Okay readers, let’s travel to Gecko’s — a little Mexican restaurant just a short hop off the lake in Kingston, Okla.
Everyone knows I am always on the search for the very best in salsa, and chips.
As a traditional diner, I order my appetizer first, then my entree and hopefully, some room left for dessert.
My visit to Gecko’s was no different, but it should have been.
For the record, the salsa was excellent and a top five contender for the title of best salsa, but i will come back to that.
As a kid growing up with a mother who was also a chef, she had a unique way of ordering from a menu.
She would always order dessert first, because her belief was that dessert was the best part of a meal and if you eat it first then you will always have room for it.
I tell you this little snippet because Gecko’s has a dessert of fried peaches with a Mexican cream sauce that should always start a meal.
A yummy dish of lightly battered sliced peaches deep fried and sprinkled in cinnamon and sugar, served with this rich and creamy sauce.
It is hard to compare the rest of the meal to such a wonderful dessert, but let me try.
For our honorable mentions, our entrees consisted of the chicken chimichanga with rice and beans covered in cheese queso.
It was a very large portion of food, hence the reason dessert should come first.
I had the chicken tacos; shredded grilled chicken and a flour tortilla with fresh pico de gallo, served with Spanish rice and a bowl of frijoles.
It was so tasty you did not want to leave a single bite on your plate and again, dessert first.
There are things I look for when judging the quality of salsa and chips.
First, I like my salsa cold and my chips freshly cooked and warm.
The salsa should be chunky, and the restaurant should offer different heat levels either with their traditional salsa or by having alternatives.
Gecko’s has three to choose from, and while their red and verde salsas were extremely good, it is the fire salsa that made my top five best .
It has a subtle heat on the back of the pallet and slowly warms up as you eat it.
The medley of flavors explode with every bite you take.
The salsa, while good, simply on a chip was even better.
When all was said and done, I was super pleased with my visit and on my next trip, i will remember dessert first.
If you are unable to make it to Gecko’s, here is a scrumptious peach favorite of mine to tie you over till you get to eat at the restaurant.
Oh, and it is easy to do at home.
Jedi Chef Stryker’s Peach crumble recipe:
Filling
2 pounds of fresh peaches cut into bite size 3/4 cup sugar 1 tbsp lemon juice 4 tsp cornstarch 1/2 tsp salt Mix all ingredients, transfer to a square baking dish and set aside
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Toppings
6 tbsp butter 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
Mix toppings until you have large pieces then scatter over baking dish of peaches and bake for approximately 45 min or until center is bubbling
Let cool 20 mins served best with vanilla ice cream
Until next time, I will save ya a seat. Jedi Chef Stryker.