Get out of that same ol’ recipe rut and try one of these delicious and easy recipes this week! This week I highly recommend making the Crispy Crunchy Chicken Fingers and Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Prosciutto Pizza with Balsamic Drizzle!
Hola TKW Family and happy Sunday! So WOW, what a week I had last week! I REALLY hope you follow me on Instagram as OMG the pictures I posted with my trip to Mexico were insane! I had an AMAZING time though it made me realize I should really learn Spanish. Sure I can speak French buuuuuuuuuut I’m thinking Spanish is a must-learn as the culture and food are something that I fell in love with! So let’s dish about the trip out. Since I couldn’t find a direct flight I had to fly from Pittsburgh into Houston which isn’t bad. The flight was pretty empty and yours truly flew first class – for every flight! Yeah, I’ll never fly coach again. But anyway, behind me there were a bunch of empty seats. Since my driver picked me up at 1 am, I figured I could sleep on the plane since I knew I was going to have a packed day.
Yeah, that didn’t happen. The lady at the gate decided that in all of the bajillion empty seats on that plane she had to place a couple and their 2, very adorable, four-month old twins. Now I’m totally cool with kids on planes. But yeah.. these kids were sick and they didn’t cry during the flight. Oh no! They screamed/wailed/shattered glass with their shrieks the ENTIRE PLANE RIDE TO HOUSTON! I literally wanted to die. My music couldn’t go any louder. Seriously thanks gate lady…
Thankfully my 2nd leg from Houston to Guadalajara was quieter as I got to sleep a bit. As I was getting off of the plane I met one of my fellow writers that were also on the trip. We were the first two to arrive so we, with our brand representatives, chilled out in the airport. Once everyone arrived we went up to Olmeca Altos Tequilla Distillery. So first the roads…. some paved, some not. The roads that were not, well, it was like you had to ride over boulders and go uber slow as you’d kick up red clay dust for miles.
The distillery was gorgeous and the margaritas were aplenty. My god people those were the best margaritas I have ever had in my life. I’ll be posting the recipes in my article write up.
We got to see how the tequila was made and what an agave plant actually looked like. OMG, these things are HUGE…and heavy! Now I’ve had agave syrup but never 100% pure agave. It’s like a roasted sweet potato but a bit sweeter. If you ever get the chance to try it, you MUST! I so wanted to bring one of those babies home with me buuuuuuuuuuut it wouldn’t fit in my suitcase annnnnnnnnnd it was super heavy! But what’s cool is that we each got the chance to harvest one. Yeah, no; I’ll stick with my day job. I’m all for manual labor but that crap is hard!
On average a Jimador (person that harvests the agave plants) does 150 a day! I did 4 swipes and was done!. I’ll think I’ll let the professionals do this!
To tour the fields we went on quads. So okay I’ve been on a quad before but they were all ones that you had to shift and let’s be real here; this girl does NOT have great hand-eye coordination. Like I cannot drive a stick shift to save my life. If my life depended on it, yeah I’m a goner. Thankfully these quads were all automatic. Now since there were no roads we had to pretty much cover up from head to toe. I’m thinking I look pretty rockin’ here *wink*
The first 2 days we were met with beautiful tablescapes with amazing foods at the distillery and in their agave fields located in Jalisco. Our host, Maestro Tequilero Jesús Hernandez, was so genuinely nice and down to earth. He made me feel at home and welcome. You could see the care and passion in his eyes and how he spoke about the tequila. It’s a beautiful thing when you find someone that truly loves what they do as it just shows in their work.
The third day we got to tour a Mexican market with Chef Jorge Fitz. I was totally in my element here as we were talking about foods, chilis, traditions and all kinds of deliciousness. We went back to his cooking school and made lunch for all of us – Tamales, Sopes, guacamole, 2 types of salsa, peach flambe and so much more. I’m writing up a proper post with real pics (not a cell phone/Instagram shots) for next week. But just look at some of these dishes!
Since I was the only chef on the press trip I got to make the masa by hand. Click the image to watch the video.
Now making tamales are honestly pretty easy but it takes patience. But these were pretty simple – just masa, mole and chicken wrapped in a banana leaf. They are then steamed for 45 minutes in this large canister. However, I did ask if you could pressure cook them. Yep! Chef Jorge said only 20 minutes – yeah you know where I was going with this!
We also made homemade sopes – these were topped with some mashed black beans, pork and chorizo, crema, cojita and salsa. I could have lived on these!
And then there was dessert! Chef Alberto made Mango Flambe. Soooooooo good! Click the image to watch the video.
We didn’t get to tour Mexico City as it poured when we finally had a few hours of free time. Since I hadn’t slept much at all since leaving Pittsburgh I took the time to nap for an hour. Now it would have been glorious as, while I was lying in bed, chatting with Mr. Fantabulous my door flies open and in walks a maid. Scared the living daylights out of me. I screamed, she screamed and then she gave me chocolates. LOL, We visited two really good restaurants. I HIGHLY recommend visiting Huset. One of the best meals I’ve had in ages. They served a Gnocchi con Crema de Limón, Hongos Silvestres, Parmesano which is Gnocchi with Lemon Cream, Wild Mushrooms, and Parmesan. OMG people! It was true foodgasm!
Our final night we visited a 5-star restaurant for a 9-course meal (all wee-bites) and super fancy – like a new fork/spoon/knife after every meal. God, I’d hate to wash those dishes! After that, we visited many, MANY bars to which this child danced all night and didn’t get home til after 4 am. Yeah and my car was picking me up at 6:30 am. Needless to say, I was exhausted and ready to go home. My flights home, thankfully, were really smooth though I didn’t sleep at all.
As my driver drove me home I looked out the window and saw this….and smiled. Home, I was home.
♥ Monday – White Bean and Corn Veggie Burgers
♥ Tuesday – Crispy Crunchy Chicken Fingers
♥ Wednesday – Crab Stuffed Zucchini with Gruyere Panko Crust
♥ Thursday – Roasted Cornish Hens
♥ Friday – Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Prosciutto Pizza with Balsamic Drizzle
♥ Saturday – Southwest Turkey Burgers with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde
♥ Sunday – Hot ‘n Sticky BBQ Chicken Legs
♥ Dessert of the week – Croissant Love
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