Vallarta`s famous smoked marlin is truly one of a kind! Here is the recipe.

Ingredients 

1/2 Kg smoked marlin

2 white medium-sized onions, diced

1/8 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tbsp. diced garlic

1 red bell pepper, diced

8 boiled tomatoes

1/2 cup sliced green olives

3 celery stalks, diced

2 small carrots, diced

1/4 cup capers

4 Bay leaves

1 large potato, diced

1 teaspoon ground oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

Heat olive oil in a pan at medium heat, without letting it get smoky. Let onions and celery cook until golden, then add carrots, tomatoes and bell pepper. Stir and let it cook for 10 minutes.

Add smoked marlin chunks, potatoes, olives and capers, stirring for a few minutes and then cover. Let it simmer at low heat for another 30 minutes.

To be enjoyed hot or cold, provecho! 

Ingredients

1 small octopus

½ white onion

1 celery stalk

2 large garlic cloves

2 bay leaves

2 medium-sized pieces of papaya skin

2 tsp Sea salt

Water

½ red onion

1/3 of each: red, green and yellow bell pepper

2 cucumbers

1 peeled tomato

½ tsp dill

1 lime

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

Fill a medium size pot with water enough to cover the octopus.  Put the water to boil with the onion, celery, garlic, bay leaves, papaya skin and sea salt.  Once it boils, add the clean octopus and set your clock for 40 minutes.

Get the octopus out of the boiling water and let it cool completely.

Once the octopus has cooled, slice it and add the olive oil, salt, pepper, lime juice and dill. Cut the peppers julienne style and thinly slice the onion (length wise).  Slice the cucumber and the tomato and add them to the octopus mix.

Let it rest for at least 20 minutes and serve over a tostada spread with guacamole, and enjoy!

Ingredients

500 gr Sea bass or Parrot fish filet (white meat fish)

12 limes

1small piece of ginger root

1 large white onion

1 small red bell pepper

1 habanero pepper

½ medium-sized jicama

2 small cucumbers (criollo)

1 ripe mango

1 cilantro bunch

1avocado

1 tsp. natural sea salt

Procedure

Wash the fish, pat dry. Cut into small cubes, pour lime juice over it and let it marinate for 30 minutes.

Wash, peel, & grind the ginger root then add it to the fish along with the sea salt & stir to mix.

Slice onion and bell peppers into thin strips; chop the habanero pepper finely. NOTE: Habanero is very spicy, make sure not to rub your face or eyes & wash your hands thoroughly after handling it.

Peel cucumber and cut in cubes. Peel jicama and cut it into very thin strips; add both to the fish mixture. Lastly, peel the mango and again cut into very thin strips, then add to mixture along with finely chopped cilantro. Taste to check if it needs more salt.

Serve the ceviche in a martini glass with small cubes of avocado & corn chips on the side, and enjoy!

Serves 6 people

Ingredients

500 grs shrimps clean & deveined

150 grs of masa (corn dough)

1 tsp ground coriander seed

2 garlic cloves grated

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

Sea salt to taste

Fresh cilantro

2 litters fish stock

2 tbsp E.V.O.O

1 medium size white onion

1 poblano pepper

4 roma tomatoes

2  zucchinis

1 potato

2 carrots

Procedure

Add a little bit of warm water to the masa, until it has a softer, more manageable texture.  Using the food processor, grind shrimps to a paste then put it in a large bowl. Add the masa, coriander, garlic, ground pepper & sea salt.  Let this rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Put the oil in a sauce pan, add the chopped onion, tomatoes, peppers and chopped garlic at the end. Add the fish stock and let it come to a boil, season with salt and pepper and add sliced potato and carrot. Let it cook for five minutes, then with a teaspoon add the shrimp balls and the sliced zucchini, let cook for five minutes and serve in a bowl with a slice of lime and warm tortillas on the side.

Ingredients for Salsa

2 guajillo peppers

1 ancho pepper

2 tomatoes

3 large garlic cloves

¼ medium size white onion

1/3 cup tomato puré

1 tsp dried oregano

10 oz crab meat

½ white onion (thinly sliced)

1 garlic clove (finely chopped9

1 Poblano pepper (thinly sliced)

1 tomato (chopped)

Small bunch of cilantro (finely chopped)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp E.V.O.O.

