Flaming Lomo Saltado (Stir Fried Tenderloin) and a Happy Causa

Big flames for a typical lomo saltado and a our happiness to have Emma and Mathias as our guests for a few days, manifested in the happy causa (cold potato doe with lime juice, stuffed with avocado and hard boiled eggs).

Improvised Peruvian-Japanese Fusion

Improvised menu with causas (cold mashed potatoes with lime juice), sushi rice balls, octopus in olive sauce (pulpito al olivo) endemame and mushroom ceviche.

Salmon and Tuna Tiraditos with Fresh Crabmeat Salad

Great salmon, tuna and crab meat from our local providers.

Shrimp and Grits (Polenta con Camarones)

A delicious shrimp and grits dish with a mascarpone and shrimp sauce, improvised from the delicious breakfasts we ate in Charleston, SC.

(Spaghetti de Lomo Saltado) Spaghetti with Stir Fried Tenderloin

Stir fried tenderloin (lomito saltado) with string beans and almonds. Two versions.

Fiesta de Mariscos (Seafood Fiesta)

Great feast with seafood tigers milk (leche de tigre de mariscos), avocado gazpacho, toro tuna tartare, salmon tiradito, and a variety of hot pepper sauces.

Leche de Tigre de Mariscos (Seafood Tiger's Milk)

Tiger's milk is the lime juice leftover in the ceviche, but it is now a restaurant favorite in Peru. It's like a gazpacho prepared with the ceviche juice, blended with some seafood, cucumbers, onions, etc. Really tasty.

How about some exceptional Pisco for after dinner (bajativo). The beautiful bottle in front is La Blanco - Gran Herencia, the best Pisco in Peru, proudly made by my cousin Carlos Arturo Mejia at the La Blanco farm in Ica. About 45 lbs. of grape go into making 1 litter of this fabulous Pisco, not to mix, but to sip and enjoy. It is now sold in selected states (e.g., California). Pisco Porton is really good to and the bottle is awesome (I just saw it for the first time at a local liquor store in Maryland).

Spectacular Chilean seabass tiradito (tiradito de corvine) with avocado, Peruvian corn (choclo) and Peruvian yellow hot pepper (aji Amarillo) cream.

Peruvian tiradito fiesta: Chilean seabass, salmon, raw tuna, seared tuna salad, lobster and sushi rice.

Charcoal seared tenderloin sauté (lomo saltado al carbon).

Octopus with olive sauce (pulpo al olivo).

Salmon tiradito, with lime juice, olive oil and capers.

Fresh ham smoked (jamon del pais ahumado) in the Big Green Egg for 10 hours. 22 lbs.

Fresh Peruvian huacatay (black mint) from our garden.

 

Peruvian tiradito and sushi fiesta -- salmon, tuna, seared tuna, octopus and delicious sauces.

Smoked meats in the Big Green Egg: prime rib (medium rare), St. Louis spare ribs (slow smoked for 2 hours, plus 1 hour wrapped in aluminum foil with apple juice), and a leg of lamb (medium to medium rare, never overcook lamb).

Smoked duck (pato a la brasa), cooked in the Big Green Egg, 500F for 20 min for crispy skin, then smoke at 250F, but do not overcook.

Pavo a la Brasa (Smoked Turkey)

Pavo a la brasa (charcoal smoked turkey), cooked in the Big Green Egg at very a low temperature for several hours. Made "aguadito" with the carcass -- phenomenal smoky flavor.

Jamon del Pais y Costillas de Chancho (Fresh Ham and Spare Ribs)

Home made jamon del pais (fresh ham) and spare ribs, smoked on the Big Green Egg for several hours at very low temperature.

Mi Huevon Verde!! (My Big Green Egg)

This is not profanity (no es groceria). This is my brand new charcoal smoker/grill/oven, called the Big Green Egg (el huevon verde), made by the Big Green Egg. Best pollos a la brasa, smoked ribs, etc.

Chaufa de Chancho (Pork Fried Rice)

Fried rice with roasted pork, Peruvian (Chifa) style, of course.

Jalea de Corvina (Chilean Seabass Jalea)

Lightly battered chilean seabass, fried with yucas, lemon onions and tomatoes.

Ensalada de Atun (Tuna Salad)

Ahi tuna sashimi with avocado and wasabi mayonnaise

Fiesta de Tiradito (Tiradito Fiesta)

Fresh tuna, salmon and olive octopus (atun, salmon y pulpo al olivo), with sesame and wasabi mayonaise sauces and sushi rice.

Chorizos Caseros (Home Made Chorizos)

Pork, lamb and chicken sausages. Home made from scratch. We ground the meats and stuffed them in the casings with my fabulous KitchenAid machine, helped my apprentice, high school buddy and compadre Francisco.

Ceviche al Horno con Risotto (Baked Ceviche with Risoto)

Never thought I would ever bake a Ceviche until I tried it in Trujillo, Peru at the Fiesta restaurant. They baked it with hot stones. I did mine in cedar planks in the Big Green Egg.

Tiradito de Salmon (Salmon Tiradito)

More salmon tiradito, sashimi style, with some olive oil, lime juice, fresh wasabi and capers. You can tell it is one my favorite dishes.

Quesadillas de Frejoles con Huevos Revueltos (w/Black Beans and Scrambled Eggs)

Best breakfast ever!!

Crepas de Fruta a la Naranja (Fruit Crepes with Orange Sauce)

Filled with cream cheese and fruit served with roasted walnuts

Tacu Tacu Montado (Refried Black Beans with Fried Egg)

Tacu tacu with fried egg, salsa criolla and Peruvian hot pepper

(Frejolitos Negros) Black Beans

Tacu Tacu (Peruvian refried rice and beans) con salsa criolla y aji, montado con su huevo frito

Black bean and corn tortilla soup with Peruvian yellow hot pepper.

Black bean burrito.

Croquetas de Cangrejo (Crab Cakes)

Nothing like an improvised recipe with Maryland jumbo lump crab meat.

Tiradito de Atun (Tuna Tiradito)

Thin slices of raw tuna marinated in orange juice with a toasted sesame sauce (not shown in the picture, added to the individual plate when served).

Causushi (Causa Sushi)

Like sushi rolls, but using causa instead of rice and seaweed. Causa is a cold yellow potato doe with lime juice. Some rolls in the picture have shrimp with avocado and some have tuna tartare with toasted sesame oil sauce.

Tiradito con Aji (Tiradito with Peruvian hot pepper)

Tiradito is the new cebiche, which uses very thin fish (or seafood) slices lightly marinated and almost raw. This tiradito is with Chilean Seabass, marinated in lime juice with an Aji cream sauce. Aji is a Peruvian yellow hot pepper -- and the tastiest hot pepper on the planet.

Pulpo al Olivo (Octopus in Olive Sauce)

Steamed octopus with Peruvian purple olives sauce.

Risotto

With squid (calamares) saffron and aged Gruyere cheese

With scallops (conchas)

Jamon del Pais para Butifarras

Jamon del pais is a typical country ham made by roasting or boiling a fresh ham with spices. A butifarra (Peruvian, because Spanish butifarras are completely different) is a sandwish with jamon del pais, Peruvian criollo salsa (onions in lime juice), lettuce, hot pepper, etc. Yummy.

Sushi

Sushi party, guests rolled too.

Chupe de Camarones y Causa Rellena

Shrimp chupe is a soup with some milk, eggs, potatoes, rice, etc. Causa is a cold potato doe stuffed with anything you like. The one in the picture is vegetarian (tomatoes, corn, avocados, hard boiled eggs).