Celebrating Cinco de Mayo at Home
Jordan Wright
April 2010
Deborah Schneider was smitten the first time she ever sunk her teeth into a taco. “Wow! I thought it was the best thing I ever had in my life.“ For a Canadian growing up on “ham steaks with pineapple  Amor y Tacos by Deb Schneider—Executive Chef of SOL Cocina in Newport Beach rings”, it was a revelation and a call to arms.
In “Amor y Tacos”, her third and latest book on Mexican cuisine (her 2009 “Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho de la Puerta” was nominated for a James Beard award), Schneider brings her love of fresh, street-style Mexican food infused with a modern twist. “I love the immediacy of this food,“ she told me in a recent interview.
“What really got me interested was working alongside Mexican cooks from Puebla or Michoacan in a restaurant where we were made classical French and Italian dishes. They told me fascinating stories about their mothers and grandmothers and the villages they came from. I got interested in the history and evolution of Mexican cuisine, looking at it as an anthropologist would.”
As the Executive Chef and partner of Sol Cocina, a Baja-influenced restaurant in Newport Beach, CA, Schneider developed the authentic easy-to-make recipes while Manny Hinojosa, a friend and local rep for Corzo and Cazadores tequilas who set up the bar program at her restaurant, shared some of his personal drink recipes for the book.
In a section designed to help you plan everything from a Cinco de Mayo celebration to summer barbeques, she shows you how to pair her authentic recipes for tacos and antonitos (“little bites”) with her outrageous margaritas (Pineapple Serrano and Tangerine Ginger got my attention), sangritas and mojitos.
Tips Schneider gave me for products and resources she prefers are: pickled jalapenos from La Victoria; a crumbly goat cheese in log form, like Laura Chenel, and Mexican chorizo. “It’s like a paste. You have to cook it for a long time till it’s brown and crumbly, to release the garlic and pepper flavors,” she advises.
For lard she recommends the pork lard found in Latin grocery stores that stays in liquid form even when cold. “It tastes like smoked pork.”
Make sure to check out the section on decorating your cocktails to really make them stand out. I love her idea of spearing shrimp or scallops on a skewer with a cherry tomato and lime or chile on the tip. Dinner and a drink in one!
Here are Schneider’s suggestions for your Cinco de Mayo celebration.
Shrimp Tacos Dorado
Carne Asado Tacos Vampiro (her favorite)
A few different salsas (the Mango Habanero sounds great!)
Guacamole
Black Beans and Rice
Margaritas, Sangria, Mexican Beer
Shrimp Taco Dorado
from “Amor Y Tacos”
Makes 12 substantial tacos, enough for 6 hungry people. The dorado taco is a supertaco—a new trend in which the basic taco is elaborated upon by adding more salsas, cheese, and garnishes; adding layers; toasting and frying; and generally pushing the taco to its limit. (See also the Taco Vampiro, page 107.) A good dorado is gooey, substantial, and filling—a corn tortilla fried on the griddle with a little butter or oil until golden and half crisped, then stuffed with cheese and any number of fillings and sauces.
This taco, a favorite of mine, tops melted cheese with garlicky shrimp, guacamole, and chipotle salsa, then finishes with a spoonful of sweet-hot mango habanero salsa and fresh cilantro sprigs. It all comes together quickly, so make sure everything is ready to serve before you start cooking the shrimp.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons butter or olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, tails removed, and cut in half if large
1 teaspoon finely chopped chipotles in adobo
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
Large corn tortillas
11⁄2 cups grated Jack cheese
Chipotle salsa (page 138)
Guacamole (page 77)
Mango habanero salsa (page 136)
Cilantro sprigs
1. In an 8-inch sauté pan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter or oil over medium heat.
When it is heated, but not brown, add the garlic and shrimp, and cook, stirring, until the shrimp are pink. Stir in the chipotles and salt and remove from the heat.
2. Preheat a heavy pan or griddle over medium heat and brush it lightly with some of the remaining butter or olive oil. Set a corn tortilla on the griddle and scatter 2 tablespoons of shredded Jack cheese evenly over the tortilla. Set 3 or 4 shrimp on one side of the tortilla. When the cheese starts to melt, fold the tortilla in half over the shrimp, and continue to cook on both sides until the cheese is melted and the tortilla is lightly crisped and golden brown.
3. Open the taco. Dollop 1 teaspoon of chipotle salsa on top of the shrimp and follow with a tablespoon each of guacamole and mango habanero salsa. Tuck a couple of cilantro sprigs into the opening and serve right away.
If you decide to visit her restaurant on the Balboa Marina in Newport Beach go to www.SolCucina.com for menus and reservations.
Jordan Wright
Georgetowner/Downtowner
November 2009
 The rare white rhino from MSNBC's 100 Heartbeats Setting the stage for extinction: Every twenty minutes a distinct species of plant or animal throughout the world becomes extinct.
