Mexican Feasts and Friends

I cooked dinner last night for an amazing group of new friends (with much help from my sous-chefs) to celebrate what I hope will be the first of many reunions of the San Miguel Lost in Margaritaville Class of 2011. Of course the meal had to be a Mexican feast to properly evoke the wonderful memories of our week south -- so I turned, as I often do when looking for inspiring Mexican food, to Chef Roberto Santibanez. I was not disappointed.

We began with a Watercress, Orange and Avocado Salad. The dressing is a tangy blend of sweet and spice (as so many Mexican dishes are) and calls for pomegranate molasses. This is not easy to source, but if you live in Vancouver you can find pomegranate molasses at Naz Mediterranean Products & Halal Meats on Fraser (elsewhere check out a local Middle Eastern market or try making it yourself). We served two different white wines to accompany this first course -- an Austrian Gruner Veltliner and an Oregon Pinot Gris -- both offer a nice crisp, fruity balance to the lime in the dressing of the salad.

The salad was followed by a self-serve buffet, which included:

• Swiss Chard with Beets, Goat Cheese and Raisins 
• Mushrooms in Escabèche with Red Bell Peppers and Chiles de Arbol: An escabeche is a marinade that begins with the slow cooking of onions, garlic, bay leaf and various spices in olive oil and vinegar. The main ingredient can vary -- from vegetables to meat to seafood, but it's always recommended that you make an escabeche a few days ahead, as it only gets better after a few days in the refrigerator.
• Serano Ham and Poblano Corn Pudding: I served this pudding in individual ramekin dishes, which worked well. The recipe calls for poblano chiles -- milder than other green chiles -- that are charred, peeled and seeded. It also calls for instant corn masa mix which is available in many Latin markets.
• Bacon-Wrapped Turkey Breast with Hazelnut Mole: Santibanez says that "according to lore, the original mole (derived from the ancient Nahuatl word molli, meaning a concoction) was served with turkey that had been fattened with hazelnuts". This particular mole includes fruit (apples, plantain, prunes) chiles (guajillo and ancho), spices and hazelnuts.

We paired two different reds with the main course: 2009 J. Lohr Estates South Ridge Syrah from California, and a French syrah, grenache and mourvèdre blend -- 2007 E.Guigal Côtes Du Rhône. 

For dessert I served Mexican Chocolate Mousse with Burnt Rum and Cinnamon-Almond Cookies. I'll also add a word of caution when flaming the 3/4 cup of white rum that gets added to the mousse -- stand back, stir in with a VERY long spoon, and have a fire extinguisher on hand!

It was a grand evening and I am sure this group will share many more memorable feasts together in the not to distant future. Next -- Ottawa with beaver tails in Byward Market?