Culinary Secrets with
The Hills
Mexico, a Fiesta of Food and Friendship
By Maralyn Hill & Brenda Hill
‘The Tandem Tasters’
We love Mexico! What more can we say?
Each time we visit, we feel more and
more at home. We enjoy the people and
the culture of this beautiful country.
Mexico is so close, yet, whenever we
return, we feel as if we’ve discovered a
magical land far away.
One of us spent both Christmas and the
New Year singing, dancing and dining
with the locals. The accent was on
family and community, not things. Our
biggest deep-sea game fish was caught in
Mexico, weighing as much as one of us,
and that is before we lost weight.
We have traveled up and down and in and
out the Baja California coast. Our
discoveries have included the amazing
history and culture of numerous cities
throughout the country, both coastal and
inland. Having climbed some magnificent
mountains, and recently rode the rails
on the Copper Canyon railroad, we cannot
get enough of Mexico.
This month, we are including
recipes from many parts of the country:
Senor Rio Classic
Margarita
Copper Canyon Balderrama Scallops or
Shrimp Ceviche
Rancho LaPuerta Aztec Guacamole
Rancho LaPuerta Grilled White Corn Soup
with Leeks & Roasted Peppers
Puebla Molé
Cabo San Lucas Marlin from the Giggling
Marlin
Senor
Rio Classic Margarita
The Hill Team was fortunate to taste
Senor Rio tequila just before it was
introduced into the United States.
Jonathan Gach and Debbie Medina visited
her father in Mexico and discovered fine
tequila that was made in small batches
for family and friends. Debbie and Jon
worked to produce and bring this recipe
to birth on Cinco De Mayo, 2009 and it
is now available in the United States.
It is made in Tequila, Mexico—how
appropriate.
Ingredients:
1 oz. Senor Rio tequila
.5 oz. triple sec
1 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
simple sugar to taste
salt
1 wedge lime
Method:
Mix and serve over ice or shake
in cocktail shaker.
Dip glass in ice to moisten rim.
Put glass rim on plate of salt.
Pour mixture in glass.
Copper
Canyon Balderrama Scallops or Shrimp
Ceviche
We started our Copper Canyon trip as
guest of the Balderrama Hotels. Its
Executive Chef, Victor Samaniego,
traveled part of the way with us. At the
beginning, when we were out on the
hotel’s fishing charter boat on the
Topolobampo Bay, we learned it was
filled with clams, crab, oysters,
scallops, shrimp, and tuna. We pulled up
alongside two fishermen in their small
boat, and for a couple of cans of Coke,
we received fresh shrimp for our lunch.
Chef Samaniego prepared shrimp ceviche,
scallops ceviche, coconut shrimp, and
sautéed shrimp. What a feast we enjoyed!
Serves 4-6 as appetizers
Ingredients:
1 to 1-1/4 pound cleaned
scallops or, if using shrimp, cut it
into little cubes
1 white onion, finely chopped—not cubes
1 cucumber, seeded and cut into slices
2 Serrano peppers, chopped fine
15 stems and leaves of fresh coriander
(cilantro) finely diced
10 small lemons or enough fresh lemon
juice to cover (If you use the Mexican
Colima lemons, they are small. You may
not need as many with larger lemons.)
Salt and pepper to taste
Clam juice (optional)
Method:
On a glass pie plate or small
bowl, place scallops or shrimp.
Add salt, black pepper, and lemon juice.
Let it marinate for 5 to 10 minutes (no
longer, as the scallops and shrimp are
“cooked” by marinating).
Add vegetables.
Garnish and arrange on plate.
You can add clam juice if desired.
Rancho
La Puerta Aztec Guacamole
We wrote about the joys of Mexico, its
people and cuisine, in our book, Our
Love Affairs with Food and Travel.
We reprinted these words written by
visionary, owner, and founder of Rancho
La Puerta, Deborah Szekely, seventy
years ago. The original concept for
Rancho La Puerta is still true today--By
day one feels the spell of the sun and
the ever blue sky, the vivid green trees
and vineyards, the fragrant fields.
This terrific guacamole is probably the
Ranch’s most enduringly popular recipe.
Adding green vegetables to the avocado
boosts the nutritional value of the
guacamole and reduces fat content. Most
important, it tastes great. If you are
not using this guacamole to top tacos,
serve with an assortment of raw
vegetables and tostaditas. Makes 2 cups.
