Iguana andJungle Cooking

What a handsome guy.

Never saw Night of the Iguana, until here in Puerto Vallarta where it was filmed. John Huston film, brilliant; young Richard Burton and Ava Gardner, very saucy, highly recommend this film. And! Still to this day, young shirtless, Mexican boy's follow you around playing the maracas!

This kitchen in the jungle had it all. 

Avocado, mini limes, cilantro, fresh tuna, tomato, jalapenos, fresh garlic,and Tequila.....What shall we make? Turned out to be Fresh Martguerita's and Chevcie. Cholada was the name on the gate and the hike up is not for the weak. For $10.00 a night you can sleep in the open jungle in tents or in the bed swing room overlooking Yelapa bay.The kitchen was awesome and the company excellent. We drank Chilean red wine after the Margaritas and feasted on the Cheviche.

Perfect Margarita

This was quite possibly the best margarita I have ever tasted.

Captain Daz joined me on Yelapa in time to enjoy this jungle retreat. Afterward we went to the Oasis bar and listened to Gabrielle play and sing like a songbird.  Jason accompanied her on the flute and clarinet. The talent in this little corner of the universe is amazing.  It turns out Ron knows Jason!  It's a small Yelapa world. (Really love this place)

Now thats a fish!



Ahi Tuna just caught.

 We took a day trip over to La Cruz to check out the marina and were pleasantly surprised to find out it is quite beautiful. There was an open fish market with many stalls offering the fresh catch and funny thing; I had spent the previous day in Puerto Vallarta shopping in the open market for kale, which was impossible to find. In La Cruz, we found a man selling his organic veggies, including beautiful young kale!  Really love this place. We bought 10 pounds of fresh Ahi, right off the fish, for $20.00! At Malibu seafood it would be $28.00 per pound.

Fillet expert.



Before the fillet


No fish story, here's the pix to prove it!



We made some sushmi out of some of this, very delicious.



Marina at La Cruz

 The marina was really nice and later we all enjoyed a great lunch at the yacht club. The sign said no dog's but Trinidad was so well behaved they made an exception. I had the shrimp and avacado ceviche, Ron had fish tacos, Daz had the octopus, and Diane got fried fish after asking the waiter to NOT fry the fish! Thats Mexico for you; order, but they just bring you what they want.



Lunch at the yacht club.



Just another happy day on the job.

So you think you can cook?

Yeah, so you think you can cook, well try your chops in this kitchen, where the gas goes out without reason, and the electricity can stop at any given moment, but the show must go on and what a show it is! Chef Susan is amazing and her Bahia Cafe is considered the cooking school of Yelapa. Other local restaurants put out some good authentic Mexican fare but the Bahia Cafe' is truly eclectic, with organic herbs from the garden, homemade breads, and a menu that would hold it's own anywhere in the known universe.    

 

Chef Suzanne in her herb garden with her lucky pig. Susan has had her little piggy ever since her days in France. The garden was delicious, and Susan even had my favorite grain, Quinoa, growing. 


 Cafe Bahia Sunday Brunch special; Eggs Benedict and omelet of spinach and jack cheese. Suisan gets up early to prepare the perfect Hollandaise. I did hear you Susan, swearing at the Sauce, ordering it  not to break, which it didn't!



Spinach Omelet with Susan's homemade bread. 





The Bread, manna from heaven.

 

 





The close up. Perfection.

The local staff is so well trained, they can produce the omelet without the chef's close watchful eyes. Chef Susan has mastered the art of empowering her staff to get it right everytime. Every good chef knows that this is the only way they will ever get a day off!  



I barley had time to snap the photo's as getting the food out is numero uno.

She's sooo cute!

The kitchen is imaculate, well organized, well equiped and the sea breeze mingles with the aromas that eminate from the open doorway. All village dogs are banned, but any mistakes are served up to those that stick around till closing time. The cafe serves breakfast and lunch only.



Before the Hollandaise



The best little kitchen on the sea.



On the way to the Bahia Cafe, pretty nice, hey?



Anna Rosa's place

Ron is off to the Four season's and I am here in my rented palapa in Yelapa, (love this place) life goes on as usual; kids come home from school, the village is at work, but this corner of the Yelapa bay is relatively quiet.The far north end is where all the main hotel and restaurants cluster together, the area is small but touristy none the same.

Anna Rosa

Anna Rosa hotel, is in fact, a woman named Anna Rosa. A local artist recommended Rosa's place, and you can see that for $40.00 a night the accommodations are lovely; plus, you hear the ocean all night.

Kitchen

Tonight is live music at the Oasis, expect photos and full reports of the food, as this chef' is off for a few day's,therefore, I will report on the food of Yelapa.
Cafe Bahia is just below my casa and the food is delicious and nutritious. I feasted on a breakfast burrito consisting of; seasoned baby red potatoes, black beans, scrambled eggs,salsa Verde and pico sauce. The order of guacamole, which they made fresh just for me, was perfection, as you could taste the avocado.

The hammock was divine

The music at the Oasis was unbelievably great. Female vocalist, female saxophone player, lead guitar, bass, and drums. Danced my self into a trance with the locals and then got invited afterward to the beautiful tree-house home of Chris and Anton, where we all jammed the night away. I forgot my flute but played my heart out on the maracas!   

Celebrating Ron's good news with fam and friends



Let the preperation begin.

