(Puerto Vallarta, Mexico–we had a blast at this resort, especially when enjoying these type of views!)

I need a vacation.

Bad.

I’m so ready to make a move out of this crazy city. If something were to be offered in NY, I’d dip in a heart beat. In the meantime, I sit here in the east coasts’ sin city and ponder my next move. I find a moment of happiness in thinking about how much I travel and how much I love it. How much I’d love for someone to join me every time.

Not just family. However, when my familia does get together for biannual trips to Mexico, it’s priceless. I love it; except that our oldest brother has yet to come with us.

One of the reasons I like going to Mexico so much is the super friendly staff that waits on your every beckon call. You’ll see resort staff up at 4 am polishing poolside rails and ensuring breakfast is the freshest. And of course the food! The food is NOTHING like what we are served here, even in the most of authentic Mexican restaurants. I remember having sopes de marlin (fish) in Cabo San Lucas a few years back. The decor of this restaurant was so eclectic yet soothing, you could sit there all night. The rooftop had an intentional huge gaping hole that opened up to the star lit sky–hints of periwinkle streaks illuminated the black ether.

Everything about that night was perfect. But then, people. We go to Wal-Mart to buy toiletries, etc… and somehow end up in the grocery section of this mega tienda. My baby brother and sis have an incredible sense of humor, so when they stumbled upon this box of cereal bars, I wasn’t feeling so bad about having ordered fresh sushi from the “sushi chef” taking orders at the front of the store:

Okay, maybe I did. That was a bad culinary decision on my part. But Thank God brands like Kellog have imported products to suit natives. I’m just mad they named it BIMBO! Really? Whose bimbo was making this decision? Obviously, we skipped on eating bimbo flavored bars! But when I get to indulge in something like this, all my worries and bad decisions are washed away:

Batido de Mamey (pronounced “mah-may”) is a must have at least once a week during Summer. Mamey is a yummy tropical fruit, originally from South America, though it is most commonly eaten in Mexico and Cuba. Yeah baby! We looooove this fruit! I would just about kill to have mamey everyday! It has a brown, kind of tough outer skin with a melon-ey looking inside. The fruits texture is kind of like that of an avocado. The seed is pretty much useless unless of course you plan on growing it. You can actually buy frozen mamey at your local Latin market, though I’ve had a hard time finding it even where my parents live in Va.

You can make all kinds of delectable treats with this awesome fruit, including my oh so damn good milkshake pictured above. It has a very smooth and flavorful savory and sweet appeal, believe it or not! I can’t really describe it it’s so good. But my fave is elado de mamey! Oh my God, baby smack me! I can only get mamey ice-cream in Miami, where all things Cuban are attainable, so when I’m able to find it locally, I GETS excited! I’m actually thinking about making some ice-cream myself. El Palacio de Frutas (”the fruit palace”) in Miami carries all kinds of fruits and vegetables you’ve never even heard of!

Mamey is also known to have aphrodisiac properties! No wonder I love swallowing this stuff in a matter of seconds!

I recently learned that:

“the mamey is the cornerstone of Cuban holistic medicine. It is used extensively as a veritable panacea for gastro-intestinal maladies. In southern Cuba, the mamey is also used to treat headaches and venereal diseases. There are numerous accounts of the mamey being used as an antiseptic during the Spanish-American War.“ (wikipedia).

This now justifies me paying $5.00 for one single fruit! Got a headache? Drink a mamey milkshake!

**SO WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SUMMER SHAKE?!**

Annatto or bixa is a seed from the annatto tree, indigenous to the Caribbean and Central America. It’s a spice we commonly use to color rice, meat dishes and sometimes even butter and does give a peppery taste. You will also find this spice used in the very popular branded Sazón seasoning packets by Goya. I sometimes use it as a substitute for saffron to make yellow rice. I seldom use it for my meats. In Latin countries the word is bijol or even achiote, though that has different properties I’ll address later. You can buy it in whole seeds and get the desired color by infusing in warm water or buy it in lose powder. Try it!