Ingredients for Enchilada filling

12 corn tortillas

Crema fresca

Queso Cotija (crumbled)

½ white onion

Cooking oil (necessary amount)

Procedure

Put first 7 ingredients in a sauce pot, cover them with water, bring them to a boil & let cook for 10 minutes.  Cool off, blend & strain.  Season with salt & pepper.

To make the filling: Heat the oil in a frying pan at medium heat, add onion & Poblano pepper, cook for 3 minutes. Add tomato & garlic, cook 3 minutes, add the crab meat, season with salt & pepper & cook for 5 more minutes, add cilantro mixing well and turn off.  Set aside.

Put some of the Salsa on a large plate and place a tortilla in it, covering both sides with salsa.  Add 1 tbsp of cooking oil to a large frying pan & heat over medium heat.  Add tortilla and cook each side for 1-2 minutes. Place them on another plate and continue until you get all your tortillas cooked in the salsa.

Put  2 tbsp of crab filling in each tortilla, roll and put three in each plate, thin out the rest of Salsa roja with a little bit of chicken , beef or veggie broth and pour some over the enchilada plate, garnish with the chopped onion, a tsp of cremafresca and the crumbled Cotija cheese.  Serve them with shredded lettuce and sliced radish.

Notes from Chef:

You can use sour cream instead of crema fresca & feta cheese instead of Cotija.

Naturally, the filling can be substituted for shredded beef or chicken.

You can use Monterey Jack or Manchego cheese for a more "tex-mex" version, then bake in the oven for 5 minutes until the cheese melts. 

Ingredients

2 cups of Spanish rice (rounded & short grain)

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 liters chicken stock

2 links of Spanish chorizo

20 Queen clams

500 grs cleaned squid, in rings

20 medium size shrimps

10 chicken legs

500 grs fish filet in cubes (bite size)

10 baby back ribs

SOFRITO (SAUCE)

1 large onion

1 large red bell pepper

1 carrot

½ cup green peas

4 garlic cloves

2 bay leaves

8 peeled tomatoes

1 gr saffron

1 Spanish seasoning packet (Carmencita)

1 tsp of turmeric

Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

The star of this traditional dish is the rice, therefore we cook the ingredients separately and once the rice is ready we assemble everything to create the presentation we wish to give.

We start early by cooking the sofrito in the following manner:

Heat half of the olive oil in a large pot: chop the onion and bell pepper and cook until softened. Add the carrots & tomatoes chopped in small cubes, then the peas and garlic, season with salt and pepper. Add the turmeric, saffron and Spanish seasoning, bay leaves, salt and pepper, then cook until boiling point and let simmer for 10 - 15 minutes, until all the flavors are mixed.

Put all the ribs in a large pot and cover with water. Cook for 2 – 2.5 hours until the meat separates easily from the bone. Once cooked, put them in the Sofrito and let them simmer for 10 minutes so they absorb all the flavors. Set aside. Do the same with the chicken legs. Set aside.

Heat remaining olive oil in the Paellera and cook the rice until it turns a pale gold shade. Add 2 cups of sofrito and 2 cups of chicken stock, saffron and Spanish seasoning packet, add salt and pepper to taste and the chorizo in thin slices, arranging it around the pan. Cover with tin foil and let cook for 10 minutes constantly moving the paellera so the heat reaches everywhere.

Uncover, check if liquid has been absorbed (perfect paella calls for soft, cooked rice that doesn`t stick), add sofrito and chicken stock as necessary, and in the last 10 minutes of cooking, add the cooked ribs and chicken legs arranging around it, then fish cubes, shrimps, clams and squid rings and heads. Cover again and let it cook for 10 minutes, moving every so often so the heats gets in all areas and paella cooks well.

Note: You can use chicken breast (cut in cubes) instead of chicken legs and add to paella during the last 15 minutes of cooking. Or you could add one whole and clean crab right at the center for a dramatic finish when you add all seafood.

Sprinkle finely chopped parsley and serve with a mixed salad and garlic bread.