Recipes From the Philadelphia Book and Cook Festival

Jim Peyton recently spent an enjoyable week in Philadelphia participating in the Book and the Cook festival at Zócalo restaurant. During the first couple of weeks in March, restaurants invite cookbook authors to appear and feature their recipes on a special menu. It promotes both the restaurants and the books, and customers appreciate the new and often unexpected dishes they have an opportunity to sample. Zócalo, under the leadership of talented chef, Jackie Pestka was and is one of the first restaurants in the country to serve nueva cocina mexicana, Mexico's newly popular upscale cooking style almost exclusively, and they do a very good job. It was a privilege for Jim to work with Jackie, as well as the gracious owners Joe Ferzoco and Mark McBride. They all learned something.

Zócalo is located at 36th and Lancaster Ave. in West Philadelphia's University City, an easy walk from the University of Pennsylvania. They are open for lunch and dinner, and for specific dates and times can be reached at (215) 895-0139.

These are some of the recipes selected by Zócalo to serve their customers during the Book and the Cook festival.

APPETIZER

SHRIMP WITH CHIPOTLE REMOULADE SAUCE

This recipe adds one more spice, that of smoked, chipotle chiles, to an already tangy but nevertheless sophisticated sauce, that provides a much needed relief from the traditional shrimp cocktail.

Chipotle Remoulade

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons neutral cooking oil, such as canola oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 medium, canned chipotle chiles, seeded and chopped, or to taste

1 ½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 ½ tablespoons American yellow mustard
1 ½ tablespoons catsup
1/3 cup loosely packed, chopped cilantro
½ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

To make the remoulade, place all ingredients in a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process for 1 minute.

Shrimp and garnish

1 pound large (approx 20/pound) shrimp
1 large cucumber
1 small jícama
1 - 4 carved radishes

Clean and devein the shrimp, leaving the tails intact. Place the shrimp in a large quantity of boiling water over high heat and cook them, checking them frequently by cutting into them with a small sharp knife, until they are just cooked through. Immediately immerse the shrimp in ice water, and place them in the refrigerator until they are thoroughly chilled.

Slice the cucumber and jícama into thin pieces and place them on a large serving plate to form a bed for the shrimp. When the shrimp are chilled, dry and place them on the plate and decorate with the carved radishes. Serve with the sauce.

Serves 4

ENTREE

SEA BASS OR TUNA A LA MARGARITA

It was inevitable that someone would invent a dish based on the ingredients used to make the famous cocktail, and I have seen several. This one is a credit to its namesake. It uses the ingredients for the Margarita with a delicious result that requires little last minute preparation. It works equally well with sea bass or yellowfin tuna. When using seabass I like to use a regular iron skillet for the baking portion of the recipe as it produces a crusty, golden texture on the surfaces of the fish. With tuna a ridged iron grill pan provides much of the flavor and appearance of grilling which is the preferred way to cook this fish.

The sauce and garnish:

1/4 cup white tequila
1/4 cup lime juice
3 tablespoon triple sec
1 serrano chile, stemmed seeded and minced
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt
½ cup carrots cut into julienne strips
1 ½ tablespoons butter

The fish:

4 boneless, sea bass steaks of 6 to 8 ounces and 1 1/4 inches thick, or 4 yellowfin tuna steaks of 6 to 8 ounces, and 1 1/4 to 1 ½ inches thick
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon minced parsley
4 lime wedges
4 1/4 inch orange slices

To make the sauce combine all the ingredients except the carrots and butter in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the carrots, blanch them for about 1 minute, then remove and reserve them. They should still be fairly crisp and infused with the flavors of the sauce. Continue simmering until the mixture is reduced to about 1/3 cup. The sauce can be prepared to this point then kept an hour or two unrefrigerated or a day or two refrigerated.

To prepare the fish first preheat your oven to 350 degrees. The fish will be first seared in a skillet on top of the stove, then placed in the oven to finish cooking, so select a skillet that can be placed in the oven.

Salt and pepper the sea bass or tuna on one side. Place the oil in a skillet or lightly oil a ridged grill pan and place over medium high heat. When whichever pan you are using is very hot but not smoking add the fish. Allow the fish to cook for 2 ½ minutes, or until the bottom of the seabass is golden brown and crisp, or the tuna is seared and crisp, without turning. Turn the fish and place the skillet or grill pan in the preheated oven. Bake the seabass for 13 minutes or until it is cooked through and flakey. The tuna should be left in the oven for about 8 minutes for medium rare. In either case, remove the fish to serving plates.

To finish the sauce bring it to a boil and simmer until it is reduced to 3 tablespoons, then remove it from the heat and whisk in the butter. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the sauce over each piece of fish, garnish with the blanched carrots and parsley and serve with the lime wedges and orange slices to one side of the fish.

Serves 4

DESSERT

PAY DE NUEZ Pecan Pie

In my first book El norte I included a confection called Dulce de dátiles which was dates and pecans cooked with milk, sugar and honey and then cooled and sliced into individual portions. In the description I wrote: "Good by itself, it also makes a potentially award-winning filling for pecan pie. I decided to take my own advice, and in the true spirit of neuva cocina created the following recipe.

1 unbaked pie crust, home made or bought
1 egg yolk beaten with a pinch of salt until it is thick and creamy
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons granulated, white sugar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 cups chopped pecans
1 pound pitted dates, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla
32 pecan halves

Line a pie pan with the crust and press a piece of aluminium foil on top of it to conform to its shape and covering the edges of the dough. Pour 1 pound rice or an appropriate amount of pie weights into the foil and mound along the edges to keep the sides of the crust from losing their shape. Place the dough in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Take the dough out of the oven and remove the foil and its contents. Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork, brush the top and half way down the sides with the beaten egg yolk and replace the pan in the oven until it is a golden brown all over, about 5 - 7 minutes longer.

To make the filling place the milk and sugars in a large saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer until the mixture thickens and produces large bubbles, about 15 minutes. Stir in the chopped pecans, dates, salt and honey and cook until the mixture is thick, just a few minutes more. Stir in the butter, then when it has melted add the vanilla. Spoon the mixture into the pie crust and place the pecan halves in eight lines going from just off the center to the side of the pie, so that each piece, when it is cut, will have a line of nuts down the center. Allow the pie to cool, then refrigerate overnight. Before serving bring the pie to room temperature.

Serves 8