Fish

A potato and tilapia en croute with
a smoky tomatoe butter
and cashew pesto.

Huazontle

I have said more words in Nahuatl this week than ever before, and just to throw one more in the mix lets all say chocolate. Summertime brings exotic foods from all the lands, well this is NYC so there is really no specific season for exotica. So enters sorghum or huazontle as it is known in Mexico. It is surprisingly tasty and mild. I first trimmed them down to five inch pieces since these stalks were easily 18 to 24 inches long and then blanched them in boiling salted water and then shocked them with ice water to keep them green.

I then took a mexican cheese similar to mozzarella called queso oaxaca and placed it between the fronds and then tied them off with string.

I had whipped up some egg whites, using a hand mixer, because I dont have to use big fancy gadgets all the time, and I dipped the pieces in seasoned flour and then the egg whites and fried until brown. For the sauce I made a tomatoe couli with garlic, fresh tomatoes and dried red chiles that was ladled over the top.

These get picked up and eaten like corn on the cob. They were eaten so fast all I was able to remember to photograph was an empty plate with the stalk and a little sauce. I had plenty of left over egg whites so mini chocolate-caramel souffles were on the dessert menu.