'Iron Chef' Cat Cora's 4 tricks to have a staycation at home
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Iron Chef and restaurateur Cat Cora, like so many people, wishes she could spend her holidays taking a tropical vacation. But since that isn’t possible because traveling is scary and risky at the moment, Cora shares how she creates the next best thing from her home – a staycation that brings the scenery and smells of the beach inside on a budget.
“It’s not a normal year,” says Cora, but this fun spin on celebrating “really adds something different.” She starts by fixing herself a mango margarita, blending together the mango, sugar, lime juice for tartness and coconut water. She sticks to a virgin version, but offers the option to add in tequila or another spirit before pouring it into the coconut shell. “It’s like you’re sitting on a tropical island,” she says, as she adds a skewer with an umbrella and a fun straw. “We’re somewhere else in the world.”
Next, she sets out platters of tropical food for the dining table. Cora grills shrimp spiked with cayenne and paprika, mixes up corn with mayonnaise and cotija cheese and sautés black kale. The chef makes an aji verde sauce using Greek yogurt and jalape?o peppers, and pickles onions in vinegar. But she also shares that if cooking up all these different recipes seems like too much work, people can lean into the vacation mindset and order the same dish from her Home Bistro premade meals that can be shipped right to their door.
“Everything is about being in a different geography,” says Cora. To bring that into her home, she sets the mood by designing a beach scene using napkins and vases from her closet, choosing pinks and greens to pair with little flowers and greenery to adorn the table. She adds a tropical fruit platter to round things out — she suggests using it in a smoothie later, so it doesn’t go to waste. “My favorite part of being on vacation is being somewhere hot,” says Cora, so she brings in the visuals for that by turning her television to a tropical scene.
“The cool thing about being at home,” Cora adds, “is you can include family.” Create a big Zoom, cook the same foods, make the same cocktails and party together even if you aren’t physically together. She laughs, “You can even put a bikini on.”
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*Optional: Tequila or spirit of choice
Home Bistro grilled shrimp and veggies meal
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