Open by Appointment Only Everything in the Store on Sale
Casa By The Sea is a unique home and garden lifestyle store with specialty items from around the world. You will find unique and exclusive objects that are created by the very best manufacturers, talented artisans and contemporary designers.
School of Fish Wall Art This extraordinary platter by talented ceramicist is one from the large collection of ceramics carried at Casa by the Sea. “Best pottery and ceramics in Los Cabos”
Beatriz is multi-talented and her love of flowers took her to Mexico City and Michoacán to find the best paper flower artisans in Mexico. The shop is bursting with color with her extraordinary paper flower arrangements. She will make a personal arrangement for you using one of the vases in the shop, or you can bring your vase and she will work her magic.
Paper Flower Arrangement
Casa By The Sea also carries a unique collection of Terracotta pottery from all over Mexico handcrafted by the most talented Mexican Artisans.
Terracotta Pottery
Don’t miss this unique opportunity. There are so many wonderful and unique pieces at incredibly good prices. Schedule your appointment to come and shop privately at the store-wide sale. They are taking care of every Covid 19 measure for you to be safe and happy while you shop.
Beatriz Redo with Disinfectant Spray Gun
Because so many businesses have had to shutter in San Jose Historic Art District due to Covid 19, please help support Beatriz Redo at Casa By The Sea. She is a rare talent and we don’t want to lose her vision.
On a sad note, many of our local businesses in Los Cabos may be forced to close and may never reopen.
Note: The front entrance to the store is closed – you must enter through the back where there is a large parking area – Boulevard Centenario 8.
Map
To read my original post about Casa By The Sea, see link below.
Truman Capote threw “a little masked ball” for 540 of his closest friends on November 28, 1966. When Capote summoned his pals for a night of dancing (and chicken hash at midnight), he was as famous as he would ever be, and flush with the profits from his critically acclaimed best-selling nonfiction book “In Cold Blood.”
Capote and Friends – Getty Images
I was always intrigued by Capote’s selections for his midnight dinner at such an extravagant affair which included the very all -American and very homey, chicken hash. It may give us insight into the genius of Capote. This is a beautifully balanced dish that is surprisingly like nothing I have tasted. The red peppers along with the tomato paste are the stars that makes this dish zing. Capote was on to something when he placed it on the menu.
Olive oil, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Six T unsalted butter, divided
2 lbs boiling potatoes, peeled and large diced
2 red onions chopped
2 large red bell peppers
3 garlic cloves minced
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp paprika
1 T tomato paste – Note: I used 2 T
4 minced scallion, white and green parts
1/4 cup chopped fresh leaf parsley
Sour cream, cheddar and sliced lemons for serving
Note: I used 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts and baked them for 12 minutes at 425 F.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Loosen the skin from the meat with your fingers, leaving one side attached. Place 4 basil leaves under the skin of each chicken breast. Pull the skin over as much of the meat as possible so the chicken won’t dry out. With your hands, rub each piece with olive oil and sprinkle very generously with salt and pepper. Bake the chicken for 35 minutes until the skin is lightly browned and the chicken is just cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones. Cut the chicken in large dice pieces and set aside.
Note: I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts and baked them for 12 minutes at 425 F.
Melt 4 T of the butter (saving 2 T) in a large saute pan. Add the onions and cook for a few minutes and then add the potatoes, 1 t salt and 1/2 t pepper and saute over medium heat for about 10 minutes until evenly browned and cooked through – but not mushy.
In a separate saute pan, melt the remaining 2 T butter and add the red pepper, garlic, thyme, paprika, tomato paste, 1 t salt and 1/2 t of pepper and saute over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes, until the edges of the peppers are seared.
Add the chicken and pepper mixture to the potatoes and heat through. Add the scallions and parsley, toss together and place on a serving platter. Finish with sour cream, cheddar and sliced lemons.
My version of the Black and White Ball Chicken Hash
Adapted from Deborah Madison – Greens Cookbook 1987
A friend who lives in Ireland wrote me recently to tell me that she had made a dish from our time together in the San Francisco Bay area. Back in the 80’s, we had a lot of fun cooking, listening to music and dancing with an occasional glass of wine thrown in. This post is for you, Maire.
If the title doesn’t make your mouth water (unless you are not an eggplant/aubergine lover), the recipe will convince you to try this. I made the mistake once of throwing an elaborate dinner party that took me all day to prepare with the main course being an eggplant dish from the New Orleans Chef, Paul Prudhomme. Unfortunately, not all my guests liked eggplant and there was a lot of moving it around on their plates.
The original recipe calls for frying the eggplant, using cream in the custard and adding Gruyere cheese. This is a new twist – Madison revamped it in 2017 with her cookbook: In My Kitchen. This version is sleeker but as Madison says “better for it.”
Eggplant Gratin, Serves 4, Gluten Free
2 lb small glove or larger oblong eggplants
olive oil
1 small red onion
1 plump clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp herbes de Provence
2 1/2 lb ripe full sized tomatoes peeled and chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 eggs
1 cup ricotta
1/4 cup whole milk
1 good pinch saffron threads crumpled and soaked in 1 tbsp hot water
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
10 large basil leaves torn into pieces
Step 1 Heat oven to 400 F
Step 2 Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise. If you have one large eggplant, cut it in quarters. Slice each piece crosswise about 1/2 inch thick. Brush the slices lightly with the oil, set them on a sheet pan, bake until the bottom sides have just started to brown (about 15 minutes). Turn them over and brown the second side (about 8 minutes). When the eggplant is done, remove from oven and reduce the heat to 350.
Step 3 To make the tomato sauce, peel and chop the tomatoes. Warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in wide skillet, when hot add the onion, garlic, and herbes de Provence (crushed between your fingers). Stir to coat and reduce heat to medium low and cook slowly until soft, 12 to 15 minutes. Add the chopped fresh tomatoes, raise the heat and cook stirring occasionally until the liquid has cooked off and the sauce is fairly thick. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 4 To make the custard, whisk the eggs and stir in the ricotta, milk, saffron and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Season with a few pinches of salt and some freshly ground black pepper.
Step 5 Choose an earthenware casserole with 2 inch sides and an 8 cup capacity. An oval dish 8″ wide and about 12″ long allows the ingredients to spread to a thin layer along with the custard topping.
Step 6 – Final Step Spread a cup of the sauce in the dish and set down an overlapping layer of eggplant. Scatter half the torn basil over the surface and season with salt and pepper. Dab about 1/4 cup of the sauce over the eggplant and then maker another layer of eggplant and torn basil and cover with the remaining tomato sauce. Pour the custard over all and bake until it has gently swelled and is browned in places, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. If there is any left over, it is good at room temperature or cold.
Madison grew up first on a dairy farm in upstate New York, then in a walnut orchard in Davis, California. She put her passion for cooking into motion at the San Francisco Zen Center where she was a student for eighteen years. After eating her first meal at Chez Panisse in 1977, she immediately went to work there until opening Greens Restaurant in 1979. Greens was one of the earliest Bay Area restaurants to have a farm-driven menu as her nearby farm, Green Gulch, provided beautiful, organically grown vegetables to cook with. She is truly one of the pioneers of vegetarian farm-to-table cuisine. An Onion In My Pocket, her latest work is scheduled to come out in September 2020. It is not a cookbook – it is a food memoir.
