El Dorado Recipes

EL DORADO HOT CHOCOLATE

Steps:

• Stir the sugar and 2 tablespoons of the water together in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat. Uncover and continue to cook, swirling the pan but not stirring, until the sugar is a dark golden caramel, 7 to 10 minutes. (It should smell slightly burnt.) Pull pan from the heat and carefully pour the 1/4 cup water into the caramel. Take care; it may spatter a lot. Whisk until smooth and allow to cool. (The burnt caramel can be held for up to 2 weeks at room temperature.)
• When ready to serve: Put 3 tablespoons of the burnt caramel into 4 mugs or cups and top evenly with the chopped chocolate. Bring the milk to a simmer in a medium pan over medium heat. Pull pan from the heat and add the Goldschlager and rum; pour over the chocolate. Serve El Dorado Hot Chocolates with a spoon to stir the layers together.

EL DORADO

Steps:

• Shake all ingredients together with ice.
• Strain into a cocktail glass.
• Garnish with grated chocolate.

EL DORADO MEXICAN CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Brown ground beef in large skillet, stirring until crumbly.
• Add onion, salt, pepper, garlic salt and powder, tomato sauce, catsup and olives, mixing well.
• Simmer until onions are tender, stirring frequently.
• Combine sour cream, cottage cheese and chili pepper in small bowl.
• Layer tortilla chips, ground beef mixture, sour cream mixture and Monterey Jack cheese alternately in large greased casserole, ending with grated Monterey Jack cheese.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
• Serve with picante sauce.

DORADO WITH CILANTRO SAUCE

Steps:

• Take the fish out of the fridge and salt it well.
• Make the cilantro sauce. Char the cut edges of the onions, the garlic cloves, and the skins of the peppers. Set the peppers in a plastic or paper bag to steam for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the skins, seeds and stems. Peel the garlic and roughly chop the onions. Put all of these, along with the cilantro, oregano if using, about 1/2 cup water, and a pinch of salt in a blender.
• Puree the sauce, adding enough water to give it the consistency of cream. Add more salt, and some lime juice to taste.
• Get a large sauté pan hot. Add the oil, swirl it around until it's hot. Pat the fish dry. I generally do 2 fillets at a time. Place a fillet down and immediately jiggle the pan to prevent it from sticking. Do the same to the other fillet. Let them sear for a solid 3 to 6 minutes, depending on how thick they are. You want the sizzle to sound like bacon, so not ragingly hot. Baste the exposed side of the fish with the oil by tipping the pan and spooning it over. Do this until it turns opaque.
• When you see a line of nice, caramelized fish where the dorado meets the pan, carefully try to lift the fillet. If it comes up easily, you're done. If not, let it keep cooking. It's OK if the fish sticks in one or two little spots, but don't scrape it up.
• Move the fish to a cutting board and grind black pepper over them. Do the other two fillets. If you're working with larger fillets and are worried the first ones will get cold, set them on a baking sheet in a warm oven, seared side up.
• To serve, pour some of the cilantro sauce on a plate, add the fish seared side up, and garnish with whatever you want. I like roasted pepitas and some avocado slices. Simple rice mixed with some sauce is a good starch.