/2 olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
motorboat this with your immersion blender
*Note: There is a sauce called Salsa Verde Talla which is very similar to chimichurri and is what they traditionally use on this dish. I'll write out the recipe I found.
Salsa Verde Talla:
1 manojo de perejic (bundle of parsley)
1/3 cebolla (onion)
1/4 taza comino (1/4 cup cumin)
1 ajo (garlic)
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 taza de aceite de olivo (1/4 cup of olive oil)
sal (salt)
Blend to paste consistency.
See the shenanigans and tomfoolery
Guerrero, Mexico. It touches the Pacific Ocean with fantastic beaches. It's tropical, so tropical fruit is abundant. It's mountainous, and these peaks have allowed different subcultures to emerge cuisine wise. I found a lot of their traditional foods to be quite exotic. Iguana, for instance... my supermarket doesn't stock that, even though they run all over Miami as an invasive species.
The combo plate #5 is a Chilapa (a Chalupa with meat) and Pescado a la Talla. It also comes with a rum spiked Horchata. The hot tortillas are extra, and the sauces can be found at the salsa and chip bar.
Rum spiked Horchata:
The preparation of Horchata is time consuming, but well worth it. It is a sweet drink made with rice, milk, sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Here's how you do it:
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
2 quarts warm water (8 cups)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cup milk
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup rum (or to taste by the glass)
ice cubes
1. Mix rice with warm water in a bowl and let sit for at least 1/2 hour. (I do 1 hour) Reserve the water, drain and place the rice in a blender with the cinnamon. Add a little of the rice water to help puree these ingredients into paste. Return this paste to the reserved water and let sit for at least 2 hours. Stir occasionally.
2. Strain the rice through a fine sieve (I use a coffee filter) into a bowl or pitcher. Stir in the milk, condensed milk, and vanilla. (It's actually best to put the milk and condensed milk in first, then add the strained rice water.) Refrigerate at least 2 hours to let the flavors marry. Overnight is even better.
3. Add a few cubes of ice to a glass, pour your dose of rum in, and fill the rest of the glass with Horchata.
See my process.
A chalupa is a corn tortilla deep fried in a cup shape and filled with beans (or refried beans) along with other vegies. It is technically a vegetarian dish that is associated with Antojitos de Mexico (Mexican street food). Chilapas are basically the same thing with one difference... meat is added.
Chilapa:
pork tenderloin
corn tortilla
vegetable oil
avocado
salsa (Pico de Gallo)
shredded lettuce
Deep fry the corn tortilla in veg. oil into a cup shape. You'll need something circular and slightly smaller than the tortilla to hold it under the oil. Obviously this will need to withstand high temps. (I used a circular potato masher.)
Fill with your choice of meat. In the pic above it is filled with ~ 1/2 cup grilled chopped pork tenderloin. Add cubes of avocado, top with salsa and shredded lettuce. This combo #5 chilapa also comes topped with ancho/mayo sauce.
Pico de Gallo:
tomato cubed
1/2 onion diced
poblano diced fine
2 cloves garlic diced fine
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste
Pescado a la Talla:
Grilled snapper covered in an ancho chili based paste is found in towns along the coast of Guerrero. It is one of their traditional fares and for good reason... it's delicious. It's traditionally made with whole snapper.
You'll need:
1 whole snapper (fillets are fine... so is substituting grouper or other white fish)
2 limes for marinade, more if you'd like to serve with wedges
Ancho chiles - seed and soak in water till soft
2 garlic cloves - roast on griddle then peel
1/2 onion - roast on griddle then peel
3/4 cup mayo
salt (to taste)
lettuce - shred
Butterfly the whole fish with a sharp boning knife. This is done by painstakingly cutting each rib out and then filleting past the spine. This must be done on both sides in order to cut the spine and ribs out. You'll have to cut through the bones above the spine during this process. Marinate the fish with the juice of two limes for ~20 minutes. Pat dry.
Place chiles, garlic, and onion in blender, add some of the chile water and puree into paste.
Mix puree with mayo and spread over both sides of the fish.
Grill until flaky.
Serve on shredded lettuce with lime wedges.
The above pic shows chimichurri on one side of the Yellowtail Snapper.
Chimichurri:*
1/2 cup cilantro
1/2 cup broad leaf parsley
3 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons dry oregano
1/2 olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
motorboat this with your immersion blender
*Note: There is a sauce called Salsa Verde Talla which is very similar to chimichurri and is what they traditionally use on this dish. I'll write out the recipe I found.
Salsa Verde Talla:
1 manojo de perejic (bundle of parsley)
1/3 cebolla (onion)
1/4 taza comino (1/4 cup cumin)
1 ajo (garlic)
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 taza de aceite de olivo (1/4 cup of olive oil)
sal (salt)
Blend to paste consistency.
See the shenanigans and tomfoolery
salsalady
eXtreme Business
Getting started on the Main Attraction- Tacos Al Pastor! I'll get to all the nitty gritty details in the final post. Just wanting to share some prep pics and a little food porn. 
Sliced Pork marinated overnight with OJ, rice vinegar, guajillo and pasilla chiles, achiote, garlic, onion.
I took 2 meat strings, criss-crossed them and started to stack the marinated meat on it. The stack quickly started to fall over, so I stuck the strings into a sour cream tub and stacked the slices up in that. Tied the strings and Voila! One Big chunk of meat, ready for the spit.
I tied and skewered 3 pineapple wedges to the outside, couple more strings around the ends, and hit the start button on the rotisserie. Here it is at the moment~
I'll clean up the post in a minute, gotta switch to the other 'puter~
Sliced Pork marinated overnight with OJ, rice vinegar, guajillo and pasilla chiles, achiote, garlic, onion. 
I took 2 meat strings, criss-crossed them and started to stack the marinated meat on it. The stack quickly started to fall over, so I stuck the strings into a sour cream tub and stacked the slices up in that. Tied the strings and Voila! One Big chunk of meat, ready for the spit. 
I tied and skewered 3 pineapple wedges to the outside, couple more strings around the ends, and hit the start button on the rotisserie. Here it is at the moment~ 
I'll clean up the post in a minute, gotta switch to the other 'puter~
Only problem is you're supposed to slice it as the ends get done! Looking forward to see if this worked. 
Pre-slicing lets the marinade get all over, instead of just the outside..... "problem"???
He's talking about shaving/serving as it cooks. You shave the outside edges and serve it up as it stays on the roto and continues cooking. Like a vertical Roto for Greek Gyros.
View attachment 5285
salsalady
eXtreme Business
Most recipes show to pre-slice the pork then stack the slices onto the spit. Yes, I think The Boss is right about slicing the outside as it cooks (so every taco has the crispy charred bit), but I can't solve all the problems on the first try! 
maybe I'll just use the outside bits for the tacos and make the rest into enchiladas...or tamales... or??? . We'll see how it goes~
I have an idea how to replicate the technique or at least get it to come close. We'll see if it work.
maybe I'll just use the outside bits for the tacos and make the rest into enchiladas...or tamales... or??? . We'll see how it goes~
I have an idea how to replicate the technique or at least get it to come close. We'll see if it work.
I feel a little guilty about enjoying the fact that so many people are going all out, while at once riding the pine out of sheer laziness ...
Correct, the problem I meant was, hard to shave it as it cooks with pineapple and string, but SL can do it. One of my fave dishes, so rock it out and it's a contender. Can't wait to see the pairing. Problems are just solutions in works clothes, or something like that lol.
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