Okay, so how much do I really tell you guys about the best experience in my food world to date? Do I save some for private email questions, or do I wait ’til the show airs sometime this summer?!

Hmmm…

REMOTE SHOOT @ MOM’S HOUSE

Was like this: up at 5. Do hair (oh, still pissed off about the color), makeup, pick one of 5 outfits, skip on my 4 shots of espresso, check makeup again and answer door when the production team arrived.

Oh my goodness! This was really going to happen. I had been prepping for a month, just in my head, how all this was going to pan out. I was excited, but knew it really wouldn’t hit me ’til THE day came.

So they interviewed me, and then me with my parents and then I got to cook! Remember that rabo encendido (oxtail) I’ve been telling you guys about? I finally did! Now, one thing though: I made two batches, enough to feed a crew of 5, my family and 4 friends, and yet no one, not one person thought to take a picture of the damn rabo! WTH? Are you serious? I could not believe it!

That just means I’ll have to cook it again once I get back to ATL so I can picture it and finally, por fin, share it here with you. I hate to break promises, so hold me to it. Email me if you must!

So after 10 hours of jokes, serving everyone what I made and my fam/friends begging me to do a certain thing (you’ll understand once the show airs), I bid the crew farewell with a hearty piece of flan.

And then…

ON LOCATION SHOOT @ WHOLE FOODS MARKET, FAIRFAX, VA

I’ll indulge you a little. Meeting Emeril and everything else Tuesday entailed was incredible! First of all, “Chef” as everyone calls him, is the most down to earth, super cool, funny guy! Maybe you’d expect someone on his level to be pretentious and arrogant, right? After all he knows his stuff. But, if he’s not too BIG to feed a lower echelon gal like me, then you know he’s all about the real deal!

Yup, Emeril fed me ya’ll!! It was soo sexy! In our first scene, he fed me some chips and salsa but the director yelled “cut” and had a sidebar conversation with him. That was hysterical! Was he telling him not to tease me? Or was he telling him to trust that I could feed myself? Who knows. Whatever he told him, I had to feed myself for the 2nd take… It just didn’t taste the same. (sigh)

My comfort was ensured at all times and I was fed like a fool. Not the food he and I cooked, which I won’t say what it was here, but fresh sushi, chocolate chips, tea–the works, basically.  You know how good Whole Foods food is, so you can only imagine. Even the cake for Josh’s, a light crew-members’ b-day, was delish. (my mom can be so so ghetto ya’ll–she cut a colossal piece, wrapped it up and took it to her car during lunch. GHETTTOO!)

Then more taping. No rehearsing, no retakes, just good ol’ improv and going for it! Smooth acting here guys. Once thing I did notice–Emeril is so on top his game. He observes everything and does not let anything slip by him! Whoa… Be careful directors and producers. It could momentarily appear as if he’s not paying attention and has been distracted by our chit-chat about my mom’s ring, but he’s got one ear on me and one on his associate producer, who’s kindly fending off on-lookers begging for autographs and photo-op.

So finally, after doing our thing, cooking a special dish and eating it (and he fed me again!), we were done. I’d love to tell you more, but it’ll spoil the episode and the cool TV magic trick we did! I promise you’ll love it. I actually did learn something about cooking, even my own Cuban food, and it was great learning from Emeril. However, I have to put a disclaimer out there; in two (maybe three) of the scenes, I totally had to dumb it down and “act” as if I didn’t know what he was talking about. Nods, perplexed looks, questions and so forth, followed! SO, just know this is TV and sometimes you gotta play the part, for real!

For those of you that haven’t had the privilege of working with him, I swear you’d love it. Everyone from the entire production team to kitchen staff prepping everything, was wonderful. The exec producer has a hell of job on her hands and seemingly she’s doing something right after 10 years of doing Emeril Live. Ultimately, nothing about the day was “hollywood”, in the sense of divo’s or diva’s, which I loved even more. Hec, even the security guard was kind of cute.

