RECIPES FOR CINCO DE MAYO
Cinco de Mayo will be here in 2 hours or earlier for East Coasters. Here are a few recipes you can use for your Celebrations tomorrow.
We will start with Appetizers including Salsas and conclude with Rice, Empanadas and Lemonade.
Mango Salsa which makes use of fresh Mangoes, Limes, Red Bell Peppers and Jalapenos if you wish.
Tacos w. Mango Salsa and Guacamole
Nachos – start with good quality chips, Cheese Sauce with Jalapenos (if desired) and serve with Salsa and Guacamole.
Nachos – Cheese Sauce on the Bottom – Salsa and Guacamole can go on top
Salsa Cruda
Salsa Cruda – incorporates diced fresh Tomatoes, Jalapenos or Serranos, Cilantro, Lime Juice and a little Salt.
Beef Empanadas are more traditionally an Argentine Dish but they can also be found in Mexican Cooking. The Empanada can be filled with whatever you please – diced Steak or Chicken or Ground Beef along with Tomatoes, Onions, Cheese and maybe some Chilies.
Beef Empanadas…made in one of my classes.
Sparkling Lemonade – we first had this in Acapulco and I have been making Lemonade this way every since. It is delicious, refreshing and a great accompaniment to any meal.
Sparkling Lemonade
Categories: Beverages, Condiments, Cooking for Kids, Dinner Ideas, Family Fun, Food Festivals, Holiday Ideas, Holiday Meals, Holiday Tidbits, Main, Mexican, Tropical, Tropical Food Tags: Appetizers, Avocadoes, Chlies, Cinco de Mayo, family dinner, holiday recipes, kids cooking, Limes, Mexican, National Food Days, Rice, Tomatoes
SHARING CULTURES THROUGH HOLIDAYS & FOOD – April 19th – Garlic Day
April 19th is Garlic Day, even though in my opinion Garlic Day should really be in July when the Garlic Harvest is going on full scale in Gilroy, California which is the Garlic Capitol of the World. If you have ever been to the Garlic Festival in Gilroy or even have just been in Gilroy around Harvest Time, you will certainly know that Garlic grows here! When you get out of the car your nostrils are assailed with the aroma of Garlic growing, Garlic Roasting and so on. If you love Garlic, as I do, you will be in Garlic Heaven. If you do not like Garlic as my husband does, then you probably won’t even get out of the car as he doesn’t.
One year I, my Daughter-in-Law Nereida and my Grand Daughter, Nesbyth and her Cousin, Christina all went up to Gilroy for the Garlic Festival. There were the Fire Chefs – BBQ with lots of Garlic; their specialty was big flames to show off their BBQ Skill and their food was very tasty, as you can imagine what with all the garlic that was used. There was Garlic Ice Cream, both in Vanilla and Chocolate Varieties. Of course, we all bought Garlic Shirts and braids of Garlic to take home with us. The Garlic Braid shown in the photo above was recently purchased at Garlic World in Gilroy. Even though Garlic Season isn’t until summer, they still have plenty of garlic on hand to sell.
Back now to Garlic. There are many varieties of Garlic, even though you will probably only find one or two in the Supermarket. It is said that there are over 600 cultivated sub-varieties of garlic in the world. Hard to imagine, but probably true. The sub-varieties were cultivated from about 6 main varieties. Garlic grows in bulbs, which are called heads. There are multiple cloves (individual pieces) in each head of garlic, except for one variety, which is a single clove, although it is still round as is a head of garlic.
There is white garlic, red garlic, purple garlic and green garlic. You can purchase Garlic Chives at the Farmer’s Market. There is even a Garlic Plant called Society Garlic which is really more of a flower with a mild garlic aroma. It is not offensive and you can see it growing along the borders of flower beds. The blossom is usually a light purple or lavender color.
There are small bulbs of garlic and large heads of garlic. One of the larger heads is called Elephant Garlic, and it is said that it is not really a true garlic but is really a shallot, which is also in the onion family. A shallot is smaller than an onion and larger than garlic and is milder than either one. Elephant Garlic is milder than its smaller cousins. It seems that as with Chilies, the larger the garlic head or clove, the more flavor it has.
Garlic is used in cooking in everything from salads to sauces and even desserts, such as Garlic Ice Cream. I love Garlic and cook with it all the time. One thing that I like to do with Garlic is to roast the whole head. This can be done, by wrapping a head (or more) of garlic in foil and then roasting it in the oven for about 45 minutes. The result is that you have creamy garlic cloves (which are easy to remove form their skin) that can be rubbed on a piece of toasted (or not) French Bread or can be used in salads and other delectable dishes.
Garlic is good for healthy blood pressure and it used to be used to keep away ‘vampires’ and other bad spirits. You can even buy garlic pills if you don’t like the taste of this amazing vegetable and want the health advantages it possesses.
