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Mayan Dinner

Last night’s dinner was once again just over the top. Miguel clearly enjoys what he is doing and puts heart and passion in to all of his meals. We went with the Mayan Dinner, because of the Cochinita Phibil; it was so good the night before we just had to have more. The great thing about getting to know Miguel so well was that even though we order items off the preset menu, every meal always had a special item that Miguel added for us. Last night was no different. Dinner started with Chicken Tortilla Soup (Charles would have loved it) with a twist. The twist was there were no tortillas, instead it was either thinly sliced jicama or potatoes, we could not really tell which. The broth itself was excellent, subtle hints of cumin and chili. It was a great start to the meal.

The next course was a Chile Rellenos. Again these had a twist. While they were stuffed with cheese, it was not your traditional melty & oozy type; instead Miguel used Queso Fresco, which tends not to melt easily. The batter was crispy and not your typical American/Mexican eggy batter. The sauce, was excellent, just a little hint of heat but not over powering. Miguel truly hit the heat level prefect on all our meals. He had asked the first night what tolerance we had, and unlike Thailand, where mild is hot, he got it just prefect.

The star of the meal was of course the Cochinita Pibil. Again perfectly cooked, and the spices oh, they are oh so tasty. There was so much I got to incorporate some into today’s breakfast (no food service on Sunday’s so I had to make breakfast).

The traditional sides accompanied the meal, refried beans, Spanish rice, Pico de Gallo, etc. But a true highlight to this meal was dessert. Key Lime and Pecan/chocolate pie, a slice each (small, thank god) for each of us. It was one of the best tasting Key Lime slices I have ever had. I have not had a piece that good since Key West. And the addition of chocolate to the pecan pie was just over the top.

We spent the rest of the evening watching the Food Network.

The Final Day

Frittata Mexicana

Sunday’s Miguel does not typically offer food services, he is making dinner for us tonight since it is our last night. Knowing this we did some shopping the first day we arrived. I planned on making a Frittata, a real frittata not what everyone in the US calls a frittata. A frittata is not an open face omelet that is called a French omelet. A frittata is in fact a noodle based dished, and not pasta, but a special frittata noodle, which is more egg than flour. (3 eggs to 5 tablespoons of flour and ½ cup milk) This is mixed to get a light pancake consistency batter. The batter is then poured in to a greased and floured rectangle baking dish and baked at 350 for about 10 minutes or until just set. The frittata is then flipped over and set to cool. The sauce I made was of course Mexican inspired, a basic red sauce (tomatoes, onions, garlic) to which I added some Chorizo, salsa and left over Cochinita Pibil (this added such flavor and depth). After the frittata is cool enough to handle, you roll it like a jelly roll then slice into noodles. I put a little of the sauce in a square baking dish, added the frittata noodles, then the rest of the sauce, finishing with Queso Fresco. This baked at 350 for about 20 minutes. I then added four eggs, one in each corner. You make a small impression in the frittata and add the egg. The frittata is then returned to the oven and baked until the eggs are a prefect sunny side up. Rest for 5 minutes and serve. Today, I made use of leftover avocados and made an avocado sauce. Two avocados, garlic powder, salt, cumin, blended and milk so sauce is thick and not runny. I plated and served the avocado sauce over the frittata. It was excellent if I do say so my self. The best part of cooking was I do not have to do the dishes. The housekeepers will be grateful I only cooked one meal and not everyday.

The Rain Returns

Today the weather has been more what we expected it would be the entire week. However, we have been very lucky, it has been sunny everyday and hot. Today we have had sun then down pour then more sun. The rain passes quickly so it really isn’t so horrible. Added benefit it keeps the humidity down.

Not much left of the day, dinner is a Mexican Grill, more on that after we eat. Spent most of the day in and out of the pool and packing. Our plane leaves at 7 am but we have to leave here at 4:30 am.

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