Cooking with Baja Magic Dos - Mexican Recipes by Author Ann Hazard
 These
recipe will be in featured in Ann Hazard’s newest book, Cooking With Baja
Magic Dos. It is, or will be soon, available throughout Baja and
California. The new cookbook has over 60 new recipes with corresponding
stories and all new art. Whether or not you have Ann’s original cookbook,
you will want a copy of Baja Magic Dos! For more information on Ann and
her Baja books, visit
http://www.bajamagic.com or order her book from Amazon.com on the
right.
Thank you to
Author Ann Hazard from BajaMagic.com for this contribution.
 LOBSTER
PUERTO NUEVO
Thirty miles south of the Tijuana border is (what used to
be a fishing village) Puerto Nuevo. In recent years its size has
multiplied many times over until it has reached resort proportions. Puerto
Nuevo is renowned throughout Southern California for its succulent
lobster. It all started back in 1954, when Rosa María Plasencia’s father
came because he’d heard there were lobsters there — lots of them. There
were. A year later Rosa María’s mother’s family came. The two young people
met, fell in love, married and built a tiny house across the street from
what is now the family restaurant, Puerto Nuevo II.
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Just released is Ann's new Cookbook Cooking with Baja Magic Dos. Full of
tempting recipes from Baja California the book also contains many original
artwork photos by the author and her husband. Available from Amazon.com
this book will make a great gift for your friends and family that love
Baja. You better pick up an extra copy for yourself too!
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 At that time there were only two or three families living
on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific. Every day the men went out to sea
in their pangas, free diving for lobsters. Every afternoon their wives
would scan the waters until they saw their husbands’ boats materialize on
the horizon. Once a positive sighting was made, they’d rush to heat up
beans and rice, pat out some fresh tortillas and put a kettle of lard on
the fire. The men always came back ravenous, and when they unloaded their
catch of lobsters, they’d slice a few in half, drop them into the bubbling
lard and fry them up. There was no refrigeration back then, so the
now-famous meal of fresh fried lobster, beans, rice and tortillas came
into being purely out of necessity. The sea provided the lobsters. Beans
and rice didn’t need to be refrigerated, and the tortillas could be made
on the spot.
Occasionally some Americans would show up and ask the men
to take them out in their pangas. When they came back in, they’d join the
Mexicans in a big meal. As is typical still today at fish camps up and
down Baja, no money changed hands. The principle down here has always
been, “barter is better,” because everyone makes out. The Americans shared
soda, ham sandwiches, cookies, candy and whatever else they had to spare
in return for the fine food.
In the ‘50s, more families migrated to the area. One built
a little stand next to the bus stop, where the welcoming arches are now.
They sold sodas, snacks and burritos. Next to their stand was a billboard
advertising Newport cigarettes. The Americans named the village after that
sign, which, translated into Spanish, is Puerto Nuevo.
A major growth spurt occurred in Puerto Nuevo in the ‘70s
when the Ortega family came to town and built four restaurants, which they
publicized widely. The signs for all the Ortega’s are easily visible from
the toll road and these days, about four thousand people make the trip to
Puerto Nuevo to enjoy lobster dinners each week.
Puerto Nuevo lobster is deep fried in lard, the Mexican
way. If you don't want to fry your lobster, try grilling it on the
barbecue or boiling it in water plus a half cup of beer for five minutes.
When served with beans, rice, tortillas and an array of different salsas,
the meal takes on a festive atmosphere all its own. Frosty beers or Cokes
are a must with this one. Serves six.
6 large Mexican lobsters, cut in half lengthwise
2 cups lard or solid vegetable shortening (optional: see above)
1 tbsp seasoned salt
1 tsp pepper
2 cups frijoles
2 cups Spanish rice
18 corn and/or flour tortillas
Salsa medley (Salsa section)
In heavy, deep skillet heat lard over medium high heat.
Fry each half lobster for five minutes on each side, until meat is crisp,
tender and will pop out of the shell on your fork. Continue for all
lobsters. Drain on paper towels and place on serving dish in the oven on
warm until ready to serve.
Heat frijoles and rice. Place in serving dishes. Heat
tortillas in microwave one to two minutes until warm. Place in covered
basket. Serve lobster with frijoles, rice, tortillas, salsas. People can
eat the lobster either in a burrito with beans and salsa, or solo.
The Mexicans use tortillas the way our ancestors used
bread, to scoop up and mop up their beans, rice, excess pan juices and
salsa. Try it out yourself.
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hung out with the locals there. You also know what a treat it is t o
find a gourmet restaurant under a giant palapa with a sand floor in a
fairly remote but spectacularly beautiful place. This recipe isn’t quite
Ray’s. It’s one of our friend Carol’s works of culinary plagiarism as she
helped me recreate this masterpiece. She should be an expert; she and her
husband Mike lived in Mulege for a few years and this was their favorite
meal. Next time you’re in Santispac, don’t forget to stop at Ray’s. Serves
four.
1 tbsp green onion
1 tbsp green bell pepper
1 tbsp celery salt
4 tbsp butter
¼ cup chicken broth
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 cups cooked, flaked crab 24 jumbo shrimp,
peeled and deveined
24 - ½ x 1 inch chunks of queso Chihuahua or jack Cheese
24 pieces bacon and toothpicks
 Place
the green onion, bell pepper and celery salt in food processor and process
until well minced. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter
and sauté minced vegetables for two minutes. Whisk the chicken broth and
cornstarch together in a small bowl and then whisk into the vegetables.
Add the mustard, vinegar, hot pepper sauce and Worcestershire sauce and
whisk to combine the ingredients. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook for
one minute while whisking. Remove from the fire and cool. Stir in the
crabmeat and refrigerate.
Fire up the barbecue. In skillet, cook bacon until about half done, but
still limp. Butterfly the shrimp and put one tsp of stuffing and a piece
of cheese inside each shrimp. Close and wrap securely with bacon and
secure with a toothpick. Lay the shrimp on a buttered pan and cook over
very hot fire, turning occasionally, for about 10 minutes until shrimp is
cooked and bacon is crispy.
Click here
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