Gustavo’s Fine Guadalajara Cuisine

Gustavo’s Mexican Restaurant

216 East Center Street

Monticello, UT, 84535

Phone: (435) 298-8270

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076579636108

Entering the fifth week of their opening in Monticello, Gustavo’s Mexican Restaurant is doing well, and keeping the staff busy.  An offshoot of the original Gustavo’s, located in Cortez, CO, this cuisine is completely unique from other Mexican based restaurants. The owner, Gustavo, and the majority of his staff are from Guadalajara, and the cuisine of that region can only be defined as “fancified”.

Upon entering, expect to be warmly greeted by Kelyn, a local resident, who is being trained for the wait staff.  Gustavo believes in giving back to, and sharing with, the community.  Training of the staff is of utmost importance, as everyone will benefit from learning and knowledge.  Our waiter though was Angel (also the manager), who hails from Guadalajara, and lives up to his name.  Very friendly, ready and willing to serve, and a wealth of knowledge about the menu selections, and the cuisine of the region.  A truly excellent bonus to the diners is the chef, Miguel.  He is a graduate of the University of Guadalajara, with a degree in culinary arts; and his assistant cooks are trained to do it up delicious!

 

The building is the old PJ’s, a rustic A-frame design with open floor plan and wood planking on the floor and walls.  Happy Mexican music plays in the background, and I swear one of the songs was from Ricky Martin…ai-ai-ai, caliente!  Speaking of caliente, salsa and chips are served up immediately; and made in house.  

The salsa has a kick, but then you crave more; in the words of John Cougar Mellencamp, “it hurts so good!”  In fact, even though all supplies are shipped in from Gustavo’s in Cortez, all main dishes, appetizers, salads, desserts, and condiments (except ketchup) are made freshly in house.

 

Bestselling main dishes are the vast selection of Street Tacos, Chile Rellanos Crispie and Gustavo’s Enchiladas.  My hubby, Roy, went for the Rellanos, while I looked forward to a diverse selection of enchilada and chimichanga. 

Both choices are served with rice and beans; the refried beans creamy with cheese, and rice lightly seasoned and fluffy.

Now be warned, the food you receive will not be what you are used to seeing.  In fact, it is so pretty, a wave of guilt occurs when cutting into the food, for who wants to destroy artwork!?!

The Chile Rellanos Crispie is topped with a Caesar salad that mixes with the chiles and cheese; a slight crunch comes from the tortilla wrapped around each rellano and deep fried.  This dish is packed with flavors, perfectly cooked; the Hatch chiles sweet and filled with a creamy cheese.

 

My chicken enchilada was stuffed with shredded chicken, a mild red sauce intermingled with piped over crème fraiche; the flavors are mild.  The chimichanga is filled with a mildly seasoned ground beef, surrounded with a crispy exterior, almost like a delicate puff pastry.  While I wanted to finish up every bite, room for dessert had to be left.  All the mild seasoning allows the palette to experience the various tastes, while spicy heat would only hide the flavors.

 

Angel recommended Gustavo’s Pie, and it was definitely a very good choice to end with.  This dessert can only be described as a square of lemony cheesecake flan; light, creamy and rich, but not overwhelming in sweetness.  While whipped cream and chocolate sauce are nice complements, this dessert is delicious just as is.

 

By the way, after ordering, the food does come out quickly, but do not expect to be rushed to eat and leave.  The atmosphere at Gustavo’s is casual, so just relax and enjoy.  Looking around at other diners, everyone was either eating heartedly, or laughing and talking between bites.  Recently, Gustavo’s was awarded a liquor license, so if you are looking for a more potent potion to have with your meal, they will have it.

Monticello locals, or their taste buds I should say, have gained plenty from the addition of Gustavo’s to its restaurant lineup.  Currently hours of operation are Monday thru Saturday, 11am – 9pm; closed on Sunday.  Located on Center Street, catty-corner to Maverik, it will not be a surprise to see tourists and truckers also flocking into Gustavo’s.

Keep an eye out for advertising on their Facebook page, and shared to locally based groups; a Valentine’s Day Special is in the works.

Mary Cokenour

 

 

 

Mexican Trifecta.

What happens when you can't decide if you want to make Burritos, Enchiladas or Fajitas?  You make all three in one main dish, three Mexican recipes in one, a Mexican Trifecta.  Ok, fajitas are technically classified as Tex-Mex, a recipe developed within the United States with Mexican influence, so it sort of counts as part of the trifecta.

I tried looking up the differences between burritos and enchiladas, but American influences (mainly California and Texas) have blurred the line between authentic and invented.   On one question/answer site, a man stated they were invented in California because, "he's eaten so many of them there for the past 6 years"...ummm, ok.  Authentic Mexican burritos are usually small and thin, with flour tortillas containing only one or two ingredients: some form of meat or fish, potatoes, rice, beans, asadero cheese, chile rajas, or chile relleno.  Authentic Mexican enchiladas are rolled maize (corn) tortillas stuffed with meat, covered with a tomato and chili sauce; this food practice can be dated back to the time of the Mayans.  Nowadays, burritos can be served up in a casserole dish, covered in cheese and sauce; or heated and browned on a grill as is to make it easier, and less messier, to walk around with.  The tortillas for burritos are closed ended, enchiladas are open ended; fillings are basically "anything goes".

