Untitled Document

Return to top

Dear Felix,
You have a great sense of humor. Thank you for the recipes. We'll let you know how are friends/enemies like them. We're pretty sure we'll like them though because we were just in Cabo San Lucas and visited your restaurant and salsa bar. It was delicious!!!!!!!!!
Thanks, The Maddens (Philip, Linda, Erin, Ariel, & George)

Some of the readers are pretty funny too.
S

_______

Damn, I thought you meant salsa dancing! Well, the recipes sound pretty good anyway.
thanks,
Rosalie

_______

Hey Spencer,
We are trying the coconut mango shrimp the way you detailed and it is scrumptious, not as good as yours but always a reminder of yours. Give us your recipe for pozole soup please. We will see you this winter.
Jerry and Linda from Wyoming

Look forward to seeing you. I can't remember whether or not I sent you the Pozole recipe. My short term memory seems to not be working all that well. I think it has something to do with the '60's. If not let me know.
S

_______

Hi! enjoyed the restaurant so much while we were in Cabo - also wanted you to know you were the inspiration for a salsa/margarita party when we got home-everyone made their favorite salsa and margarita and there were prizes for the overall best. My husband made a great mango salsa that was the pick of the evening. thanks for the ideas!!
sincerely
martha minges

Great! I love hearing that stuff. The whole idea is to get folks making things for themselves. Everybody has some secret recipe or other for Margaritas but I think that the best Margaritas are still the original. After all, that's why they got so popular. Most restaurants down here try to impress their customers by serving these giant Margaritas - figuring that size is what matters. Well that may be true of some things but making Margaritas isn't one of them. When they add all that ice and blend it 'til it looks like snow cone they have diluted it beyond repair. The definitive Margarita should be served on the rocks in a salted glass and made in the following proportions:3 parts Tequila (any premium brand will do - the really expensive 'Reposadas' are wasted in a Margarita and the really cheapos just don't measure up) 2 parts Orange Liqueur (some folks with too much money use Gran Marnier but I don't think any of us can really taste the difference in Orange liqueurs once you mix in the Tequila and Lime juice but if it makes you feel better - go for it. and 1 part Lime juice. That's it, the perfect Margarita. If you want it blended pour the already mixed drink - ice and all into the blender, but it really tastes better on the rocks.
S

_______

Hi Spencer - Two things here:
#1) How did I get so lucky as to get on your recipe mailing list? and #2) Is your "Mama's Royal Cafe" related at all to the Mama's Royal Cafe in Oakland, California, where my sister worked for a zillion years? That truly was the best breakfast place in the Universe. I hope there is some link. tootles for now, and thanks for the newsletter.
Heidi Kleist

Heidi,
I don't have any idea how you got on the list but I assume that you were signed up by someone who really likes you a lot. Yep, Mama's in Oakland was my first restaurant and still going strong some almost thirty years later. As a matter of fact there are still a couple of the original employees still there.
S


	Salsa Newsletter for October, 2001 Volume 1 - Issue 7 *Papaya Salsa* Black Bean Salsa For those of you who don't know who I am, my name is Spencer Moore and I'm the chef owner of a couple of restaurants in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Mama's Royal Cafe is an upscale breakfast restaurant thought by many, myself included, to be the best breakfast place in the whole country. My other restaurant is Felix' - a dinner place specializing in original recipes and regional specialties not often found in restaurants. We also claim to have the world's largest salsa bar, with between 25 and 40 salsas on any given day. You can check out the menus at the web sites (www.mamascabosanlucas.com and www.felixcabosanlucas.com). I have some good news for any of you who have missed some of the earlier newsletters and are just dying to see what I had to offer. All the back newsletters are now available on line. Just go to the Felix' web site and click on newsletter archives. We're still working on the recipe section and it should be up to speed sometime soon. This issue is a tad late and if any of you have been pacing back and forth anxiously - I apologize. Our high season is just kicking in and we just got over a pretty serious hurricane and the newsletter had to take a back seat. and then some more words..... The T-SHIRT contest is over and the winners are: Matt Hegarty, Lori A. Nord, Chris Lawyer and Sam Bass - who sent so many new subscribers he won 2 t-shirts. My son Spencer - eek, there's two of them - has rejoined the family business after a couple of years up north and will probably be greeting you the next time you visit FELIX'. He's been working in and around the Restaurant since he was a toddler and is way nicer than I am - more professional too - but I think I'm a better cook and I know I'm better at cross-word puzzles and anagrams than he is. I'm a little pressed for time right now so those of you who are looking forward to my regular attack on celebrity chefs will just have to wait 'til next time. I'll just restate my philosophy of cooking and get right on with it. . "Cooking is fun and cooking is easy. if it were complicated or took any brains at all...the human race would have died out centuries ago and I would have chosen a different field of endeavor." Oh, one more thing, I got a really nice letter from some one who was growing lots of chiles in Brooklyn and as I was answering it my computer ate the letter. Please send it again.



