Mango Gazpacho

Picture yourself in a place with a contrast of landscapes: mountains rising in the background, with cliffs that give way to valleys. As one proceeds into the valleys, they would find olive trees and almond trees, along with orange and lemon groves. The greenery is broken up by small towns that still retain their moorish character, with squares and fountains. If you can picture this scenery in your mind, you have taken yourself to the region of Andalusia, Spain, known as La Axarquia.

Apart from the beautiful surroundings, the region is also particularly known for one agricultural commodity (above and beyond the almonds, olives, lemons and oranges) ... the European mango. That landscape provides the basis for La Axarquia to fashion itself as "the home" of that fruit. Of course, it takes more than a few mountains, valleys and greenery to grow mangos. La Axarquia has a subtropical climate that provides more than 300 days of sunlight per year, with temperatures that range often from the mid 70s to the mid 80s Fahrenheit in the summer. 

There are five different mango varieties that are cultivated in La Axarquia. The most common one is known as the Osteen. It makes up more than half of the production. (Interesting side note: the Osteen mango originated in Merritt, Island Florida, named after the Osteen family who lived there and first cultivated this particular type of mango back in 1935. It made its way to Spain thereafter.) The remaining four mango varieties - the Kent, Tommy Atkins, Keitt, and Red Palme -- constitute the remainder of the mangos cultivated in the region. (Another side note: the Tommy Atkins is probably the most popular mango in the United States.)

It seemed to be only a matter of time until the mango of La Axarquia would be incorporated into a dish of Andalucia, namely, gazpacho. This particular version of gazpacho relies more on citrus, namely orange juice and lime juice, than a traditional gazpacho. It is just my speculation, but it may be an effort to balance the sweetness of the mango. The recipe does include more traditional ingredients, such as bell pepper, cucumber, onions, and garlic. These ingredients, when pureed, help to give the soup some texture and depth. 

The end result is a very different and very delicious take on gazpacho. I am sure that the mangos I were probably of the Tommy Atkins variety, as opposed to the Osteen mango. The former varietal tends to be more tart with sweet notes, while the latter seems to be the inverse, more sweet with touches of acidity or tartness. Now that I have prepared this dish, as well as learned about the different mangos out there, I will have to be more mindful when I am in the store.  If I ever come across Osteen mangos, then I could truly transport myself culinarily to La Axarquia.

MANGO GAZPACHO

Recipe from Sprig and Vine

Serves 6

Ingredients (for the gazpacho):

• 2 cups diced mangoes
• 2 cups orange juice
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 1 red or yellow bell pepper diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic
• 3-4 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 jalapeno
• 3 tablespoons chopped coriander (cilantro)
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste

Ingredients (for the toppings):

• 1 cup of finely diced mango, cucumber, bell pepper
• 1 cup micro greens (optional)

Directions:

1. Blend the gazpacho ingredients. Blend the mangoes and orange juice in a blender until smooth and pureed. Add the cucumber, bell pepper, onion, garlic, lime juice, olive oil and jalapeno, along with a cup of iced water and blend again. Add more water if you want a thinner consistency, or leave it as is for a thicker gazpacho.

2. Season the gazpacho. Season with salt and pepper. Taste and adjust according to preference: add more lime juice for zing, chile for heat, etc. Stir in coriander (cilantro).

3. Chill the gazpacho. Let the gazpacho chill in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours before serving. This allows the flavors to mingle. 

4. Finish the dish. To serve, divide into bowls. Top with the mix of mangoes, cucumber and and bell pepper. Garnish with microgreens, if using. 

PEACE.

Grilled Opah, Garlic Shrimp, and Avocado-Mango Salsa

I stood at the seafood counter of a grocery store staring at four letters.  That is right, four letters, which comprised one word. That one word gave raise to a whole lot of thoughts.   The four letters - O ... P ... A ... H.  That word -- Opah -- is an amazing and interesting fish that I had only heard of but which I never seen either whole or fileted.  Now, I had it within my grasp and I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to cook with this amazing fish.