I can get used to this: Cameras and damn good food. I even got to sing a bit at the remote!

I was glad when the day was over only because my feet hurt. And NO I didn’t get to wear those bad ass L.A.M.B. shoes!! Hec nah! We did way too much moving around to actually wear them. But I did wear another pair of 4.5″ snakeskin wedges–thanks Elina (associate producer, pictured below)!!

EMERIL GREEN premiers in June on the Discovery Channel. My episode date is unknown at this time, but I’ll post when I find out. Check your local listing and support Emeril in his new project. It’s going to be great.

Something about this experience tells me this is the first of many more GREAT opportunities.

PS: I ate the colossal piece of cake on Wed. morning. Damn, it was good. Thanks mom!! ha ha.

PSS: thanks to Adam W. of the production office in NY for being so terribly awesome and friendly even beyond his casting responsibilities… oh and the director, Alan, for thinking I was 20!!!!! And the entire remote crew–Rick is probably still sniffing his coat!!

What a long week, friends. Really.

My first cooking class at the Cook’s Warehouse went real well! 20 students, 5 assistants and my good friend Leon video taped the whole thing. I burned my middle finger while removing the flan pan from the stove! What an idiot. Thank God the class didn’t see that.

Though after spending 6 hours in the salon earlier that day, all to leave with 2 shades darker than what I walked in there with and 5 shades darker than I what I requested, teaching a fresh group of people the food I so love, kept my mind off a continued cry of utter disappointment and throwing a temper tantrum. Did my hair dresser not understand how important it was to me to look like ME for the Emeril show taping!? Hello!?! You speak Spanish. I spoke to you in Spanish! You’ll see what I mean soon enough.

We’ve reconciled. I called her last night after taking 4 days to think about my reaction. She’s given me credit, but I have to wait 6 weeks before she touches my hair again. Sigh.

So, after taking a day and a half to recover from non-stop movement in 48 hours, I am back to normal. Only in part though. I found myself not really wanting to cook yesterday. I still have 40 recipes to cook and test for my book, but something about having to cook isn’t so appealing right now. I have Dave on hold for a food photo shoot. I can’t even think of styling right now.

So a phone call from my cousin on my way home from visiting my sis in Winchester, was great. She was cooking out and we were invited!

All American (for us anyway) with a splash of Latin was the perfect combination for a Friday night dinner. Succulent grilled steak marinated in spices and herbs, baked sweet potato, boiled plantain, grilled corn with sweet butter and fresh black pepper, and a fresh salad was enough for me. There was coconut battered shrimp, but I always forgo on shellfish…no, not an allergy issue. My contribution was a bbq sauce I always make which is simply a mixture of bbq sauce, honey, A-1 sauce and some cumin!! I love that stuff. It makes for a great steak topper. Nothing fancy, just damn good! And of course I sprinkled nutmeg and cinnamon on my sweet potato.

A Cuban meal is never complete without un poco de cafe con leche and maybe some good ol’ pound cake on the side. Or finger ladies! Remember those!? Hmm with some hot chocolate. Oh wait, it is 80 degrees here in DC.

(Oh yeah, this wasn’t my salad. What you see is watercress, which I really don’t care for!)

Dinner was pleasing. Not too heavy on the stomach but filling enough not to kill the need to ingest a few chocolate bourbon truffles my mom has at home.

Something about our simple dinner was refreshing. No science, little art, effortless, no creativity and very fast. This is exactly what I need for like two days. Only today is Saturday, a big deal in family dinner at my parents house. Lo and behold, they’ve asked me to cook tonight. Why, of course. They wouldn’t have it any other way, right. After having cooked oxtail for the production crew on Tuesday, I’m thinking I could do orange ginger chicken with an avocado salad. Not very Cuban or Latin for that matter, but a much needed deviation from red meat.