Return to top Dear Felix, You have a great sense of humor. Thank you for the recipes. We'll let you know how are friends/enemies like them. We're pretty sure we'll like them though because we were just in Cabo San Lucas and visited your restaurant and salsa bar. It was delicious!!!!!!!!! Thanks, The Maddens (Philip, Linda, Erin, Ariel, & George) Some of the readers are pretty funny too. S _______ Damn, I thought you meant salsa dancing! Well, the recipes sound pretty good anyway. thanks, Rosalie _______ Hey Spencer, We are trying the coconut mango shrimp the way you detailed and it is scrumptious, not as good as yours but always a reminder of yours. Give us your recipe for pozole soup please. We will see you this winter. Jerry and Linda from Wyoming Look forward to seeing you. I can't remember whether or not I sent you the Pozole recipe. My short term memory seems to not be working all that well. I think it has something to do with the '60's. If not let me know. S _______ Hi! enjoyed the restaurant so much while we were in Cabo - also wanted you to know you were the inspiration for a salsa/margarita party when we got home-everyone made their favorite salsa and margarita and there were prizes for the overall best. My husband made a great mango salsa that was the pick of the evening. thanks for the ideas!! sincerely martha minges Great! I love hearing that stuff. The whole idea is to get folks making things for themselves. Everybody has some secret recipe or other for Margaritas but I think that the best Margaritas are still the original. After all, that's why they got so popular. Most restaurants down here try to impress their customers by serving these giant Margaritas - figuring that size is what matters. Well that may be true of some things but making Margaritas isn't one of them. When they add all that ice and blend it 'til it looks like snow cone they have diluted it beyond repair. The definitive Margarita should be served on the rocks in a salted glass and made in the following proportions:3 parts Tequila (any premium brand will do - the really expensive 'Reposadas' are wasted in a Margarita and the really cheapos just don't measure up) 2 parts Orange Liqueur (some folks with too much money use Gran Marnier but I don't think any of us can really taste the difference in Orange liqueurs once you mix in the Tequila and Lime juice but if it makes you feel better - go for it. and 1 part Lime juice. That's it, the perfect Margarita. If you want it blended pour the already mixed drink - ice and all into the blender, but it really tastes better on the rocks. S _______ Hi Spencer - Two things here: #1) How did I get so lucky as to get on your recipe mailing list? and #2) Is your "Mama's Royal Cafe" related at all to the Mama's Royal Cafe in Oakland, California, where my sister worked for a zillion years? That truly was the best breakfast place in the Universe. I hope there is some link. tootles for now, and thanks for the newsletter. Heidi Kleist Heidi, I don't have any idea how you got on the list but I assume that you were signed up by someone who really likes you a lot. Yep, Mama's in Oakland was my first restaurant and still going strong some almost thirty years later. As a matter of fact there are still a couple of the original employees still there. S
*Return to top* Well, it's finally happened. After telling you every time that the salsa I was giving you the recipe for was one of my favorites - I'm finally, do to reader demand, giving you the recipe to a Salsa that I just don't like very much. However, It is one of the most popular salsas in the restaurant and one that I receive lots of recipe request for. It's real pretty and it has a nice sweet and sour spicy taste to it. I just happen to be one of those people that doesn't like Papaya. If you like papaya give it a try and let me know what you think. Here's a little esoterica about papayas. Papaya seeds have a peppery taste and are often dried and ground and used as a spice. Also papaya is used as a meat tenderizer and a skin conditioner. 