 Jeff Corwin speaks about his new book and MSNBC special 100 Heartbeats - photo credit Jordan Wright There is an aura surrounding Jeff Corwin. It is the peaceful intent of a man who has witnessed fierce struggle, mortal threats, man’s inhumanity, heart-pounding danger and crushing heartbreak and emerged to dedicate his life to saving the planet’s rare and endangered species. This is not your son or daughter’s jocular Animal Planet guide tiptoeing through the friendly jungles with weird and eclectic animals, nor the boyish rake abandoning all sensibility to get just a bit too close to an unpredictable viper. This is a man committed through thought, word and deed to altering the predicted fate of our planet’s endangered animals. In my encounter with Corwin I could read the intensity and conviction on his face as he spoke of his up-close-and-personal encounters with the cheetahs and white rhinos whose days appear numbered.
100 Heartbeats – The Race to Save Earth’s Most Endangered Species is Corwin’s paean to the animals. He has found a powerful voice after 15 years of television as an Emmy-award winning producer and host of over a dozen television series for Discovery, Disney, the Food Network, NBC, CNN and the Travel Channel. The two-hour special on the book’s subject is the second program in MSNBC’s epic Future Earth series scheduled for launch this week on November 22nd.
 Chef Robert Wiedmaier, Jeff Corwin and Prime Seafood's Jim Chambers - photo credit Jordan Wright In honor of sustainability the book launch at the Occidental Grill showcased a number of wines that foster sustainable and environmentally responsible practices. Naked by Snoqualmie vineyards, Ste Michelle and Yealands of New Zealand, noted DC Chef Robert Wiedmaier gave their sauvignon blanc the nod. Wild-caught Coho salmon and wild Georgia white shrimp from Prime Seafood, and heritage beef and turkey from Ayrshire Farm in Upperville, VA became luscious hors d’oeuvres in the creative hands of Chefs Rodney Scruggs and Robert Townsend.
 Sustainably-raised oyster stew shooter created for the evening by Chef Rodney Scruggs - photo credit Jordan Wright I had an opportunity to speak with Jim Chambers, manager and owner of Prime Seafood of Kensington, MD who as a marine biologist spent 20 years with the government agency, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). While on the board of the Marine Stewardship Council he was instrumental in setting up the standards for the industry. Jim is the only wholesaler in our area selling exclusively sustainably raised seafood to select local restaurants. Poste, 701, Proof, Johnny’s Half Shell, Corduroy, Firefly, Restaurant Nora, Cashion’s Eat Place and the Occidental Grill and Seafood are some of his DC clientele.
From April through December he sells wreckfish that is similar in flavor and texture to grouper, but sustainable through controlled fishing. Only four boats are licensed to capture these fish off the coast of Charleston, SC in deep water at the base of a “wrecked” submarine wall.
Chambers really enjoys way the fish is being prepared sous-vide at Blue Duck Tavern. “They cook it low and slow in a vacuum-sealed pouch and finish it off with a quick browning. It’s so delicious…tender and succulent, ” he said.
 New Zealand's Yealands Sauvignon blanc - photo credit Jordan Wright Science Magazine recently reported that, if we keep destroying habitat, the world’s fisheries will collapse by 2048. “With unrestrained overfishing we are racing pell-mell towards the destruction of our seas. We now catch the top predators, bottom predators and everything in between with massive fishing trawlers equipped with huge drag nets and sophisticated electronics such as sonar and GPS,” Chambers warned. “We are fast working our way through what is left.”
We talked about the interdependency of the species…how the little fish sustain the bigger fish and how bottom-dragging nets take out 100% of the herring leaving the predator tuna without sustenance and faced with extinction along with their tiny friends.
Our conversation then turned to the darker side of farm-raised fisheries. A recent study concerning farm-raised salmon vs. Chilean vs. Scottish salmon sold in US supermarkets, compared their contaminant load…the amount of chemicals measured in the fish. All of them rated poorly.
“Fish are fed with other fish containing PCBs, DDT, and other organic toxic compounds. In fact only one meal per month of farm-raised salmon, often misleadingly labeled organic, poses a substantial cancer threat to the consumer. They receive growth hormones to make them grow faster while being constantly doused with chemicals to keep the disease level manageably low,” he related.
“You’re creating a sewer in the water where they are being raised. And the parasites, like sea lice, that live on the outside of the nets are getting to the salmon in the net pens where they are being fed dyes to achieve the proper color,” Chambers told me.
This is the tragic underbelly of the fishing industry and a real eye-opener. “It takes about four pounds of juvenile species of wild fish to make one pound of farm-raised salmon. It’s totally unsustainable.”
Chambers takes heart with the appointment of NOAA’s new administrator, Jane Lubchenco, who is also in charge of the NMFS. As one of the most highly cited ecologists in the world, Lubchenco is considered a world expert on marine eco-systems.
Chambers suggests that, “Consumers and chefs in particular can become the solution by what they choose to eat and serve.” With the Blue Ocean Institute’s “Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood”, a copy of which he graciously gave me, and will be my new seafood-buying bible, he hopes that those who enjoy fish will make better and more informed choices.
For more information visit these websites:
www.FutureEarth.MSNBC.com
www.PrimeSeafood.com
www.BlueOcean.org
www.MSC.org
www.ScienceMagazine.org
For questions and comments on this story contact me at [email protected] or visit www.whiskandquill.com .