I am not the only one to feel lucky when I set my sight upon an Opah.  These deep water fishes are sometime bycatch on tuna boats.   For a tuna fisherman, to catch an Opah brings good luck.  The fisherman never sold the Opah, perhaps because they believed that would tarnish the good luck.  Instead, they would give it away, giving those who would ordinarily never come across the fish the opportunity to learn about it and cook with it. 

The Opah in all of its glory.

Very little is known about this oddly shaped fish.  What is known is that these fish appear to live their entire lives in the open ocean.  Opah do not swim in schools; instead, they choose to swim around tuna and billfish.  The Opah stands out from the slimmer and sleeker fish.  The round, silver bodies are highlighted by reddish-orange hues and fins.  It should be noted that those round bodies are rather large, with the average weight being approximately 100 pounds.

According to Hawaiian Seafood, an opah has three types of flesh, each with a different color. Behind the head and along the backbone is an attractive orange colored flesh. Toward the belly, the flesh pales to a pink color. The fish's cheeks yield dark red flesh. These types of flesh all cook to a white color. Opah is a rich source of protein, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, phosphorus, and selenium. It also provides about 1800 mg of omega-3’s (DHA and EPA) per 4 ounce serving of fresh fish.

As I stood at that seafood counter, I was most likely looking at the belly flesh, as it was rather pale in color.  The opah flesh is very meaty, almost tuna like appearance.  This bodes well for the use of rubs or other flavors, but I decided to keep it simple.  Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. I decided to make a salsa that could top the fish.  Recipes suggested an avocado-mango salsa, which I decided to use as a guide for the salsa in this recipe.  I also garnished the fish with a few shrimp marinated with garlic and other spices.  

GRILLED OPAH, GARLIC SHRIMP, AND

AVOCADO-MANGO SALSA

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 4

Ingredients (for the Opah):

1 pound of Opah

1 pound of asparagus

1/2 lemon juiced

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup of olive oil

Ingredients (for the Garlic Shrimp):

1 pound of 16-20 count shrimp, deveined, but with shells

1/2 lemon juiced

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup of olive oil

Ingredients (for the Avocado-Mango Salsa):

1 mango, pitted, peeled and diced

1 avocado, pitted, peeled and diced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 lime juiced

1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

Sea sealt

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1.  Prepare the shrimp and asparagus.  Add the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, and crushed red pepper in a ziploc bag..  Add the shrimp and marinate for 10 minutes.  Add the olive oil, lemon juice and asparagus to another ziploc bag.  Season the shrimp and the asparagus with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

2.  Prepare the salsa.  Combine all of the ingredients for the salsa in a non-reactive bowl.  Gently stir to mix the ingredients.  Set aside in the refrigerator.  

3.  Grill the opah, shrimp and asparagus.  Heat the grill on high.  Skewer the shrimp on wooden skewers.  Oil the grates.  When the grill is ready, add the opah, shrimp and asparagus.  The opah should be grilled until just cooked through, about 3 to 6 minutes per side.  The shrimp should be grilled until just cooked through, about 2-3 minutes per side.  And the asparagus should be grilled for about 2 to 3 minutes per side.  

4.  Plate the dish.  Place the asparagus in the middle of the plate.  Place the Opah on top of the asparagus and spread the shrimp around the Opah. Spoon the salsa over the Opah and the shrimp.  

ENJOY!

Grilled Halibut Steak with an Avocado, Habanero and Mango Salsa

I love to cook and eat halibut.  The best halibut to buy is wild-caught Pacific halibut, which also goes by the name "Alaskan halibut," because it is the most sustainable.  Atlantic halibut or Pacific halibut caught using means such as gillnets and bottom trawlers are not as sustainable because the fishing methods result in a lot of bycatch.  Recently, Pacific halibuts steaks have been available around where I live, so I got the idea of buying one (which was almost a pound) and taking it home to grill. 

