Culinary Idea Lab

St. Patrick's Day - Sean McGillick’s Night Out

A dear friend and fellow chef, Larry Bowen, wrote a book several years ago and he was kind enough to share this chapter with me before he passed away.

Memoirs from culinary apprentices who lived and worked together at the Buck Hill Inn,
Buck Hill Falls, Pennsylvania—
Their legendary tales and recipes.

Chapter Seven
Sean McGillick’s Night Out,
An Everglades Bar Story

I was never one to drink much on the designated drinking holidays such as New Year’s Eve, St. Paddy’s Day or Mardi Gras. As a general rule most hard drinkers, professional drunks and lushes, of whom I was one, are prone to avoid the rabble on such occasions. St. Paddy’s Day is a prime example. Bars are overrun with people who generally don’t drink; and, because most of these people choose to drink in excess of their normal limit at these times, things have a tendency to quickly get out of hand....Read the rest of this story

Street Food of Puerto Rico

On the road between El Yunque where the rain forest is and San Juan there are several street food vendors cooking some really tasty food. Most of the roadside grub is fried with selections like alcapurrias, bacalaitos, rellenos, riononos, tacos and some grilled chicken skewers with sweet-spicy BBQ sauce. Everything is either $1.00 or $2.00......this is the "Dollar Menu" worth eating!

The sign makes it official

Master of the ancient fryolator arts
Serving up the alcapurrias, dough made with plantains and yautia, then stuffed with a meat filling and fried. This fryer setup predates anything you might have by at least 100 years. You thought the turkey fryer was a rudimentary piece of cooking equipment?....think again, this primitive fryer doesn't require propane. The lack of trees on the island has street food vendors burning lumber.

More alcapurrias

Freshly fried bacalaitos
which is salted cod that is shredded into a flour batter and formed into large flat discs and fried. I've made the classic French Brandade de Morue as chronicled in this post. It's interesting to note that the Spanish version is called Brandada de bacalao, both use a salted cod batter but the taste and texture of the bacalaitos is so much better than their European cousins.

Sweet & spicy barbequed chicken skewers

It's a family affair....mother in-laws and all

Puerto Rican Staples

Pork Mofongo
This is a "National" dish made from green plantains which are mashed together with broth, garlic, olive oil, and pork cracklings or bits of bacon. The mixture is the formed into a fluted cylinder mold. Mofongo relleno is mofongo stuffed with stewed beef, chicken or seafood, with stewed sauce poured over.

Sofrito Marinated Churrasco
This is a grilled skirt steak that's rolled up when it's finished. I saw a lot of restaurants offering the same dish with fillings in the middle like shrimp or cheese.

A Few Small Plates - San Juan, PR

Proscuitto
Grilled pear and gorgonzola cheese with whole grain mustard

Fried sardines
with aioli

Best pork tacos ever!

Fried Beef Empanadilla's

RM Seafood

A few notes on Rick Moonen:

As executive chef and owner of New York City's rm, Moonen earned critical acclaim and received three stars from The New York Times. In 2005, he was drawn to the rapidly developing culinary scene in Las Vegas and closed his doors in New York City to bring his unique flavor and specialties of the seafood world to the West Coast.

In February 2005, Chef Moonen opened his multi-level restaurant Rick Moonen's rm seafood at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The lower level of the restaurant offers "State of the Art Sustainable Seafood" and a world-class sushi and raw bar. The upper level offers a more elegant dining experience featuring globally inspired cuisine from Chef Moonen's fun and whimsical tasting and á la carte menus.

Peruvian Lantern Scallops
Pork Confit, Mustard Greens, Anson Mills Polenta