 Coming into Los Angeleseeees bringing in couple of keys, don't touch my bags if you please Mr. customs mannnnnn. Well, not those kind of key's but rather kilos of boat parts.You should have seen the other guy in first class, coming in with eight bags of boat parts.......whew......we made it back without inspection or show of inportation papers! Luck of the "Ron".
GOOD NEWS!
WE celebrate the healing of Ron's arm; Dr.'s have given Ron the thumbs up on his MIR and no surgery is necessary! Also....... celerated the birthday of Diane and Hank. The feast was Mediterainian. Babaganush, hummas, stuffed grape leaves, cucumbers, raddish, Cheese Bakas, grilled veggies, and the main course was salmon, which was pounded, then stuffed with shrimp and crab. A lemon caper sauce covered the salmon and was served with rice pilaf and baby bokchoy.


Birthday girl Diane with Ron, me, and Michele



Hostess, Phylis and beautiful daughter, Michele



Michele and Joshlyn



Ron, Maria, and Diane




 We didn't get any pictures of Phylis's table presentation, as all were busy devouring the main course, but I am here to tell you, she sets a great table!


Appetizers and flourless chocolate B-day cakes,his and hers.



Post Holiday Party at Villa Solada

 Pamela out gracious hostess and Jim's huckleberry! 

Puerto Vallarta is a lovely place filled with lovely people, as the pictures will show. It all started at the  Bar and Grill in old Puerto Vallarta. Ron's old pal Ernie who's yacht is called "Breathless" (Ernie is a sexy guy) rounded up a bunch of yachtsman's and drove us all down to the bar with no name for a night of fun. (Got a bruise on my wrist from playing the tambourine with the band. (My knees hurt from dancing so much.) This is where we met Kathy and then Kathy dropped by Slowdance with Jim, Sterling, Patty, Vicki, and Debbie. Jim invited us up to his home in La Jolla De La Mismaloya, for a post holiday pot luck feast. The pictures are a bit blurred, so I plan on trying to adjust them on the web and then replace......standby.

Chef in Pamela's beautiful Kitchen

 

Grilled Veggies



Ron Gives the Thumbs up!





Carlos and Linda



Turkey, cranberry, spinach salad, Gruyere potatoes, green beans, grilled veggies, stuffing, and sweet potato.

 

That's me making gravy from Pam's wonderful Bird

 

The Bird

I'd rather have a Palapa in Yelapa than a Condo in Rodondo

Daz on the trail down from Linda's

View from Linda's

More pix from Yelapa, where we welcomed the New Year in. Ron stayed on the boat (didn't want to risk any injury to his arm, which seems to be healing) and we brought a bit of the party to him, as Daz ran into an old friend of Ron's and shuttled him and his wife to slowdance. I made friends with Linda, a local artist the day Daz, Berkley, and I took a day trip over to Yelapa and we ran into Linda on New Years eve at the yacht Club (not really a yacht club) and danced the New Year in with the locals. Enjoy some pix from Linda's cool little casa up the hill.

The crew and Trinidad at Linda's

Linda with me and Berkley

The food in Yelapa is very good. There is a little cafe at the far dock which has a healthy menu. I had a breakfast burrito with red potatoes, black beans, eggs, peppers and onions. They also had veggie sandwiches and great salads. The restaurant at the far dock which is right on the beach, had the best salsa, fish taco's and homemade chips.

Beach at Yelapa

Linda's dining room

Local hippy named lucky, spends 6 months in Yelapa when not in San Francisco

Linda's Palapa

I had a chance to go to Yelapa with my friend Susan in 1975 when we lived in Boulder Colorado, but opted not to go. Susan told me the place was beautiful and even though the town has grown, it still has no roads and no cars. The only way in is on foot or by boat! The Mexicans live side by side with Americans, which consist of hippies, artists, writers, and ex patriots.

The departure of First Mate Berkley

Free as a Bird

Berkley, First Mate on Slowdance

January 4, 2011: Well today is a sad day as Berkley returns to Newport Beach after assisting Captain Daz in delivering Slowdance to Puerto Vallarta. We will miss you Berkley and all your expertise in sailing, but I will miss most of all, your talented photography skills, and all the great photos of the meals I cooked and your loving appreciation of each morsel you took delight in consuming. Today dinner will be served at 3:00pm, so we can all sit once more  for a good meal, with good conversations, before you leave for the airport. As the weather will be cooler in Newport Beach, we are having roasted chicken, garlic mash potatoes, sweet potatoes, green apples and fresh green beans.

Ron likes the dark meat

V likes the white meat

Artichokes for an appetizer with butter garlic dip(earth balance, no real butter of course) and vegan mayo dip.

 Roasted Chicken: Rinse the bird and pepper the inside. You can add a little sea salt as well. Rub the bird all over with olive oil and place a few cloves of garlic inside the bird. Rub some pepper and a bit of salt all over the bird and place breast down in a roasting pan or cast iron fry pan. Place in a preheated 375 degree oven and let roast for 30 minutes. Turn the bird with breast up and baste with the juices.Place back in the oven for additional 45 minutes until well browned. We have had some great variations to this method: Mediterranean style would be place lemon halves inside the bird at the start, then remove the bird after 30 minutes and place onto a large roasting pan. Surround the bird with red potatoes (quartered), eggplant (cubed) red peppers (quartered), all basted in the juices. Add a few more lemon halves and return to the oven for 45-60 minutes. Very delicious one pot meal! Serve with feta and pita bread.