Ixtapa, Mexico: Day 5

Day 5: the last day of our Mexican vacation.

We woke up late Monday morning and ordered breakfast from room service one last time. My final chance to drink coffee when it was still hot, to sit back and enjoy my meal at a leisurely pace. Once we're back home, I'll be shoveling a bite of frozen waffles in my mouth while unloading the dishwasher, cleaning up yogurt smeared into Tory's highchair and balancing a babbling toddler on my hip.

After we ate, Andi and I checked out of our hotel and hopped in a cab to Zihuataejo. Andi signed us up for a Mexican cooking class at Patio Mexica restaurant. Monica, the cooking instructor, warmly welcomed us into her open-air kitchen located behind the restaurant. It's quite an amazing establishment she runs - everything's outdoors including the restaurant seating on a shady patio and the small kitchen and the cooking area behind the restaurant for her class instruction. Today, we learned how to make five different types of chili rellenos (stuffed chiles). 

First, Monica demonstrated how to roast the poblano and jalapeno chili peppers over the gas fire. Once roasted, we peeled the charcoaled skin from each, then stuffed them with fresh Mexican cheese.

Andi peeling the ancho chili pepper

Forgive me if I'm the only one in the world who didn't know this, but I learned a poblano chili is called an ancho chili when roasted and a jalapeno chili is called a chipolte pepper when roasted. Interesting!

Next, Monica worked over the stove to prepare a ground beef and pork mixture for stuffing for Chili Enogada and demonstrated how she prepared a tuna salad mixture for the others.

It was amazing to watch Monica work in such simple conditions. With just a small gas stove and one or two pots, she was able to prepare a feast for the 12 class participants.

For Mexican salsa used in these chili dishes as well as enchiladas, Monica blends onion and garlic together, then mixes it in a saucepan with fresh (or canned) tomatoes and lets it reduce. The secret to perfect Mexican salsa, she said, is a pinch of cinnamon with cumin and pepper as desired. How much better would this be to make than buying canned enchilada sauce at the store?!

Finally, the last step in preparing Chili Rellenos Poblanos was to dip the stuffed chiles in batter and lightly fry them in hot oil. Each of the class participants took a turn dipping and frying.

My turn at making Chili Rellenos Poblanos

The Mexican cooking class was a great experience and something very authentic to do in our last few hours in Ixtapa / Zihuatanejo. After the class, Andi and I killed the last 45 minutes before the airport by walking around the pier and having one last cerveza by the ocean.

A fabulous few days spent with the man I love.