Mixing Fine Foods with Pure Silk

Boquete Gourmet Host Artist, Barbara Rabkin and I presented a full day of creativity, including learning to paint luscious, pure silk scarves and tasting fine, gourmet foods each hour throughout the day.

Barbara gathered nine very talented ladies together in my El Santuario, Boquete Cantina, and the day quickly turned into non-stop fun, full of creative ideas put down on silk. Everyone’s appetite was satisfied with a variety of healthy, tasty dishes served with teas, wines and fresh, sparkling Boquete water.

Let’s begin at the end, with the beautiful, colorful hand-painted scarves, including three scarves that were still on the frames.

The patterns painted included designs from abstract to detailed realism. Each artist became mesmerized by their work, and could hardly take a short break to taste each gourmet dish as it was presented. This was “tough work”!

The days menu included a warm Peach Buckle, steamy Roasted Pumpkin Curry Soup, colorful Nicoise Salad with Smoked Tuna and Pickled Eggs, Artistic Day Parfait and the finale was a Chocolate Silk (scarf) Pie with real Whipped Cream, of course.


This was a first-time effort for everyone involved. Barbara and I enjoyed working with the nine artists and we were gratified with the results. Several of the recipes served came from the Boquete Gourmet Community Cookbook, on sale now at various locations throughout Chiriqui, Panama.

Betty and Kaye photographed the day-long event, and thanks so much for their expertise.

Who would believe that pure silk and fine dining go together? We just proved that they do . . . with wonderful results!

Try something new yourself, why not???
Cora

Panama’s Abundant Harvest

When it comes to food prices these days and the manner in which they are becoming more expensive, Panama is the place to be. It’s especially nice to be in Boquete, the “market basket” of Central America, where fresh produce, poultry and livestock are bountiful.

Boquete Gourmet Host Chef, Juan Linares, designed a creative and delicious menu around the many accessible and reasonable ingredients available in these Highlands of Chiriqui, Panama. The resultant Underground Dinner was exquisite. Chef used ingredients that he found in Boquete’s local markets, ones that are stacked on displays, or easily found behind glass meat counters.

This was Chef Juan’s premier dinner, and guests were very delighted with each dish as they were presented throughout the evening.

Panama Harvest Underground Dinner

Lemongrass Martini
Curvy Queen on a Chip
Black Bean Soup with Mini Toasted Cheese Sandwiches
Plantain Slaw
Coconut Fish Moqueca with Lemongrass Rice
Black Roast Beef
Passion Fruit Torte
Handmade Natural Mint Liqueur

The menu speaks for itself, lots of nutritious, low-priced vegetables and fruits, dried beans at pennies per pound and imported vodka priced at $10.00 liter, duty free. Of course, everyone won’t be able to create truly gourmet dinners from these ingredients. It takes a fine chef like Juan to work his magic and bring to the table some of the finest, most elegant and tasteful dishes available anywhere.

Plantains, lemongrass and mint grow everywhere in Panama. It only took a minute to pick them fresh from our gardens. Chef Juan taught us how to make liqueur from the mint and extract from the lemongrass, both served at this month’s Underground Dinner.

You can see how Chef Juan approved of his Lemongrass Martini, it was a tasty treat to get the evening’s festivities started.

To make the Plantain Slaw, Juan boiled the plantains whole, then they were peeled, shredded, and mixed with a snappy, creamy dressing. The sweetness was all natural, no sugar added. Many guests remarked that the slaw was the favorite dish of the evening, not counting the mint liqueur, of course.

Chef Juan prepared the local corvina fillets with lots of fresh vegetables and herbs, and served them over lemongrass rice.

The final dish of this month’s dinner was Juan’s Passion Fruit Torte, made with natural yogurt and local Graham crackers. The actual recipe can be found by searching this Boquete Gourmet site, using “My Passion for Passion Fruit”. Once you make this beguiling dessert, you’ll know how to make it by memory, and passion fruits are easily available everywhere in Panama.

It’s amazing to watch how many local, plentiful ingredients can be made into a very elegant, gourmet dinner. Panama truly has an abundant harvest all year around. It’s wonderful to be able to enjoy preparing and eating the world’s freshest, most reasonable foods that are available everyday in Boquete.

