04 Apr 2014
by scolgin
in Recipes
Tags: beans, Better Than Bouillon, chili, chili con carne, fast food, recipes, Texas, Western cooking
I was in a pinch! I had to go out and needed to feed my family. Desperately searching my nearly empty fridge (we were going on vacation), freezer and cupboards, I found a can of beans. Inspiration took over — I could make a quick chili!
Practically instant chili
Despite what the chili-heads and aficionados will try to tell you (and sell you), chili doesn’t have to be a complicated or obtuse affair. Indeed, some of the chili I’ve thrown together in a pinch with ground turkey and tomato paste, for example, have been better than the fancy versions with heirloom tomatoes and tri-tip that I’ve labored over across the course of days. More
01 Apr 2014
by scolgin
in On the Road, Recipes, Video
Tags: ceviche, gooseneck barnacles, humor, Japanese cooking, Malibu, percebes, Spain, Steve McQueen, sweet shrimp, tempura
I’ve always felt an affinity for the sea. Growing up near the shore, it was forever a part of my life. But it’s only been the last decade or so that I’ve begun to feel its pull in a more primal way, like gravity. I need the sea.
Dinner?
Fresh off a week of deep ocean connecting on the bluffs in Puerto Vallarta, we got invited to the bluffs in Malibu for a night with our friends Nadine and Andrew at the Steve McQueen beach house. Which was good, because I was already missing the sea. More
25 Mar 2014
by scolgin
in Eating Out, On the Road, Recipes
Tags: Anthony Bourdain, black clams, Bodeguita del Medio, Casa Tres Coronitas, Mexican cooking, Mexico, Pancho's Takos, patas, Puerto Vallarta, uni
I had successfully taken over the kitchen at Casa Tres Coronitas — at least for a couple of our nights here. And Marilu actually seemed somewhat relieved.
At the PV Farmer’s Market
Out on the boat with our amigo Mario fishing, looking for whales, snorkeling and loitering on beaches, we’d caught a big red snapper and a couple of smaller fish that appeared to be in the tuna family. The little fish I made into a Mexican crudo with lime, chili, cilantro, onions and Jugo — the Mexican equivalent of soy sauce — while the larger fish I left to Marilu to grill, one of her specialties. (I didn’t want to steal her thunder. And her fish was delicioso, I could’ve done no better.) More
21 Mar 2014
by scolgin
in Humor, On the Road, Recipes
Tags: Casa Tres Coronitas, cooking, food, Mexican cooking, Mexico, octopus, Puerto Vallarta, shrimp, tequila, travel
We love the food at Casa Tres Coronitas — prepared by the house cook, Marilu — especially the first couple days we are here. But after a few days, we’re ready for a change… if not wanting to necessarily leave this perfect paradise.
“I would like it if you cooked a couple nights,” Leslie said last time we were here. But we never had the courage to approach Marilu with this proposition, both out of fear of hurting her feelings, and an inability to communicate the point to her anyway. But when I mentioned it to Monica, who speaks fluent Spanish, she was insistent. “Oh, of course you will cook! I already told Marilu that you were a chef and you wanted to cook.”
More
18 Mar 2014
by scolgin
in Humor, On the Road, Recipes
Tags: Casa Tres Coronitas, cooking, corned beef, food, humor, Mexico, Puerto Vallarta, recipes, St. Patrick's Day, tacos
We just can’t get enough of Mexico.
Today we boarded a plane and headed two-plus flight hours south of our home to our favorite spot, Casa Tres Coronitas on the coast of Pacific Mexico just south of Puerto Vallarta.
Sunset for St. Patty
Last time we came, in October of last year, my wife had had enough of Mexico. More specifically, she had had enough of the mosquitos that hovered in clouds around our heads, penetrated our mosquito netting and generally rendered the Mexican nights of what would have otherwise been a perfect vacation intolerable. October, you see, is the end of the monsoon season, and we had the misfortune of visiting a week after a hurricane. There was water — lots of water — everywhere, and the mosquitos were happy. More
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