Tuesday, 7 May 2013

Cinco de Mayo

With the fabulous weather we've been having, I couldn't resist cooking up a feast in celebration of Cinco de Mayo for some of my favourite dinner guests.  It was a bit of a mish mash of my own creations and recipes from various cookbooks, but everyone seemed to enjoy it and it made for one heck of a fun evening.  I've included the recipes below for your tastebuds' pleasure.  Enjoy!
 
To Start - Chips and Homemade Salsa
  • Tortilla chips care of Tostitos (restaurant style).  Oh how I love their salty goodness!
  • Sour cream...absolute necessity
  • Homemade salsa
I completely made up the salsa recipe and I wasn't sure if it was going to be a hit or a flop, but luckily it was a hit!  I added all of the following to a bowl and mixed gently to let the flavours combine:
  • 5 roma tomatoes, diced small
  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1/4 of a jalapeno, minced (seeds removed)
  • 2 thin slices of red onion, minced
  • splash of olive oil
  • 1 handful of cilantro leaves, chopped
  • couple grinds of pepper
  • couple dashes of salt
  • juice from half a lime
Just what the doctor ordered!
 
Main - Pescado Blanco Fish Tacos with Corn and Black Bean Salad

I loved the plethora of colours on the table and couldn't resist taking a photo as I was prepping everything.

Corn and Black Bean Salad from Food to Live By.
 
I love this recipe and love this cookbook!  The recipes are homey, healthy and easy to make.  I'd definitely recommend picking up a copy if you don't have it already.  If you do have it, you'll find this recipe on page 237.  If you don't, I've included my version of it below:
 
Ingredients
  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed well
  • corn kernels from one cob of corn, uncooked
  • 2-3 roma tomatoes, diced relatively small
  • 1/2 large red onion, diced small
  • handful of parsley leaves, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 solid glug of olive oil
  • 3-4 good dashes of chili powder
  • 1-2 dashes of cumin
  • couple dashes of salt
  • 3-4 grinds of black pepper
Add all of the solid ingredients, excluding the garlic, in a bowl and mix gently.  Whisk all of the remaining ingredients together, pour over the salad and mix gently to coat.  Fabulous for picnics or BBQs.


Up next: Pescado Blanco Fish Tacos found on page 108 of the oh so fabulous Whitewater Cooks with Friends.  I've also included my version below, for your entertainment.  If you're a fan of fish tacos, I'd definitely recommend adding this version to your repertoire!

Topping #1 - 1/4 of a head of red cabbage, sliced thin.

Topping #2 - the most delicious citrusy guacamole ever!  This tasted great on the fish tacos, but I also plan on putting it out instead of plain guacamole in the future.
 
Ingredients
  • 3 oranges, peeled and diced 
  • 2 avocadoes, diced relatively small
  • 1 solid handful of cilantro leaves, chopped
  • 1/2 jalapeno, minced
  • 2-3 slices of red onion, minced
  • couple dashes of salt
Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and mix gently.

Cinco de Mayo dinner!  To complete the pescado blanco fish tacos, cut 1.5 pounds of red snapper (or any solid white fish) into small strips.  Heat olive oil in a pan, then add the fish and cook approximately 5-6 minutes until done.  To assemble the tacos place red cabbage on a warm tortilla, top with fish, citrusy guacamole and a smidge of sour cream.  Delicious...if I do say so myself!
 
The portions above make enough for approximately 12 tacos (6 people).
 
Note: in the official recipe they suggest placing the corn tortillas into tinfoil and then warming them in the oven for 15 minutes.  My apartment was scorching, so I didn't feel this was necessary.  I learned the hard way that cold corn tortillas disintegrate but warm tortillas stay true to form!  However, I quickly discovered that if you pop them in the microwave (uncovered) for 30-40 seconds it works just as well.
 
Dessert!  Snickerdoodle care of my fabulous dinner guests.  Greatest name ever for a cookie!
 
But the best part of dinner?  My favourite dinner guest EVER!!!  This handsome fellow will always have a big part of my heart...partially due to his boyish good looks, but mainly due to the fact that he is absolutely hilarious!  You may noticed that the photos are blurry...this is partially due to the fact that he never sits still (no wonder toddlers need naps!) and partially due to the fact that I was generally laughing so hard at him that I couldn't keep my hands still!  Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!



 

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