My special birthday lunch at Gombos in San Miguel de Allende

We had left the house in Denver around 3:30 in the morning and really had not eaten much of anything all day.  We arrived into San Miguel de Allende around 4:00 in the afternoon and we immediately headed down to Gombos on Calle Hidalgo No. 34 (formerly known as Casa Blanca) for a margarita and some nachos.  I asked Louis if there were squash blossoms in the market and he said SI!   They are my all time favorite seasonal food in Mexico.  I asked if Maricela (his sister and chef) and I could make them one day.   Lucky for me, we scheduled it for noon on my birthday, July 4th, at the other Gombos in Colonial Guadalupe (Calle Tata nacho No. 2).

With my Gombos apron on, Maricella and her other brother, Pablo started to get to work.  We had over thirty squash blossoms which were rinsed off, the pistil taken out of the center and then stuffed with goat cheese.
In the mean time, I had Pablo roast some tomatoes, a serrano pepper and a few cloves of garlic.  He then pureed all of the vegetables in a blender along with some cilantro and salt to taste.
Next step was to mix up the beer batter (beer, salt, flour and a pinch of cayenne).
Once the vegetable oil had come up to boil, around 350', we dredged each squash blossom into the beer batter and carefully set them in the hot oil.  Then fried them until golden brown and drained them on some paper towels.
In the mean time, Len was in the restaurant reading his book, enjoying a Negro Modelo and eagerly waiting for the squash blossoms to be ready.

With Maricela's other brother, Miguel, we sat down to a wonderful meal of squash blossoms with a roasted salsa and a cold beer.  Life is good and what a treat on my birthday.  And I now have my own Gombos t-shirt.  Does that mean I am part of the team?

 The day before I left San Miguel, I went to Gombos on Calle Hidalgo 34, for my last comida (lunch) and Maricela surprised me with a huge plate of squash blossoms.  I was in heaven.

This was taken at Christmas time in 2003, 14 1/2 years ago!  What a great family, great friends, not to mention a great restaurant.

For more on my dining experiences at Gombos, go to my post dated July 14, 2010.  The menu and great food is the same, just the name changed from Casa Blance to Gombos.

For more on my Squash Blossoms, go to my post dated August 2, 2010.

Buen Provecho!