Recipes

Marfa, Texas, has long served as a cultural hot spot thanks to its vibrant art scene set against stunning desert landscapes. But, as any visitor knows, you may come for the Judds and Flavins, but you stay for people and the community—and the culinary heart of Marfa's magnetic appeal is located at The Capri, a go-to for locals and expats alike, an ode to both innovation and the surrounding farming culture.

Now, you can bring the taste of Marfa home with Cooking in Marfa: Welcome, We've Been Expecting You (Phaidon), a new cookbook by founders Virginia Lebermann (who's also co-founder of the arts organization Ballroom Marfa) and chef Rocky Barnette. We’ll be trying the below recipes… Join us!

Cocktail: The Germaine

Serves 1

Ingredients:

3/4 oz agave syrup
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz fresh orange juice
1/2 oz añejo rum, preferably Ron Abuelo 7 años
11/2 oz bourbon
Orange wedge and rosemary sprigs, for garnish

Directions:

Combine the agave, lime juice, orange juice, rum, and bourbon in a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass over crushed ice.
Garnish with an orange wedge and a sprig of rosemary. Lightly touch the rosemary with a lit kitchen torch to make it smolder.

Small Dish: Yucca Blossom Tempura

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 cups cake flour
2 tbsp tapioca flour
1 tbsp mesquite powder
2 1/2 cups club soda, very cold
4 qt yucca blossoms (about 50), stems and stamens removed
Pink Himalayan salt
Soybean oil, for deep-frying

Directions:

Pour 4 inches oil into a deep-fryer or deep heavy pot. Heat the oil to 350°F.
Sift together the cake flour, tapioca flour and mesquite powder into a bowl.
Pour all of the cold club soda into the flour mixture and stir with the fingertips of your dominant hand 10-15 times. Do not overmix.
Working in batches of 8-10, dredge the yucca blossoms in the batter and immediately drop into the fryer while constantly stirring.
Once they are evenly browned, remove from the fryer and place on a rack or paper towels. Season immediately with Himalayan salt and serve.
We serve these with any one of these accompaniments: Chiltomate, prickly pear reduction or gochugaru and lime.

Composed Dish: Camarones Recado Negro

Serves 6

Ingredients:

30 Gulf shrimp (prawns, 20/25 count), peeled and deveined, tails on
6 yucca or bamboo skewers
1 head garlic, halved horizontally
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 medium watermelon radishes, peeled and spiralized
Kosher (flaked) salt
3 tbsp habanero pickling liquid
1 lime, quartered, central pith sliced off
3 tbsp organic cold-pressed coconut oil, melted
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro (fresh coriander)
1 cup recado negro
1/2 cup store-bought wakame seaweed salad

Directions:

Thread 5 shrimp on each of the skewers.
Place in a Cryovac bag with the garlic and olive oil. Vacuum-seal at 100%. (Alternatively, place in a shallow pan or zippered plastic bag.)
Refrigerate on ice and allow to marinate for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
In a bowl, dress the radish slices with salt, habanero vinegar, and the juice of 2 of the lime quarters.
In a large frying pan, heat the coconut oil over medium high heat. Season the shrimp skewers on both sides with salt and pepper.
Place the skewers in the pan and cook until the flesh is opaque, 2–3 minutes on each side.
While in the pan, season them with the cilantro (fresh coriander) and squeeze the juice of the remaining 2 lime quarters over them. Remove from the pan.
Divide the recado negro among 6 plates.
Place the dressed, spiralized radishes down the center of each plate.
Remove 1 shrimp from each skewer and place the skewer on the side of the radishes and tuck the single shrimp into the radishes.
Garnish with wakame seaweed.