El Tacoqueto

Our buddies Carla and Gerry had been to Tulum before and we took a lot of their suggestions including where to stay and where to eat. Carla let me know that the food in Tulum Pueblo was a good bit cheaper and really good. When we were driving through town Ron spotted El Tacoqueto and after we ate their we realized that this was the place that Carla and Gerry had raved about - and rightfully so. Looking back on C&G's photos - we actually have embarrassingly similar photos of ourselves inside! Good find guys, very good find!

Ordering goes like this - walk up to the window to the kitchen and the women open the pots of what they made that day and you pick what you want. They don't speak any english (a very good sign to us - yay, not a tourist trap!) luckily, our knowledge of the spanish language pretty much includes only food items. We can read a menu with hardly any problems - but street signs? Not so much.

Generally if I hear the word "mole" I'm in! So we went for the chicken mole served with rice (note my spanish dictionary in the background!):

And the abondigas (meatballs) in a spicy tomato sauce served with black beans and rice:

Ron also ordered a melon Agua Fresca - fresh melon, water (bottled of course, stay FAR away from the tap water!) and sugar blended and strained into this massive glass:

This was probably one of our best meals and definitely one of the cheapest - I think we payed around $10 for everything! When we were waiting for our check a man who must have been one of the owners came over to talk to us - since our spanish was limited he was more like talking at us as we played the role of stupid americans. He asked where we were from, we told him and he jumped up to grab a magazine that they'd been featured in. A little magazine called Food & Wine! What a good place to stumble upon, huh? I'd agree with Food & Wine - it's definitely a "spectacular hole-in-the-wall".

Eggplant Parm - lightened.

I just stumbled upon a recipe I had made a while back and it reminded me that soon we'll be getting boat loads of eggplant from greensgrow CSA. Last year we made supped up tomato mozzarella salads and we're definitely going to make them again this summer - but we'll also be making this eggplant parm rolls - it's a perfect dish to make on a Sunday and bring to lunch all week long. The recipe is from Bon Appetit and it's a bit time consuming but makes a ton and it's way better for you than the standard fried eggplant parm - especially when you sub in some part skim ingredients.

First you slice and salt the eggplant, put it into colanders until the water beads on top of it - rinse and dry the eggplant then broil it for about 3-4 minutes per side until it starts to brown. While the eggplant cools make the stuffing - blanched, chopped greens (recipes calls for swiss chard, I think I used kale), egg, parmesan, mint and pepper. Pour tomato sauce on the bottom of a greased pan then start stuffing!

Once all the eggplant is stuffed top the eggplant with more sauce and mozzarella.

Bake at 350 covered for about 40 minutes then uncover and cook for another 15-20 minutes until the top start to brown. Then eat, and eat, and eat.

Greensgrow CSA!

So...our CSA starts tomorrow. This year we're splitting a full share with a couple of friends so we'll get fresh, local goodies every week. I'm hoping to share a lot of it on my blog! Although it's too late to sign up for the CSA you should still visit Greensgrow for local fruits, veggies, and dairy. They also have tons of great plants.

I mean you're not going to find carrots like this at the grocery store:

Should I blur this photo?

Mexican Honeymoon

Wedding planning is exhausting! The day after the wedding we had an early brunch with our out-of-town guests then went home to "pack". Packing turned into hours of napping, all the wedding craziness finally caught up with us - this might have been my best nap ever.

Anyway - the next day we were up bright and early for a flight to Cancun followed by an hour and a half drive to Tulum, Mexico. We stayed at Hotel Nueva Vida de Rimero - the hotel consists of 20 cabanas, ours was just steps of the beach. Check out this view:

Not awful, right? Our first day there we did as close to nothing as possible - more napping and a low key dinner across the street at the hotel's restaurant.

Continental breakfast was included with the room. I'm not talking make your own waffles and boxes of cereal, this was sliced fresh fruit (pineapple, watermelon, banana, the good stuff!), yummy toasted bread with jam, strong coffee, and fresh squeezed orange juice. You could have it delivered to your cabana for a next-to-nothing charge or dine at the restaurant. But...for our first morning in Tulum we wanted something a bit more hearty and we definitely wanted it delivered! We went with Chilaquiles and Huevos Rancheros (two of my favorite foods!). Yum.

This is a great way to start a vacation!

The Wedding!

