Mediterranean Mexican Fusion Fest!

There are plenty of signs of a burgeoning interest in Mediterranean fusion cooking,  with Mediterranean Mexican and Mediterrasian restaurants, cookbooks & recipes popping up everywhere, especially in California. In a sense, most Mediterranean cuisine is a fusion of many food cultures, so the more the merrier! Some traditional Mexican dishes are heavily influenced by Spain. And, some Mexican dishes are a slightly different take on a Spanish classic, such as mole dishes and Mexican paella.

If you are interested in a little history on Mexican cuisine I recommend this article from Lo Mexicano. And, I also recommend this book: Planet Taco, A Global History of Mexican Food, by Jeffrey Pilcher.

We're always up for trying something new, and our Mediterranean Mexican meal brought smiles to our faces and a resounding muy bien! One happy cook. One happy family.

For our starter, we prepared a 4 fork crunchy Mediterranean Mexican Chopped Salad from Epicurious.  We decided to forego the corn and avocado and added lime zest. I just love making a salad a little bit brighter and zippier with either lemon or lime zest.

The salad is coming together. 

Crunchy & Healthy Mediterranean Mexican Goodness

I have recently joined with community members that are doing fundraising projects for the family of the Mi Tierra restaurant. Sadly, Jorge and Dora's restaurant recently burned down and the family is doing everything to bring their fantastic Mexican food back to our community! At our meetings, we have enjoyed many yummy tostadas. With tostadas on the brain, I was inspired to create a tostada recipe with a bit of a Mediterranean twist. I checked out these two recipes: Mediterranean Tostadas & Tilapia Tostadas, and ended up with the below.

Mediterranean Spiced Talapia Tostada

1/2 cup flour (chick pea flour for Gluten Free)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp aleppo pepper
4 tilapia filets
4 Tbsp olive oil for frying
1 cup chopped romaine
1 chopped plum tomato
2 Tbsp chopped red sweet bell pepper
Lime juice from 1/2 lime
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 oz shredded cotija cheese
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1 Avocado, diced
1 Tbsp capers
8 corn four tortillas
olive oil for brushing on corn tortillas

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a ziplock bag. Drench the tilapia in the bag and fry the fish in olive oil (3 minutes or so on each side, until flaky). If you are worried about the low smoke point of olive oil, add a little butter to the pan. Cut the fish into small pieces and set aside. Combine romaine, tomato, pepper, olive oil and lime juice and set aside. In the meantime, heat oven to 350, brush the corn tortillas with olive oil and cook on under the broiler for 2-3 minutes on each side.

Now for the assembly. Serve two tortillas per person on a plate, layering first the fish, then the salad. Garnish with the cotija cheese, avocado, capers, cilantro and olive oil. Serve with a bottle of hot sauce.

Enjoy!

Polar Bear Plunge with Portabello & Porcini Mushroom Soup

A fantastic and fearless running pal, Celia, was more than happy to turn a suggestion to bring in the New Year with a Long Run & Polar Bear Plunge into reality. Or as she described it, we grabbed 2014 by the throat with a jump in the icy Mill River in Haydenville, MA, just outside Northampton. As you might guess, this was thrilling and chilling in all the right ways for crazy people. The route, snaking through surrounding villages was scenic and fun with rolling hills and lots of wind at our fronts. We plowed through it and arrived in Haydenville, looking ready to tackle Mill River and it's low, low temps. Lucky us, there were supporters and volunteers, including folks that used an axe to chop away ice, set up ropes to get us down the steep, snowy and icy embankment and assisted Polar Bear Plunge participants in navigating across icy rocks to our plunging spot. 

Yes, I brought in the new year with a wide, happy runner smile.

Denis whipped up my endorphins with a refreshing fast pace in the last mile. 

We're having a teensy break before the big moment. 

It is icy and colder than jumping in the ocean. 

We've got this! 

Timmy brings in the New Year with

outstanding style and taste, of course. 

Still gleeful after the plunge

Props to Lincoln and friends for the fabulous bonfire

and hot cider for Polar Bear Plungians. 

The best follow-up to a successful Polar Bear Plunge is making a wintry, warming soup. I went for rich, deep flavors by following the spirit of this Portabello & Porcini Beef Soup with Pancetta and Barley recipe. The soup was switched up a bit w/ the substitution of leftover Roasted Lemon Potatoes for the barley and some bacon we got from a Maine farmer for the pancetta. 

About that soup...

Yeah, that soup... Mmmm....

Porcini & Portabello Mushroom and Barley Beef Soup with Pancetta

Porcini & Portabello Mushroom and Barley Beef Soup with Pancetta

• 4 ounces diced pancetta
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups water
• 3 cups beef stock or canned beef broth
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
• 1/2 cup pearl barley
• 1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms,* brushed clean of grit
• 1 leek, trimmed and sliced very thinly
• 4 oz. cremini (portabello) mushrooms, chopped
• 1 pound flank steak
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp rosemary
• 1/2 tsp green or black peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp marjoram

• Shaved Romano cheese

Cook pancetta in heavy large pot over medium-high heat until crisp, about 6 minutes (if using bacon, drain off excess drippings). Add shallots, carrots, celery, leek, portabello and garlic to pancetta in pot; cook until soft, about 5 minutes. 

Cook flank steak in frying pan for 4 minutes on each side. Cut into four large pieces.

Add 2 cups water, both stocks, barley and porcini and bring to boil. Reduce heat; add flank steak; simmer until barley is tender, stirring occasionally, about 40 minutes total. At twenty minutes, remove flank steak and cut into small, bite-sized pieces and add back to pot. 

 Ladle soup into bowl and top with cheese