#empelloninside

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Fresh Gooseberries, Whipped Cream, Jackfruit, Mezcal Toffee, Tangerine Ice

Fresh Gooseberries, Whipped Cream, Jackfruit, Mezcal Toffee, Tangerine Ice at Empellón Cocina

Any chance we can get to sneak the flavor of mezcal into our food, we take it. Other than the fact that mezcal makes everything more delicious, it also gives people a chance to settle in with our favorite spirit.

This is a simple dish of fresh fruit and whipped cream. In the center of all that is a cylinder of tangerine ice that contains a liquid toffee spiked with mezcal. Here we use gooseberries and jackfruit but the varieties of fruits change with the seasons.

We can't wait for blackberries. They pair so well with the mezcal. --Alex Stupak

[empellon-blog]

Nantucket Bay Scallops, Lemon Curd, Butternut Squash, Serrano

Nantucket Bay Scallops, Lemon Curd, Butternut Squash, Serrano at Empellón Cocina

Surely no one would argue that lemon juice and butter make a fabulous and straightforward compliment to a collection of super-sweet bay scallops. We thought so which is why we went through with creating this dish. Since at Empellón anything too straightforward doesn’t sit well with us, we drew from a pastry chef's repetoire in order to make a simple idea more special.

Our lemon and butter are delivered in the form of a curd, a class of acidic, butter-rich custard that usually gets deployed as a tart filling. In our kitchen, it snakes around the curves of these tiny seafood morsels, acting as a seasoning.  Similarly, on the plate is butternut squash in two forms. First as crisp, raw slivers and second as a purée spiked with orange blossom water.  Our Mexican sensibility comes into play by way of spicy serrano chile and some cilantro sprouts. --Alex Stupak

[empellon-blog]

Nantucket Bay Scallop, Avocado Purée, Pistachio, Cocoa Vinaigrette

This is an old dish I made when I competed on Iron Chef back in the wd~50 days. This ceviche really has little to do with authentic Mexican cooking, if anything, but I really love the way this odd combination of flavors works. The bay scallops are dressed in nothing but a bit of lime juice and then dressed up with a drizzle of vinaigrette made from toasted cacao and olive oil. For me, the most interesting part of the dish is the pistachios. We buy the Sicilian ones and pressure cook them to soften them up, giving them the texture of a legume.  --Alex Stupak

[empellon-blog]

Sliced Mango, Arbol Chile, Lime, Peekytoe Crab Salad

No matter what area in Mexico you visit, you will always see little stands with someone cutting fresh fruit and dressing it with salsa, chile powder and lime. My favorites are the stalls that actually carve a mango into a beautiful flower and impale it on a stick.

I wanted to create an offering that honed in on that magical mixture of sweetness, spiciness and acidity. I also thought it would be fun to make a start to a meal that involved fruit.

Here, we made a simple crab salad and buried it beneath slices of ripe mango. Otherwise, all that is on the plate is a little bit of hot sauce, chile powder, a pinch of toasted Mexican oregano and some lime juice that we whipped up into a froth.

--Alex Stupak

[empellon-blog]

Empellon Inside: Red Salsa (Salsa Roja)

Empellon Inside: Red Salsa from Empellon on Vimeo.

[empellon-blog]

Empellon Inside: Fish Tempura Taco

Empellon Inside: Fish Tempura Tacos from Empellon on Vimeo.

[empellon-blog]

Empellon Inside: Autumn

Empellon Inside: Autumn from Empellon on Vimeo.

[empellon-blog]

Empellon Inside: Ponche via Empellon on Vimeo