I’ll cook tonight and be content my family has been fed, and more importantly that my mother has a break. I’m sweating her to make me a pretty ring to wear for the shoot on Wed. Shameless plug, I know, but since it’s national TV, I might as well take advantage and exhibit her jewelry in front of thousands!

Okay friends, so while there’s no recipe here to share, allow this picture to help you relish in moments of simplicity and delight. I’m happy to be an American. Cubans would never go for this!! LOL!

At least not the ones in Miami.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE ALL AMERICAN DINNER!?!?

Related Posts:

Plantain 101

This is my favorite spice in my cooking. With its origins found in Iran as a major supplier, cumin is most popular in Cuban, Thai and Indian cuisines. Cumin seeds come from the apiaceae plant whose flowers are small pink and white. I use either whole seed or ground cumin in ALL of my meats, chicken, and sometimes even salads. It has a great smoky aroma and adds a wonderfully rich taste. My mother always criticizes my amount but I go for what makes me smile when I bite! How do you use Cumin?

Last visit: April 27, 2008

Yeah it is. It’s social. It’s nice. Decorum is that of a small quaint house. The food is good.

I’d heard about The Social House only because I drove by one day and saw a new restaurant being built on Howell Mill. I forgot about it, mostly because I have a nasty I-Hop across the street that I frequent when I’m very hungry and not picky about what I eat. But then my friend Ike called me early this morning and invited me to join him and his new girl for brunch. Deal.

We supposedly had reservations but b/c we mentioned having an additional party member, we were back burned for 30 minutes. Was it worth the wait? I think so. Albeit the worth, here are a few hit and misses:

1. Waitress was nice

2. Took 10 minutes to long to take our order

3. Food came out relatively quickly

4. Food was great, for the most part, though Ike was completely disillusioned when his shrimp and grits did not parallel the same order from the day prior. He did something I would do under extreme circumstances–he had them remake it to ultimately not like even the 2nd one and order something totally different. I had a spinach and mushroom omelette with goat cheese that that was cooked to my perfect request.

5. The blueberry pancakes are something to talk about.

6. Decor is very intimate and inviting, unless you’re sitting at the main window table, facing outside; you face the deck build-out with an ugly backdrop of the overpopulated and industrialized Howell Mill Rd. AJC, WSJ and other national papers are available for reading. Great jazz fill the speakers.

Overall, Lorenzo, also claiming Harlem Bar and Rare, two well trafficked urban resto’s, has conceptualized a great meeting spot for any day of the week. They pride themselves on offering plain ‘ole good, sustainable food. And, more importantly, your requests will be honored.

They just need to work on more wait seating and a bigger entrance.

The Social House

What to wear: jeans, bamboo earrings, fedora’s, Junkfood t-shirts, OR khaki’s, polo shirt under ribbed sweater, baseball cap and Chuck Taylor’s. OR, slacks, church attire, 14″brim floppy hats, sweat pants, cocktail dresses.

What NOT to wear: Prom or black tie gear? Anything else is just about fair game.

Bad breath is not something anyone likes to have. But sometimes (only sometimes), the cause of it, is soooo well worth it. After all, you can chew gum, eat a mint or go wash your mouth afterwards, right?

That was such a bad intro.

I love healing foods and snacks. Take this hummus for instance. Your mouth will reek of garlic when you’re done, but you’ll be so satisfied you won’t even care you’re mouth’s on fire.

When I was still living in the DC area, I used to entertain about 3 times a month. A good friend and her husband were my serious food buddies. After church, we’d get together at someone’s house and tear food apart for hours, until the sun set. I was always eager to bring something, Latin or not. On other occasions, I’d have M & P over for Sex and the City recaps. I kind of wanted Carrie Bradshaw’s extravagant life, sans the wreckless sex. I think she had over 30 partners in the 6 years on air.