Thanks Juan, for sharing your talents with everyone, to our daughter Kirsten Peck as sous chef, to David as sommelier, and to Betty Dabney for capturing the abundance of fun on film.

Thanks, guests!
Cora

Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Soup

It’s nice to have visitors coming to Boquete from all over the world, especially when the weather is beautiful and all systems are up and working.

The crystal clear water is flowing, internet is fast and television reception is perfect, and we have high definition service! Life is good here in our little mountain town in Chiriqui Province, Panama.

What better way to spend the day of the final Superbowl playoffs than making a big pot of piping-hot, nourishing chicken and broccoli soup. Visitors Carmela and Jack went to Volcan, on the far side of Volcan Baru, and brought back three big, bright heads of fresh broccoli for us. I was inspired.

Chicken is the staple in every Panamanian’s daily diet, so I thought it would make the perfect ingredient to accompany these gorgeous heads of broccoli, and to add protein to make the soup a main dish.

My built-in stove top includes an electric iron grill, which made it easy to cook the chicken breasts, and it seals in the chicken flavor and gives it rich color.

The soup came together easily. I first cleaned and prepared the broccoli and set it to simmer. And, I included most of the stems to add more of the rich vitamins. The remaining ingredients were chicken broth made from Maggi Consome’ de Pollo, a few chopped onions, my “Bella” herb blend and evaporated milk.

When everything was ready, I got out my new black ceramic soup pot with two lids. It was made in China and cost $50.00 in a local Chinese market. It is a little over 12 inches high, weighs 12 pounds and is safe to use on the stove top. The double lid catches the steam and drips it back into the pot. It’s a very clever design, indeed.

Finishing the soup, I de-boned the chicken, cut it into bite-size pieces and added it to the pot.

By the time our guests appeared, the soup was piping hot and ready to serve. Warm, home-baked sourdough bread from Mort’s clay oven was just the right accompaniment.

I added a few croutons and we all enjoyed this healthy, refreshing soup, as well as lots of good conversation with new-found friends.

What a beautiful afternoon in Boquete!
Cora

Holiday Breads to Make All Year Long

Mort Rabkin is a very talented artisan baker who moved to Boquete a few years ago, and he’s sparked a whole new “bread culture” in our little mountain town. Before Mort’s arrival, there were very few artisan bakers in our entire Chiriqui Province, if any.

It wasn’t long before Mort built a real clay oven on his back patio and the availability of fresh, home-baked bread began.

As most of us know, it’s not easy to produce good, wholesome artisan breads without adding lots of love and care. Those skills are evident when biting into a slice of Mort’s special bread, available at the Tuesday Morning Market in Boquete.

Because many of Mort’s customers began asking him how he is able to produce such fine-quality breads, he decided to offer classes on the subject. These classes are very informative and lots of fun, as you can see from these photos.

Former students have made French breads, rustic breads, challah and other holiday yeast breads. They have filled rosta and wreath breads with lavish amounts of fruits and nuts and drizzled them with white, sparkling frosting.

The photo at the top includes some very talented bread-makers at work mixing and braiding breads for holiday giving. Mort’s wife Barbara demonstrated braiding techniques taught at the latest hands-on class, including one with 4 braids. The gorgeous loaf of challah shown above is ready for the oven.

Why can’t any of these wonderful, rich breads be baked anytime during the year? Why not?

On Thursday, January 27, Mort will present an advanced class on making and using sourdough and other natural starters. Folks with basic bread-making skills or those who have taken a prior bread class are eligible to join this very special class.

Participants will be able to pick up a sourdough starter a week prior to the class, “feed” it until time to use it to make and bake their own loaf of sourdough bread in Mort’s oven. As part of the class, a second type of starter will be mixed to be used in future bread-making. A gourmet lunch with wine will be served during the class, as well.

For more information about this class, stop by Mort’s table at the Tuesday Market, or email me at boquetegourmet@gmail.com and I’ll send you more details.

We hope you come and enjoy the fun of baking in Mort’s clay oven, it’s a very special treat!
Cora