1 papaya Pick a papaya just like you would choose a melon. You want one that is ripe but not over-ripe. It should show color - not be green - although they will ripen just sitting around the kitchen. It should have a fruity aroma. It should have a little give when pressed with the fingers. This recipe is for a papaya about the size of a small canteloupe so if your market only sells the jumbo kind use the extra as a fruit dish - sliced and served with a squeeze of lemon or lime itÕs a very popular breakfast fruit. 1/2 small onion 1 clove of garlic 2 jalapeno chiles The jalapeno chiles weÕre getting right now are not hot at all - so weÕve been substituting serrano chiles 1/2 red bell pepper cilantro LET'S DO IT!! Cut the papaya in half and remove the seeds. Peel and chop the papaya - don't use a food processor or blender. Chop the onion, the garlic and the chiles - seeds and all. Chop the red bell pepper and dice the cilantro. Mix it all together in a bowl with the lemon or lime juice and you have just made a delightful tropical salsa that goes well with poultry, fish or just as a dip with chips. I didn't give you an amount on the cilantro because some of you don't like cilantro at all, some love it and some just like it a little. So use your own judgment. I think the salsa really needs the green color so if you don't like cilantro use some green onion. Return to Top Okay, now I'm back to one of my real favorites. This is a salsa that we've been making for years and finally it seems to be a very, very hip new thing. All the celebrity chefs seem to have finally caught on. This is an all purpose sort of salsa. You can mash it up with a fork and spread it on a baguette as a base for some great sandwiches (Especially good with avocado, tomato, mayo and breast of chicken). You can add a spoonful to your tacos or you can make great quesadillas with just this salsa and a slice of your favorite cheese. It is an inexpensive and filling dip for chips and it makes a beautiful garnish for almost any main dish. You can even serve it as a salad. I know I keep promising to do a whole newsletter on beans - as a matter of fact I'm going to make the next newsletter all about beans - and various bean salsas, salads and dips. Until then you're just gonna have to be satisfied with this quick and tasty Black Bean Salsa that uses canned black beans (trust me, no one will know). 1 can of black beans Make sure you get whole beans not refried 1 small onion Any kind of onion will do but a red onion might be prettier 1 clove of garlic Or more, it's hard to use too much garlic as far as I'm concerned cilantro If you like cilantro use lots, if you hate it, use chopped green onions 1 small ripe red tomato chiles This is a matter of taste. You can use jalapenos or serranos or you can even use those canned green chiles salad oil Nothing fancy - use any neutral tasting oil, nothing strong tasting lime juice Or lemon juice. As a matter of fact I like to make it with vinegar as well. LET'S DO IT! Drain the beans and rinse them (The juice or gravy in canned beans has a muddy color and is sometimes real salty). Slice the onion into really, really thin rounds and separate them into rings. Add them to the beans. Chop the garlic and tomato and throw them in too. I like to slice the chiles into very, very thin, thin rounds but you can chop them if you want, and add them to the mix. Pour some oil over it all and stir until every thing is pretty well coated with oil and then add the lime juice (or lemon juice or the vinegar) and stir around some more. You don't have to worry about too much oil because the extra will just go to the bottom of the bowl and you don't have to worry about too much vinegar because once everything is coated with oil the extra vinegar will also go to the bottom of the bowl. Let it all marinate for at least a couple of hours. If you're going to use it as a salad - serve it cold. If you are going to use it as a salsa serve it room temperature. I guess you all think that I forgot about the cilantro or green onions............. wrong. We add the chopped cilantro or green onions right before we serve it because it looks crummy if it's been sitting in all that liquid for any length of time. Let me know how it turns out and if you won a t-shirt, get me your mailing address.