Ingredients:
1 cup frozen peas, slightly
thawed
1 medium Hass avocado, peeled and pitted
2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice,
or to taste
1 medium tomato, seeded and cut into ¼
-inch dice
½ red or sweet onion, cut into ⅛-inch
dice
1 jalapeño or serrano chile, seeded and
minced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Method:
In a blender or in the bowl of a food
processor, process the peas until
smooth.
In a medium bowl, mash the avocado with
a fork or potato masher. Add the juice,
tomato, onion, jalapeño, cilantro,
garlic, salt, and black pepper. Add the
peas and mix well.
If the guacamole won’t be served
immediately, press a piece of plastic
wrap directly onto the surface to
prevent browning.
Variation:
Instead of peas, use 1 cup of
well-cooked broccoli, edamame, or cooked
asparagus tips.
Rancho
LaPuerta Grilled White Corn Soup with
Leeks and Roasted Peppers
Although we enjoyed all of his
creations, we especially delighted in
the soup prepared by Executive Chef
Gonzales. In Mexico, fresh corn is
roasted or grilled until smoky-sweet and
deliciously chewy. For this classic
chowder, the corn is pan-roasted, then
cooked to a golden velvet with leeks and
aromatic vegetables.
One can give the soup a quick last touch
as it is served. It might be as simple
as a quick sauté of leeks, corn, and
peppers, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive
oil over tomatoes and basil, or a dash
of fennel powder on grilled fish. That
last touch always lifts each dish a
notch, adding freshness and flavor, a
hint of textural or temperature
contrast, plus eye appeal. Serves 6.
Ingredients:
4 ears sweet corn, white or yellow,
shucked and silk removed
2 leeks, white part only, washed and cut
into ½ -inch dice
1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled,
seeded, and cut into ½ -inch dice
2 ½ teaspoons olive oil, plus more for
the pan
½ stalk celery, minced
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
5 cups basic vegetable stock or water
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced chives
Method:
Over a medium bowl, cut off the
corn kernels with a sharp knife. You
should have about 2 ½ cups.
In a lightly oiled heavy-bottomed sauté
pan, sear the corn in batches over
medium heat until it has a few black
spots.
Set aside ½ cup of the corn and ¼ cup
each of the diced leeks and peppers. In
a 4-quart pot, heat 2 teaspoons of the
olive oil over medium heat. Add the
remaining corn, leeks, peppers, celery,
and garlic. Cook slowly, stirring often,
for 5 minutes. Add the stock, thyme, bay
leaf, and salt.
Cook until the vegetables are tender.
Remove the bay leaf. In a blender or
food processor, pureé soup until smooth.
Add the black pepper and taste for
seasoning, adding more salt, if desired.
Just before serving, sauté the reserved
corn, leeks, and peppers in the
remaining ½ teaspoon of olive oil, and
add them to the hot soup. To serve,
ladle the soup into 6 warmed bowls and
garnish with a pinch of chives.
Variation:
Pureé the soup until absolutely smooth
and serve it cold, garnished with
reserved roasted red pepper and chives.
Puebla Molé,
pictured at top
Many Mexicans frequently refer to Puebla
as the gastronomy capital of Mexico.
Puebla was a priority for Maralyn to
experience. Its cuisine is the result of
a strong culinary heritage, a wide
variety of spices, and delicious dishes
and sweets. Molé is one of the state's
most important dishes and has become
famous worldwide. Maralyn had
experienced molé in Oaxaca, but Puebla
claims the original birthplace. This
recipe is from attending the Mesones
Sacristia Cooking School in Puebla, with
Executive Chef Alonso Hernández.
Ingredients:
3 pieces Mulato chile
3 pieces Ancho chile
3 pieces Pasilla chile
17 to 18 ounces tomatoes
7 ounces onions
2 cloves garlic
2 pieces Ibarra Chocolate (dark)
1 tortilla
3.5 ounces sugar
3.5 ounces salt
3.5 ounces powdered chicken stock
5 cups of water
1 plantain
Method:
Serve with chicken or turkey
In the kitchen, we dawned latex gloves,
removed the stem and seeds from the
mulato, ancho and pasilla chilies. Then
we fried them until obtaining a crispy
texture.
Next, we roasted tomatoes, onions, and
garlic on a comal (grill).
We boiled the chilies and vegetables in
water until the chilies became soft,
which took about 10 minutes.
We ground all boiled ingredients
together with their own broth and
strained to make a sauce.
The next step was to peel the plantain
and cut it lengthwise in four pieces.
Then we fried it until golden brown.
We roasted the tortilla directly over
the flame until it was black and crispy
on both sides.
