Welcome to the March round for Movies & Munchies. Wendy from A Day in the Life on a Farm is hosting Off the Menu. You can read her announcement post here.
About the film:
Off the Menu (2018) involves an heir to a Mexican fast-food chain who is forced to go hunting for the next big culinary thing. He finds himself in a small, beautiful New Mexico town where he discovers a beautiful chef with some culinary secrets.
The big-city boy from California feels out of his element but he adapts and soon feels drawn to that spicy female chef and her young daughter.
Yes, it’s a rom-com.
The film stars Dania Ramirez, Santino Fontana, Maria Conchita Alonso, and a cast of local New Mexicans. It’s directed by Jay Silverman.
What I thought…
I had never heard of this film. At. All. So, I sat down to watch it with no expectations. At. All.
Then, I started recognizing the scenery. Was that the Rio Grande River Gorge Bridge I saw? That plaza reminds me of Taos Plaza. Wow. I really think I’ve eaten in that restaurant.
I was not wrong. The majority of the filming was done in Taos and I am almost 100% positive that Rancho’s Plaza Grill was the set for Javiera’s Cocina.
Rancho’s Plaza Grill photos from a 2017 trip.
I was trying to pinpoint the fancy, schmancy Santa Fe restaurant but I failed there.
Sigh. I miss our NM vacations.
The film was cute. The story had some merits but there were parts that probably needed to be fleshed out. I did love the small town of Villaneuvo (Taos) and all the characters that abounded. Were they stereotyping a bit? Probably not. 🙂
The Food.
As you can imagine, there was a lot of food in the film from the kitchen scenes to the farmers markets to the green chiles and New Mexican cuisine. Here’s some of the dishes that were highlighted.
- A sweet potato, kale, beets, and fried egg dish sprinkled with chili powder.
- Special Chile Sauce
- Egg, protein powder, assorted fruit and veggies for Iron Man Smoothie
- Tortilla Hut’s Beefy Bean Burrito
- Crema de Chile Poblano
- Pork chop wrapped in banana leaf
- Green chile stew with Pinto beans and chicken
- Garlic soup with a poached egg
- Empanada
- snow cones
- Mango, pear, ginger, carrot smoothie
- Stacked huevos rancheros
- Quesadilla
- Goat taco
- Pollo and pipian rojo (Chicken in red sauce with Pumpkin seeds)
- Asado de puerco Verde (Split roasted pork chop stuffed with ground pork in pasote and served with chile verde sickle)
- Mashed potatoes, tomatoes, onions, zucchini, garlic, Special chili sauce, corn flakes
- Churro stuffed with beefy bean burrito
- Pecan Pie
- sopapillas
- Amanecer chile verde de Javiera (Javiera’s green chile sunrise) Stuffed pepper, cilantro, corn, beans
- albondigas (lamb)
- smoked chiptole chevre
- Sopa Bowl Salad
- Chili smoothies
Obviously there was a lot of food to be inspired by. Since we were hosting a family dinner, I decided to do a riff on burritos, obviously adding green chiles. I also used goat cheese inside as a reference to the farm-to-table comment Javiera makes about using local produce (and the smoked chipotle chevre).
With the mix of cheeses, beef and pinto beans, these burritos could possibly transport one to NM.
Ingredients
- 1 T. olive oil
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1/4 c. roasted green chilies, chopped
- 1/2 c. chopped onion
- 1/2 t. dried oregano
- 1/2 t. Kosher salt
- 1/4 t. fresh ground pepper
- 1/4 t. ground cumin
- 1 (15 oz.) can pinto beans, drained
- 8 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
- 8 burrito sized flour tortillas
- 1 jar of prepared green sauce (tomatillo or avocado sauce or green enchilada sauce)
- 1/3 c. shredded Mexican blend cheese
- Optional: sour cream, cilantro, jalapenos
Instruction:
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Brown ground beef for five minutes, breaking up meat. After five minutes (or when meat is barely browned but not pink), add the garlic, tomatoes, roasted green chiles, onion, and spices. Cook for another 5-10 minutes on medium-low heat until onions are soft.
- Add drained pinto beans and stir.
- Divide and spread mixture on tortillas, top with a bit of crumbled goat cheese (divide the log into 8ths), and roll up burrito style. Place in a prepared 11 x 9″ pan.
- Pour green sauce over the top and sprinkle with the shredded cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and garnish with sour cream, jalapenos, and cilantro.
Yield: 8
These are great served with green rice (recipe found here.)
Remember we were hosting a dinner so I was not able to plate and snap great photos. 🙁 I will make these again!
I did enjoy revisiting my New Mexico memories so thanks Wendy!
For other New Mexican inspired dishes:
Southwest Quinoa and Kale Salad with NM Red Chile Vinaigrette
Black Beans with Garlic and Chipotle on a TLC Book Tour for Resurrecting Rain
Join Movies & Munchies for April. Kelley from Simply Inspired Meals is hosting Jungle Cruise. Look for an announcement post at her site at the beginning of next month.
How fun — to be in a movie with your own memories. I’ve been to Taos a couple of times, but I wouldn’t recognize any landmarks or restaurants at this point.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I’m happy I was able to bring back fond memories with my selection. The burrito looks wonderful and a family dinner is perfect for this film.
I’ve never heard of this movie either, but I need to watch it. We try to watch all movies filmed here. My husband used to be in the business so usually keeps up with NM movies. What a list of food! And I’d eat one of your burritos any day of the week.
Since you’re the green chile queen, I hope they’re worthy! 🙂
Haven’t heard of this movie — sounds like fun. But it’s these burritos I really want. NICE recipe — thanks.
this sounds full of flavour and very good for your innards 🙂 I’m not a rom com fan but hubby is! so he sits watching them while i go off to do something not rom-com- ish … 🙂
That is so very interesting that you started to realize that you had been to the film sites. I’m sure your family really enjoyed the meal.