That’s disgusting!

Anyway, M used to make the best salmon cakes ever!

But I’m here now, all alone and don’t have much of a reason to entertain in my home. Hell, I can barely entertain myself, let alone invite people over. No TV in my living room, by the way. Plus if I host a dinner party, greedy people like to show up empty handed, and quite frankly, that’s tacky and gets on my nerves.

As I sat at my computer today, thinking about what I’m going to wear for the Emeril taping (and talking myself out of of eating for a week), I got hungry. I’ve been staying away from bread, dairy, rice and ice cream, but I needed something to satisfy me.

Few things do these days.

So, I threw on some booty shorts, a Brooklyn zip-up hoodie, shell toe adidas’ and drove to Publix to pick up garbanzo beans. I almost forgot to get lemons, but I was in the produce section long enough to remember. I had to walk over to the bakery and ask if they had fresh Cuban bread; French was ready but not Cuban. Drats. Went to the bread aisle but had a vision of looking 20 pounds overweight on TV so I dashed back to the produce and got celery instead.

Geisha (whose new middle name is DIOR!!) was in the car bearing the 80 degree weather, so I was quick.

I was panting by the time I got home. Separated my ingredients and got to blending.

This recipe is so easy, really fast and damn good. I won’t tell you how healthy it is because if it had 300 calories, it’d still be worth it! Make it for a snack, serve it as an appetizer at your dinner parties or even add it to your favorite sandwich as a spread! Not once has it failed me in pleasing my guests. Even the geeky members of the string quartet I recently quit, loved my humus. I make a variety of other hummus’ that I’ll share over time.

Once taping is over, I’ll be eating hummus with pita bread or chips again. I like celery and all but prefer the starchy stuff!

Sitting here writing inspired me to go for the crazy and get the shoes I decided to wear for Emeril! Ergo, I am healed from the mental agony of “do I buy, do I eat, do I buy, do I eat!!!”  Zappos was totally sold out, Nordstrom too, but they special ordered them for overnight delivery!! Eat your heart out Diane! This is for you, girl!

Coriander seed is something I recently came across, not in name but in use. I was pleasantly surprised when I used it in the red snapper escoviche I prepared for Easter. Though it’s originally from Asia and parts of Africa, it has become widely popular in all of Latin America. Coriander seeds are used as a spice, while its leaves, known as cilantro (love, love!) are used as herbs. As a spice, coriander is best used when its aroma is opened up by using a mortar & pestle. Because of its citrusy aroma, it goes well with fishes, and other meat, poultry foods. Use the herbs in your soups and stews. Enjoy!

Coming Soon!

Some things in life are free.

A trip to NYC is not.

Take tolls,for instance. Over $30 one way, in addition to the insanely and abusive gas prices we’re forced to pay, is just way too much for a 7 hour visit. And how about $6.00 latte’s?

Gimme a break.

But, anything I spend in getting up there is well worth it.

My sis and I get up to New York last Friday, and instantlyI feel like I’ve stepped into the magical city of unlimited living and spending.

Bentley’s, Jimmy Choo, Tyler Perry’s new show on the jumbo megatron, Diddy on another mega billboard (like he needs more attention), and 18% tax for parking in a garage on 51st & Lexington. Are you freakin’ serious! My sister’s a gorgeous gal…and though I don’t like to depend on a pretty face for freebies, I’m thankful her good looks afforded us a gimme: $15 for 12 hours of parking, including that stupid tax.

We literally had 7 hours to do everything on our agenda, which included escorting our brother’s girlfriend (whom had never been to NY–is that possible??) to SoHo and making sure she got to experience the A train. We walked on 5th Avenue and oohed and aahed at the window displays (yeah right), went into my former p/t employer, Banana Republic and then proceeded to walk up the richest street in the city. Hoping to quickly leave a district I can’t even afford to breath in, we came across an unexpected market, much like you’d see every few hundred feet in Brooklyn or the Bronx.