I'm officially Mrs. Eatin' Good in the Hood! Doesn't is seem like yesterday that this happened? Or is that because it's only a couple of blog posts ago? Well...sorry about that. The wedding planning was a bit time consuming. But, I'm happy to say that all of the work that went into the big day was totally worth it and I don't think there is a thing I would have done differently!

I know what you want to hear about...the food! Well, my caterer, Day by Day, and my catering manager, Stephen, where incredible. We wanted to serve the food that we like to eat so we went really simple and really flavorful - not quite your typical wedding food but simple and delicious enough to satisfy all of our guests. Here's the menu:

Hors D'oeuvres

Antipasto display that as I type this I realize I never saw (we were out taking photos!)

Pulled chicken sliders with pepper slaw

Assorted flat breads

Mini crab cakes with chipotle mayo

Asian duck salad in endive

Salad

Mixed greens with strawberries, goat cheese, almonds and balsamic vinaigrette

Entree Options

Bass with bean mash and sauteed baby vegetables

Skirt steak with israeli couscous salad and sauteed baby vegetables

Vegetarian Phyllo wrapped roasted vegetables with goat cheese, couscous salad and baby veg

Dessert

Banana cake with vanilla buttercream and caramel drizzle (bottom layer)

Lemon cake with lemon curd and vanilla buttercream (top two layers)

Whipped Bakery made the cake and it was REALLY tasty!

AND - lots of homemade cookies! I made a ton of cookie dough, rolled it into balls, froze it, then handed it out to some fabulous friends that were willing to bake them for me and bring them to the wedding. My mom and mother-in-law also made some and brought those along. I printed my own stickers and put them on a bunch of little brown bags for people to take as favors but I think a lot of them got eaten early! They went VERY quick - I loved this personal touch. Hopefully there is a photo of the display around somewhere. Anyone??

I didn't take my own photos of the food - I was a little busy doing the whole getting married thing! So...I "borrowed" some photos from friends. Thanks Re and Rochelle!

More photos to come AND the honeymoon! We went to Tulum, Mexico and had some incredible meals. But now I'm off to city hall and get the official marriage license - woohoo!

CASTING RESTAURANTS FOR A PILOT!

Hi All - I'm sure you're thinking "really? She hasn't posted in months and this is what she's giving us". Well, in short, yes. I need some help readers!

I'm working on a new project for a national Cable channel. We're searching for some restaurants that could use a pick me up, restaurants that are in danger of closing and are willing to throw some of their old menu, decor and theme out the window and start fresh in hopes of getting back on the path to success. The more willing to change, the better!

The restaurant owners and staff will be taking the advice of a celebrity chef and his or her team. Mom and Pop, family run restaurants would be best but at this point I'll look at anything! The owners and management team have to have big personalities.

Know any restaurants that might fit the bill somewhere between Boston and DC? Email me at casting.restaurants (at) gmail (dot) com. Fellow bloggers feel free to repost!

I'll post food soon! I got a new laptop so I'm back up and running. My only excuse now is that I have that whole wedding thing happening in (gulp) less than 6 weeks!

Balsamic Braised Chicken Thighs

This may not be pretty but it's sooo good and so easy. A while back Ron and I went out to dinner with my mom and Ron ordered...chicken. Gasp! We're not chicken orderers because we make it at home and it's easy and it's good and, well, it's just chicken. But this chicken was different...Mr. Martino's had a chicken special that was just about as far from a crappy boneless skinless chicken breast as you could get. This was a chicken leg slowly braised in balsamic and it fell right off the bone - I'm sure that whatever was on the side was great but I can't remember anything other than the chicken. I've been meaning to make a homemade version of this forever but was reminded of it when a friends told me about a vinegar braised chicken entree she had at Supper.





I seared boneless skinless chicken thighs that I'd seasoned with salt and pepper in olive oil, pulled the chicken out and sauteed some sliced onions and chopped garlic in the fat that was left in the pan. Once the onions were soft I added about 1/4-1/3 cup of balsamic to deglaze the pan. Once all of the brown bits were up from the bottom I added the chicken back in the pan along with a cup or so of chicken stock - I covered the pan and let the chicken simmer on low for 20 minutes on each side. Meanwhile I cooked gigante beans in some of the liquid that the chicken was simmering in, when the bean were heated through I added some chopped kale just until it was wilted. When the chicken was finished I pulled it out and reduced the sauce, it was sweet and syrupy and the chicken pulled apart - no knife required. This dish also made for awesome leftovers.