 Well-organized by lists, The Fearless Critic divides the categories into “Most Delicious,” “Good Vibes,” “By Genre,” “By Location,” “By Special Feature,” “Vegetarian Friendly,” “Late Night Dining” and “Top Tastes,” offering the diner a wealth of information on restaurant options including a ranking of 100 Best for “Vibes” and separately for “Food.”
Recently the new DC Area dining guide “The Fearless Critic” arrived on my desk for review. It promises secret dining reviews and is not ad-sponsored in any way…that’s novel and desperately needed…and all the restaurants are listed alphabetically for quick reference.
Well-organized by lists, it divides the categories into “Most Delicious,” “Good Vibes,” “By Genre,” “By Location,” “By Special Feature,” “Vegetarian Friendly,” “Late Night Dining” and “Top Tastes,” offering the diner a wealth of information on restaurant options including a ranking of 100 Best for “Vibes” and separately for “Food.”
 Robin Goldstein, author of the Fearless Critic. It begins at around 2 points for California Tortilla (why bother), and goes up to a 9.7 for Komi. Well, naturally. It also warns of “bad” restaurants. Now that’s quite useful.
That said, there are numerous questionable critiques.
For example, they give Teatro Goldoni in the sixes in “Food” and “Feel” categories. But wait!
This is a stunning and romantic restaurant, steaming with DC newsmakers and Hollywood royalty and a private chef’s table that will knock your Italian leather booties off, while Ben’s Chili Bowl ranks 8.1 in “Food” and 9.2 in “Feel.”
How does one compare veal carpaccio surrounded by coronets of chanterelles, poached cardoons, microgreens and a 30 month-old Parmesan, with chili-dogs in a greasy neon-lit luncheonette? Even if it is an Obama and Cosby-approved neighborhood fave, how can one justify such “apples and oranges” comparisons?
Consider that Georgetown’s Café Milano receives 6.5 in “Feel”… and is one the cities gloriously chic celeb hot spots…while Austin Grill rates 7.4 in the same category. Go figure. I couldn’t help but note that every laudatory review quoted in the guide was from out-of-towners.
There is no mention at all of the venerable and historic Occidental Grill, an absolute “must dine” for anyone visiting Washington, DC. But trendy, 2 Amys, the pizza parlor, is rated 9.6 for “Food” and 8.8 for “Feel” and is on a par with Eamonn’s, the fish-and-chips joint in Old Town, rated a close 8.7 and 8.0.
In Old Town, they list 20 restaurants and one supermarket, Whole Foods, but in this economy two of the restaurant have already closed and seven of the twenty are chain restaurants. In the rest of the city four are chain restaurants and one is the grocery store, Trader Joe’s.
 “The Fearless Critic” promises secret dining reviews and is not ad-sponsored in any way…that’s novel and desperately needed…and all the restaurants are listed alphabetically for quick reference. Mostly, however, these previously unknown and untested critics nail it. Let’s face it, it’s well-nigh impossible to draw a bead on so many dining spots. And, yes, they are “brutally honest,” as they claim.
But to what end? With nearly 500 pages it is not for the visiting backpacker. It’s your dining dime. You be the judge.
For questions and comments, or to weigh in on your favorite restaurants and why, contact [email protected]
By Jordan Wright
June 16, 2009
 Robert Kenner, director of FOOD, INC., a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. In a conversation with Executive Director Robert Kenner the week before the June 19th Washington, DC release of his new film, “Food, Inc.”, I had a chance to follow up on a review I wrote about the documentary earlier this month. This searing expose of the food industry that plays out like an eco-thriller is going to have a big impact on the industry and he told me he was very encouraged by the response so far. The film profiles agri-business villains, who currently hold the world hostage with their domination of our planet’s food supply, facing off against the small American farmer practicing sustainable farming methods. The good news Kenner wants you to know is that you, the consumer, can write a happier ending to this real-life tragedy with your daily food choices.
Jordan Wright – Food, Inc. is as powerful a documentary as any ever produced. How do you hope it will be received?
Robert Kenner – I hope this makes people start to think about where there food comes from. And it wasn’t just the food that I found to be important in the making of this film I discovered all the information that’s being denied to us. I was just shocked at the power of these mega-corporations. Our food has been fundamentally transformed in the last fifty years, without us seeing it. It’s become a totally different food than we’ve ever eaten before.
Wright – An Inconvenient Truth has done more to shine a spotlight on the dangers of global warming than any scientific treatise, government agency or print article. Given its worldwide success, do you envision Food, Inc. will have the same far-reaching impact on policy-makers and the general public in reigning in world domination of the agri-business conglomerates?
Kenner – Agri-business spends a fortune, billions of dollars, and people are not aware of the consequences of this system. We are spending less of our money on our food than any time in history. However, this inexpensive food is coming to us at a very high cost in the long run. It’s time to think about what those costs really are. The system that we have now is not a sustainable system and cannot continue its dependence on polluting the earth.
Continue reading Interview with Robert Kenner – Director “Food, Inc”
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