But on 5th Avenue? Wow. I stopped momentarily to gaze at the fresh fruit and was just as quickly discouraged at the dollar amount for mangoes and strawberries. Is the recession that bad? I mean the flesh of these fruits were plump and smooth, but $5 for 10 strawberries? Yeah, not so much.

We had to keep it moving.

Having little time to really shop for self or sit down long enough to sip on burnt latte’s from the evil house of coffee, we hopped in a cab and meandered to Central Park.

The foul stench of urine in restaurant X’s lobby was so disturbing, we hardly could gossip about Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey’s dinner date there. But, later for that.

Then, and this was almost my favorite part about our quick trip, as we walk to the nearest metro station, I was halted by a farmer’s market! And, at a moment when my two worlds couldn’t come together any better, I realize we’re at the Tucker Square/Lincoln Center Greenmarket right at the famous Lincoln Center for Performing Arts. Music and Food! Pinch me Karen!

A quick disagreement with my sis was quickly forgotten at the sight of the apple stand. I can’t remember the last time I saw a beautiful variety of red apples. Apples I’ve never heard of! Shades of red I’ve never seen. I learned a bit about the different uses of each type of apple, like Rome apples (pictured at beginning) are good for baking. So, I stopped. I sniffed. I touched and I snapped. Had I not been craving real NY pizza, I would have bought some. As it oft-time happens in my decision making, I now regret not having purchased at least one.

(If nothing else, I could have used it to chuck it at the a-hole driver who later tried to run our cab out of our lane as we left the Village! Jack ass)

Why?

Well, it’s a local market with local food grown by local people and farmers. And, since I’m in the spirit of learning more about sustainability and actually implementing it in my home cooking and catering, I felt like I had done disservice to my fave city in the US.

Plus, it will ring well when shopping and cooking with Emeril!

But then people. But then. I see a huge patch of greenery and quickly make a bee line to what is a small set up of fresh herbs! I was in heaven! I knew we only had a few minutes to spare, so I sniffed, rubbed, inquired and purchased as fast as I could.

Guess what I found! CHOCOLATE MINT! Have you ever heard of this!?! I mean I know I made that delectable chocolate mint ganache flan a few weeks ago, but I had NO idea that real chocolate mint existed! Holy Moly, this girl here was emotionally unstable for 2 minutes. I had to rub a leaf again, much like Larry Hagman, aka Tony Nelson, hoping for something to jump out; in this case a rich chocolate bar, better than “freyer’s” mint chocolate ice cream!

I was so thrilled to see all these herbs including oregano, rosemary, lavender, chives, sage and others. I wanted to take them all! I happily walked away with a pot of chocolate mint and lavender. At a $4 a pot, I felt like entertaining a quick visit to the Jimmy Choo boutique.

If you’re in NY, make sure to visit this market, or even better, the Stokes Farm if you’re in or near Old Tappan, NJ. In the spirit of sustainability and actively implementing a rule of cooking with only fresh herbs, I was happy to support this local farm (note how I said the same thing when referring to my non-purchase of apples). I didn’t get to talk to the young man too much (he was too busy ringing up sales), but he was very knowledgeable about herb maintenance.

I’ll use the chocolate mint to make more flan, hot herbal tea when I’m not feeling so well (like right now), and mojitos!! And the lavender might make it’s way to my rendition of a cake made by a local baker. I have to say it was the best cake I’ve ever had in my life. For real!

***************************

We left Manhattan very excited about accomplishing our covert mission, but sad we weren’t there to stay. New York is special. The air is different there. The food is different. The general excitement and approach to life is different.

Since I didn’t get to chuck a Rome apple at the Lexus truck driver, I sat back in my cabby seat and let him do his job. We hear more f u’s in 90 seconds, than a cheating husband would have gotten in an hour worth of fighting with his wife.

Yeah. I love NY. That may be my next move.

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