February 14, 2019 Another wonderful Valentine’s Day in Mexico. Lunch – Shrimp Stuffed Flounder with Sautéed Squash and Red Onion. Dinner – Barracuda

February 14, 2019 Another wonderful Valentine’s Day in Mexico. Lunch – Shrimp Stuffed Flounder with Sautéed Squash and Red Onion.  Dinner – Barracuda

We ate one half of a ruby red grapefruit and split a fruit cake pastry and chocolate croissant for breakfast on the terrace overlooking the Pacific.

Then we showered and dressed and drove through town to see what was new on our way to T.R. and Linda’s house at BaliVille.
After two failed tries we found the new road to their house.

Les and his wife who used to live in Santa Fe but now live in a San Miguel are staying with them.  They were on their way the the beach club at San Pancho, up the coast another ten miles.  We decided to join them for dinner in Sayulita and not join them for lunch.

We drove back into town and parked 1 block from Calle Libertad on which Chayote, our favorite seafood store, is located.  We walked up the steep hill of Calle Libertad to the store and inquired about fresh fish. The proprietress said they had fresh fish and led us through an ally to an area where there was a large plastic container holding lots of fresh fish and a boning table.  We asked about grouper and found out there were five different varieties of grouper caught in the waters off Sayulita.  The proprietress showed us three types in the bucket.  The pink grouper we usually think of a grouper,  was one of them

Then a man who probably was the proprietor joined us and showed us several fish and mentioned flounder as he pulled one out of the bottom of the container. Our eyes lit up and we decided on the spot to fix a stuffed flounder for lunch.  We asked him to filet the smaller one. He expertly filleted the flounder, better than I have ever seen anyone bone a fish.  He took all the bones off, even the tiny bones that surround the fish.

We went back inside the store/house and he put the fish on a large scale and it weighed 1 kilo.  The freshest flounder I have ever eaten cost us 90 pesos or less than $2.50/lb..  they did not have crab meat, so we decided to buy 1 kilo of medium shrimp for 190 pesos.  They graciously packed the fish in a bag and packed that bag in a bag of ice and packed both that bag and the bag of shrimping in another bag tied nicely so we could carry it.  We were thrilled with our first fish shopping of the trip.

We then walked down the hill back to the Main Street and walked toward the square.  We walked as far as the new wine shop, which is two blocks from the square.  On our way back to the car we stopped at a fruteria where we bought a red onion, green beans, five lovely small squash and parsley for 40 pesos.

Then as walked further up the street we stopped at a torterilla and bought 1.1 lb. of fresh warm tortillas for 17 pesos.

We returned to our car and drove back to the room and went into cooking mode.  I chopped cilantro and parsley and shrimp and a green onion for the stuffing while Suzette diced the squash and some red onion as our vegetable.  Suzette turned on two burners on the stove and sautéed both the stuffing and squash and onion in olive oil and butter.  The idea was fill and to roll the stuffing inside the flounder filets, but there was so much stuffing and each filet had two equally wide sides that we decided to simply lay the stuffing between the sides of each filet and fold the sides together to hold the stuffing between them.  We had no string to tie the two sides together so I slit another green onion down the side to create a long strip of green onion and we tied a length of green onion around each filet to hold the stuffing inside while the filet cooked.  Here are several pictures.

Suzette then seared the stuffed filets in the remaining butter and olive oil and added about ½ cup of white wine to the skillet and covered it to poach them for about twenty minutes.

When both dishes were cooked I poured out the rest of the Arco de Vega Spanish Verdejo and Viura blend.  The chilled white wine was perfect with the oily fish stuffing and squash.  The fish was elegantly tender, being poached to perfection

Suzette piled squash in the center of each plate and lay a poached flounder filet on the squash and we carried our glasses, the still warm tortillas and plates of food to the palapa on the terrace by the beach and ate and drank our fabulous lunch while overlooking the bay.  It was 1:21 when we sat down to eat, so another stellar effort of shopping and cooking and there is lots of fish PPI.  We were tired when we finished eating a bit before 3:00, so we decided to lie down for a nap and slept soundly until 5:30.

We got dressed and drove to town and parked 1 block from the Barracuda  restaurant where we were to meet for dinner.  We walked around downtown at 6:15 and Suzette did some shopping.  We stopped in the Allas Blancas store and bought our vanilla powder and a Negra Modelo which we drank to help wash down lunch and clear our palate for dinner.  We arrived at Barracuda at 7:20 and took the only table for six, which was inside the restaurant situated between the bar and the kitchen.  I took a seat with a direct view into the kitchen.  We ordered a Guzman cocktail made with Mezcal and cucumber juice, ginger, and  agave syrup, and a water when Les and Shiela and Linda and T.R. arrived.

Soon we ordered. I wanted the fresh tuna sashimi and a Suzette wanted a steamed octopus dish, so we decided to split both dishes.

Barracuda’s food quality is superb, but its strong point is its presentation.  I have not seen better presentation in years.  Linda and Shiela ordered Caesar Salad that was served in a bowl made of toasted Parmesan cheese.

T.R. ordered the fish of the day, which turned out to be two dorado filets sautéed and stacked on top of each other and on a mound of mashed potatoes cut to the same shape as the fish filets.  Here are pictures.  The tuna sashimi was served with a soy, sesame oil, and perhaps squid ink.  I ordered soy and more pickled ginger and mixed it with the ball of wasabi on the plate, so we could dip in a traditional sashimi mixture also.  Both sauces were good. The tuna is some of the best I had had.  T.R. told me he went out on a boat in Sayulita and they caught tuna.  The tuna seemed to be pretty fresh.

I asked the chef how he prepared the octopus and he said he cooks it in boiling water with orange wedges and onion for 40 to 50 minutes.  The octopus was served on a round of risotto rice with mixed vegetables and sauced with a carrot and tomato coulis.

It was an entirely successful meal.  I will go back.

After dinner we said goodnight and walked across the street to the gelato restaurant where we shared triple scoop dish of Ferraro Roche, coffee, and caramel gelatos.

We then walked the one block to our car but were drawn by some heavenly jazz into the Latitude 20 bar and BBQ restaurant.  We drank a chocolate stout named Los Cuentos brewed by a local micro-brewery near PV.

At 9:30 or 10:00 we finally went back to the room.

Bon Appetit