Before grilling the fish, I decided to use a very simple marinade of olive oil (which would help with the grilling of the fish) and lemon, along wtih some salt and ground black pepper.  I decided to leave the skin on the steak, which made it (slightly) easier when the time came to turn or flip the steak.  Once the steak is finished, I removed the skin and took a cleaver to cut through the bone in order to create two smaller steaks to serve to Clare and myself.

I made this dish without any guidance from a recipe, so it is a little rough around the edges. I plan on making this dish again, and, in future efforts, I will probably tweak both the marinade and the salsa.  

GRILLED HALIBUT STEAK WITH AN AVOCADO, HABANERO

AND MANGO SALSA

A Chef Bolek Original
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1 pound of halibut steak

1 avocado, diced

1 mango, diced

1/4 Vidalia onion, diced

1 habanero pepper, diced

1 lemon, juiced

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt, to taste

Pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  Marinate the halibut.  Whisk the lemon juice and the olive oil.  After seasoning the steak with salt and pepper, place the halibut steak in a ziplock bag and pour the lemon juice and the olive oil into the bag. Let the steak marinate for about thirty minutes in the refrigerator.

2.  Prepare the salsa. While the steak is marinating, add the diced avocado, mango, onion and pepper in a bowl.  Mix the contents thoroughly.  Add some salt and ground pepper.  Continue to mix.  Set aside.

3.  Grill the fish.  Heat the grill on medium high.  Oil the grates with some olive oil to make sure that the fish does not stick.  Add the steak and let it cook for about three to four minutes, then turn it ninety degrees and let it cook for about three or four minutes.  Flip the steak and repeat, grilling for three or four minutes and then turning it ninety degrees to cook for three or four minutes.  Let the steak continue to cook until finished, probably a couple of minutes at most.  The total cooking time should be about sixteen to twenty minutes.  You will know when the fish is about finished because, despite the skin, the fish will begin to flake. 

4.  Finish the dish.  After removing the fish from the heat, let it sit for a minute.   Remove the skin and take a cleaver or large knife and cut through the backbone to create 2 separate steaks.  Plate each steak on a plate and spoon some of the salsa over the steak.

ENJOY! 

Oysters with a Mango Habanero Mignonette

Anytime I see oysters in the store, I almost always buy them because both Clare and I love oysters.  Mostly raw, but occasionally in a good po' boy sandwich.  One of the few good things from working in a seafood restaurant is that I left with the knowledge of how to shuck oysters, and fairly quickly.

So, when I recently visited Whole Foods and saw that they had oysters, I bought a dozen.  The question was whether to make a mignonette.  Generally, a mignonette is a "sauce" of shallots and vinegar, usually with some other ingredients.  A few weeks back, I made oysters with a Peach Champagne mignonette.  This time, I wanted to go in a different direction, away from sweet and toward the heat.

So I decided make a mango habanero mignonette.  I have to say that the idea is not truly original.  Buffalo Wild Wings has a mango habanero sauce for its wings, and that is where the idea came from.

But a wing sauce is the last thing you want on oysters.  Rather, a mango, half a habanero, a scallion and a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.  That is it.

OYSTERS WITH A MANGO HABANERO MIGNONETTE


A Chef Bolek Original
Serves 2


Ingredients:
1 dozen oysters
1 mango, diced
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1/2 habanero, finely diced
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

Directions:
1.  Mix all of the ingredients of the mignonette together.  Spoon a little on each oyster.

2.  Shuck the oysters.  Rinse each oyster.  Only use an oyster knife.  Oysters have an opening in the back.  Work the tip of the knife into that opening and begin to turn the knife to each side, working to loosen the top shell.  Once you can get enough of the knife into the oyster, Begin to push down to lift up the shell. Once the top shell is separated, use the knife to make sure the oyster is separated from the top shell.  Use the knife to separate the oyster from the rest of the shell.  There is a muscle underneath the oyster that connects to the bottom part of the shell.  Cut that muscle.  Rinse the oyster if necessary.

3.  Fill a bowl with crushed ice.  Spoon the mignonette onto each oyster.  Serve the oysters over the crushed ice.

ENJOY!