Usually the tortillas are long length after rolling, even for the burrito; mine became square shaped packets, not intentionally, just ended up that way.  The taste, after complete cooking, was pretty awesome as is, but add a little sour cream and/or guacamole and they became exceptionally awesome!  There were so many textures and flavors, and they all worked so well to enhance each other.

Enchi-burr-jitas

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 and ½ lbs. lean meat (sirloin or London broil), cut into 1” strips

1 and ½ cups yellow bell pepper, cut into 1” strips

1 and ½ cups onion, cut into 1” strips

1 can (15 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. cumin

1 Tbsp. chili powder

1 Tbsp. dried, crushed cilantro leaves

Pinch ground cayenne pepper

12 (10”) flour tortillas

1 (14 oz.) can green chili enchilada sauce (mild/medium)

Preparation:

In a large skillet, heat oil on medium-high heat, partially brown meat strips; add bell pepper and onion, continue to brown meat till no pink shows.  Add in corn, black beans, tomatoes and all seasonings; mix well and let cook 5 minutes before turning off heat.

Preheat oven to 350F; spray 2-4 quart baking dishes with nonstick cooking spray.

In center of each tortilla, place one cup of meat/vegetable mixture.  Fold up long sides of tortillas over each other, fold up short sides to create a square packet; place 6 packets inside each baking dish.  Top each packet with 2 tablespoons of enchilada sauce; bake for 30 minutes.

Makes 12 servings.

Mary Cokenour

An Awesome Mexican Adventure.

Recently I purchased two cookbooks from the Monticello Welcome Center; "Authentic Southwestern Cooking" by Lynn Nusom and "Southwest Slow Cooking" by Tammy Biber and Theresa Howell.  Going through both, I found several recipes I wanted to try out, and enjoyed reading some of the stories and informational tidbits in both books.  I was watching Travel Channel's "Mexican Food Paradise"; then Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" had an episode which featured New Mexico places; so you can see a pattern was starting to develop in what I was to cook next. 

Speaking with my hubby, he suggested I make a Mexican style casserole, but put rotini pasta in it.  I thought about it, but didn't like the pasta idea; pasta is Italian, I already made two Italian pasta dishes last week.  So, do I use one of the recipes out of the cookbooks, or look up recipes from the shows I had watched?  I did better than either choice, I combined both ideas plus my recipes for Chicken Enchiladas and Fiesta Salsa. To say that I came up with something absolutely amazing is to say too little. The taste and texture blew my mind; I wanted to just lay down on the floor and experience what I had just eaten with orgasmic pleasure. It is not often that I feel this way about a particular meal; but this was certainly a most excellent adventure!

Once again I'll be posting a load of photos, so I hope you'll enjoy the visual show as well as trying out this recipe.

 

 

Fiesta Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

8 chicken tenderloins
¼ cup lime juice
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp New Mexico chile powder (medium)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained (medium)
8 (10 inch) flour tortillas
2 cups green chile sauce (medium)
8 Tbsp salted butter
8 Tbsp flour
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
½ tsp ground black pepper
1 (8 oz) package shredded Mexican cheese mix

Preparation:





Trim the chicken tenderloins of any fat or excess ligament; place in a sealable plastic bag with the lime juice, cilantro, cumin and chile powder. Move chicken around in bag to make sure all is coated with the marinade; place in refrigerator for one hour. In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium-high heat; sear chicken two minutes on each side and drain on paper towels. Chicken will still be raw inside, but will finish cooking during the baking process.

To Make the Enchiladas

In a large bowl, mix together the black beans, corn and tomatoes with green chiles.

 Place 4 tablespoons in the center of a tortilla; spread out far enough to be a half inch around the chicken.

Place a chicken tenderloin in the center of the “salsa”; fold the tortilla over both ends of the chicken, but leave 3 inches apart.

Take one side of the tortilla and fold over to make an “envelope”; slowly roll towards the open side, tucking in sides if necessary, to seal the “packet”.

Don't worry if each "packet" is not perfectly symmetrical or look exactly like each other.  Once the layers of sauce are on, no one will see the imperfections. If someone does, then feel proud that these are homemade; not bought at the supermarket's frozen food section and machine made.

 

Preheat oven to 350F; spray a 4 quart baking dish with nonstick spray. Place each packet, seam side down, inside the dish. Spread the green chile sauce over the packets and bake for 20 minutes.

To Make the Cheese Sauce

Melt the butter, medium-high heat, in a medium sauce pan; whisk in the flour as soon as tiny bubbles begin to form in the melted butter. Continue to whisk as the mixture begins to turn a pale brownish color; add the heavy cream, milk and black pepper and let mixture come to a low boil. Whisk in half the shredded cheese until melted; do same for second half of cheese and continue to whisk until smooth.




After 20 minutes, take enchiladas out of oven and spread cheese sauce completely over all. Return dish to the oven and bake an additional 10 minutes.
 

Remove from oven and let it rest for 10 minutes to allow cheese sauce to firm up around the enchiladas.  Let me tell you that the cheese poofs up into this wonderful fluffy layer of cheesy cloud.  The texture is so soft and smooth, not the typical chewy layer when cheese is just dumped on an enchilada and allowed to melt.

Cutting open the enchilada, you see the vibrant colors of the beans, corn and tomatoes; the chicken is tender and juicy; the flavors of the lime and cilantro pop; and the cheese sauce layer...a celestial cloud.  Enjoy!

Makes 8 servings.

Mary Cokenour