Best soups in town.

Genoma has been around for about 6 years now. However I didn't ever visit it until last year when chef Guillermo Gonzalez had me over for lunch. That time I had my first taste of the Genoma soups: Mex/Thai mussels.

Simply put, it was just mussels and their cooking juices. Those juices however, were delicious. The chefs at Genoma nailed a nice combo mixing mexican chilies with coconut milk. It was the priciest soup on their menu (which can be understood, because of the mussels) but it was definitely worth it. If my wife wasn't allergic to coconut, I would've had it more often. Alas, it's off the menu now.

Another "regular" is their Roast tomato soup with fried feta and pesto. Sure, it's a simple soup, but it's the best tomato soup in this town. Hands down. This has become my wife's favorite soup and she will have it every time we're there.

Genoma also features an onion soup dubbed: Three Onion soup. I haven't had a taste of this one since... well it's soupe a l'oignon. I'll just give you the description: Red, White and Green onion soup with gruyere and baguette.

Recently (I think) Genoma has added a prix-fixe menu that's an excellent value with very good meal choices. It's from that menu that I've had my most recent soup choices, and they've been all so good

First up, Curried Mussel Cream with fried mussels, and apple. I think this is my favorite version of a dish including mussels and curry. It used to be a regular combination in our residence hall repertoire at IPB, but Genoma's soup was much more delicate and elegant. So much I should probably be ashamed at not coming up with something.

Finally, the most recent addition to the Genoma Repertoire: Tortilla Soup. The mexican classic is most often found in it's original state. I had seen a spin off this in a Regional restaurant in Saltillo that while good, it wasn't great. Genoma's doesn't try to distance itself from the original so much but manages to to leave an impression. It consists of a richer, thicker soup that's a far cry from the usual broth. The soup however is much tastier. As for the accoutrements, they're the classic tortilla chips. This time, they're multicolored and cut in a julienne that makes it also much easier to eat.

If you're ever around, stop by Genoma, even if it's just for the soup.

On an unrelated note: Go Foie Gras! Kudos to Chicago!

Mother's day dinner

Yet another menu... it was a really simple thing this time.
Tomato and Watermelon
Basil
12 yr. Balsámico

Beet soup
Crimini
Escargots

Almond Citrus crusted Bassa
Cranberry-Onion Compote
Whole wheat spaghetti

Chocolate and Caramel Mousse.

I miss TGRWT events...

Mexican dinner menu

A little dinner over the weekend.

Jicama and Cucumber Salad (Inspired by Tetsuya)
Aguachile Shrimp
Aguachile vinaigrette

Cuitlacoche Cream
Añejo cheese sauce

Baked Salmon in Ancho adobo.
Maple-Chipotle Carrot puree
Semi-cured, grilled nopal.

"Choco-Flan"
Flan-Chocolate beignets
Caramel/Cajeta parfait
Pecan praline sauce.

TGRWT #9 - Revisited

Since I had been left with lingering ideas from TGRWT #9, I took the chance to revisit the a dessert idea. A bit of baking, and some anglaises later, I had a Mexican chocolate tartlet with parmesan cream and a balsamic-raspberry condiment.

... and it was good.

I even think this one was better than the risotto.

TGRWT #10: Dirty Pineapple Martini

I should feel guilty or something. This time I've "neglected" the TGRWT. Usually I'd really work up my mind to come up with some convoluted ideas that eventually I wouldn't cook. At the least, I'd make a post referring to the host.

This time I only had a couple of ideas and none too complicated. Still I went for the easiest one.

#10 is about combining Pineapple and Blue Cheese. Heston Blumenthal seems to have pointed this one out at a list at eGullet sometime back. My Ideas were:

a) Meat Course: Involving Pork, coconut and blue cheese... somehow.
b) Dessert: Pineapple Crisp Millefeuille with Blue Cheese cream and a "liquid" pineapple center. Caramel sauce or Ice Cream.

I really don't know when the thought for the drink came up. Probably a flashback to the college days when Vodka and Pineapple juice were sometimes quaffed at clubs. Vodka led to the Cheesecake Factory's Dirty Martini, which involves blue cheese stuffed olives.

So I came up with the idea of mixing Vodka, pineapple juice and brine. It went roughly like this:

1 Part Pineapple Juice
1 Part Vodka
1 Dash Olive Brine.

After a bit of shaking I dropped it into a glass and went for the taste. I loved the almost spicy combination of the vodka, brine and pineapple juice, and I think it was very good with the blue cheese stuffed olives. While my wife decided she'd rather have it sweetened, I would rather opt for a dash of dry vermouth... and more olives.

I re-made the concoction for the post and hit a roadblock... I forgot my martini glasses. So I improvised using a quadruple shot glass:

I encourage you few readers to go ahead and try this drink... I'm sure I will repeat it.

P.S. New camera is in order... finally!

TGRWT #9: Risotto

A while back I ran into a book by French Pastry Chef Frédéric Bau. Chocolat Fusion's quite an interesting book since it's all about chocolate in savory recipes. I haven't gotten around to buying the book yet, but one of it's recipes, or what I recalled of it, was the inspiration for this TGRWT's theme.

In the book, Bau marries anise-smoked rack of pork with milk chocolate in a risotto. I wasn't quite sure of what it included except for basic risotto ingredients, pork and chocolate. So I set out to make my version of this risotto.

I started out by rendering bacon fat, and letting it cook in it until crispy. I used that same fat to sweat my onions. Added the rice, then I changed the white wine for cream sherry. After that it was pretty much a regular cooking until the moment of mantecare. I replaced the butter for dark chocolate (my bad), and added the parmesan. Served in bowls and topped with the bacon.

I didn't have a nice bowl at hand since I did this at a cousin's place. I also have to excuse myself for the terrible picture. Our camera is broken and I had to resort to the nasty cellphone camera.

The tasting could be classified as a success since both my cousin and his wife completely ate their bowls, and seemed to have enjoyed it. Personally I think it could've used some improvements such as an older Parmiggiano in order to get a sharper cheese note. It was so delicate that it seemed like an afterthought in comparison with the powerful chocolate. Probably a stronger, spicier stock as Bau's would've made another difference, but since this was about chocolate and parmesan, I kept it simple. It was good, but not perfect... and I couldn't help thinking about Cocoa Krispies.

I also wanted to experiment with a Parmesan cheesecake and a chocolate-balsamic-berry sauce, or a Mexican Chocolate Tartlet with Parmesan Ice Cream, but those only stayed as Ideas for future play.

Edit: This event was hosted by Robert @ lamiacucina. Final roundup's here

TGRWT #9

It's on again! This time it's being hosted by Robert @ lamiacucina. The flavor combination is Parmesan and Chocolate/cocoa.

At first I thought of Masaharu Morimoto's recipe. But Martin had already published that one back in the days of the first TGRWT. Another interesting find is Francesco Schintu's lasagna recipe. But I don't think I'll be working along the lines of any of them.

I would like to include a third element into the combination. Morimoto's added prosciutto and Schintu's include, well pretty much everything that's in pesto. Honestly basil's not a terrible idea.

According to the old google search, other possible ingredients include pork, beef, hazelnut, potato and others.

Another source for inspiration, is obviously foodpairing.