This time around, a two-month Casa SaltShaker wrap-up. February was a little short because of my time away in Montevideo, plus one weekend we were busy and didn’t host a dinner. Here’s my pick of dishes from February and March, both from personal favorites and those that I got particularly positive feedback on.

Let’s start with appetizers. Both that topped the charts were chilled crustacean dishes.

The first, our version of a solterito from Arequipa, Peru. The composed salad below is a mix of diced potatoes, peas, tomatoes, black olives, red onion, rocoto chili, and feta cheese. It’s bound together with an emulsification of lemon juice, shrimp stock, black vinegar, olive oil, mint, and oregano. The salad is topped with shrimp poached in shrimp stock and then chilled, and a julienne of shiso leaves.

Served with Chandon “Chef de Cave” Chardonnay, N.V. sparkling

This time around it was prawns instead of shrimp (there is a difference!). These are slightly poached, marinated and cured in our own ponzu sauce – a blend of apple juice, soy sauce, umeboshi plums, mirin, and chili oil all simmered together and thickened, then poured, while hot, over the raw, deveined prawns. They’re chilled down and left to cure for about six hours. Garnishes are julienne of shiso leaf and apple, plus radish sprouts and pomegranate seeds.

Served with Cruzat “Finca La Dama” Extra Brut sparkling (100% Chardonnay)

Next, two pastas that really stood out. Semolina fettuccine are tossed with a sauté of anchovies, garlic, chilies, and capers, all melded together with a black olive tapenade. At the end, we added in toasted pistachios, parsley, and fresh ricotta cheese.

Served with Indama Rosado de Isabella 2022

The other pasta, a bit wider, verging on pappardelle. These are tossed with a yuzu koshu infused cream sauce, cubes of trout sautéed with garlic and finely chopped almonds, a smoked roe, and green onion. I’d have preferred to nira or garlic chives, but all three markets in Barrio Chino were out of them – very unusual.

Served with Piattelli Vineyards Rosé of Malbec 2023

On to a trio of main courses. Here we have chicken breast that’s been flattened and breaded in a mix of fresh brown breadcrumbs with dried basil, marjoram, and bay leaf, then sautéed to a golden brown. It’s served alongside a smoked chili infused puree of potato and squash, topped with fried potato skins, and, a spicy longaniza sausage chili oil.

Served with Frontagro “Entrometido” Malbec-Moscatel Rosado 2022

This is one I wasn’t sure how it would be perceived. People have strong feelings about liver, and here we have pork liver, which other than in something like a pate, most people probably haven’t had. The liver is dredged in seasoned cornstarch and quickly fried to keep it pink in the middle, but with a lightly crispy exterior. It’s served over a roasted yellow tomato, ají amarillo, onion, and garlic sauce. On the side, lightly caramelized Andean papines, small potatoes that were parboiled, halved, and then tossed in a red wine vinegar caramel – a reduction of brown sugar, red wine vinegar, chicken stock, orange peel, star anise, and cinnamon. And a garnish over the top of lightly sautéed garlic chives (which were in stock that week!). Everyone ate every bit of it. Who knew?

Served with the same wine as the previous dish, I’d bought a case of it because I really liked it!

Duck is expensive here, so I don’t cook with it much. But, I was in the mood. We have duck magrets, or breasts, scored and rubbed with salt, pepper, cumin, and smoked chili flakes. Then the skin is rendered over low heat until it crisps up, the breasts are flipped, and just barely cooked on the other side, leaving them medium rare through the middle. Sliced in half and served over a pool of an intense reduction sauce of ají panca, garlic, red onion, anchovy, cumin, oregano, chicken stock, orange juice and zest, and anise liqueur. On the side, a version of concalon, which is what Peruvians (and others) call that crispy bottom in a pot of rice – here, we make the rice in advance, seasoned with toasted garlic and onion, mix it with a little egg, and press it and chill it overnight. Cut into discs and fried up to get that crispy texture on both sides. The vegetable accompaniment is a sauté of fennel and bell pepper tossed with green olive tapenade.

Served with Terrazas de los Andes Cabernet Franc Reserva 2021

And, we’ll finish off with one dessert. Here, a vanilla cookie crust is topped with a pink grapefruit, baharat, and cream cheese filling, then baked, cooled, and further topped with walnuts and pistachios cooked in honey with a little orange flower water, and fresh pink grapefruit segments.

Served with Rutini “Trumpeter” Doux Reserve 2023 (85% Gewurztraminer, 15% Riesling)

And that’s our round-up for end of summer!