Some of my favorite foods that contain garlic are:
Pasta Sauce, Chili, vegetable-garden-chili/, balsamic-vinaigrette/ Salad Dressing
Bruschetta (the chopped Tomato, Basil Salad that is usually served with the small toasted bread slices) (Mexican) mexican-pizza/
Sausage such as Salami, garlic-bread/, Mexican salsa-cruda/, Guacamole
Mafungo – A Puerto Rican dish made with Plantains that are cooked and mashed with Garlic. This dish is the absolute love/hate relationship. I love eating it, but can’t stand the aftertaste that lingers all night.
Try some Garlic in your food today and see how the flavors are enhanced. I think that this year I am going to try growing some Garlic, but I better get to it as pretty soon it will be too late to do so. Look for ‘The Garlic Chronicles’!
Categories: Condiments, Cooking for Everyone, Dinner Ideas, Italian, Main, Mexican, National Food Days Tags: Elephant Garlic, Garlic, Garlic Bread, Gilroy, Mexican, Salad Dressing, Salsa Cruda
MY CULINARY DIARY
Monday, March 19th- Saturday, March 24th
Monday – 3/19 – Cheeseburgers – After all the cooking and food prep yesterday (Lobster Lasagna) we decided to take it easy and make something simple for dinner. This turned out to be Cheeseburgers which really need no elaboration, except that I used the leftover Shrimp Dipping Sauce from yesterday mixed with some Thousand Island that I had. The funny part is that Ev refused to try the Shrimp Dipping Sauce (which he thought he wouldn’t like). He didn’t know that I used that for the Dressing for the Burgers and he really liked it. So much, for pre-judging something before you try it. The Shrimp Dipping Sauce from Sunday was Mayo, Dijon Mustard, Horseradish and a dash of Green Tabasco. It was really pretty good!
Tuesday – 3/20 – French Onion Soup & BAT’s – since it was pretty cool out and I had lots of Onions (I buy the Sweet Onions by the 10lb bag) I decided to make French Onion Soup. Ev wanted BLT’s and I thought that would be a pretty good combination. Instead of BLT’s I made what I call BAT’s. Bacon, Avocado and Tomato Sandwiches which we made on Hamburger Buns.
Wednedsy – 3/21 – Enchilada Casserole + Guacamole and Green Salad – today was my MahJong Afternoon and I wanted to make something simple for dinner. I made Enchiladas a few weeks ago and I can never make a small amount, so after I made what we would need for dinner and maybe a leftover lunch, I used the remaining ingredients to make an Enchilada Casserole. For this I used a 10” Pyrex® baking dish. I placed a small amount of the Enchilada Sauce (homemade) on the bottom and then a layer of Tortillas. Next went some Cheddar/Jack Cheese, sliced Green Onions and Olives and some more Sauce. I layered the Casserole like this and on the top went more Sauce, Cheese, Green Onions and Olives. Then I wrapped it well and froze it.
The Original Enchilada DinnerMexican Rice with Corn and Shredded Carrots
Mexican Rice with Corn and Shredded Carrots
All I had to do for Dinner tonight was to thaw it out along with the remaining Enchilada Sauce which was added to the Casserole before baking. When I came home all I had to do was make some Mexican Rice (takes about 20 minutes), mexican-rice/bake the Casserole and make a Salad and the fresh Guacamole which is really simple to do, if you use your Food Processor. I like the Guacamole chunky so that you can actually taste the Avocado. Dessert was the Chocolate Chip Cookies that I had made that morning. Ev always needs his chocolate so I usually make something that is Chocolate at least once a week.
Thursday – 3/22 – Baby Backs, Baked Beans & Cole Slaw – felt like something meaty tonight so made oven Barbecued Baby Backs, Baked Beans and homemade Cole Slaw. The Baby Backs were dry-rubbed with my special Pork Dry Rub and allowed to marinate in the refrigerator all day. An hour before dinner time, I placed them in a baking dish (bone side down) with about half an inch of water on the bottom and covered them with foil. Placed in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, removed the cover and slathered with BBQ Sauce.
While the Ribs were Baking, I made the Coleslaw, something which is simple to do if you use your Food Processor and the 2mm slicing blade for the cabbage. My coleslaw is much tastier and fresher tasting than any you can buy, even in a delicatessen. I cheated with the beans and used the canned variety. Usually I add some sautéed Onions to them and a little Brown Sugar or Molasses and Lemon Zest, but this time I really did not need to do anything.
Friday – 3/23 – Asian Stir Fry Vegetables with Tofu – after the dinner of ribs last night, I felt like we needed something healthy and fresh tasting, so I decided to make an Asian Stir Fry. For this I used one/half of a Globe Eggplant (I peeled, sliced and salted the whole Eggplant and will use the other half for another dish, probably an Eggplant Dip that we all like), one half pound of brown mushrooms (which I purchased today at the California Mushroom Farm in Ventura – they are open to the public & have really good prices and of course, freshly harvested Mushrooms). In addition I used Sweet Onions, Garlic, Tofu and minced Red Bell Peppers. After the Eggplant had given up some of its liquid (salting globe Eggplant also helps to reduce the bitter taste that the sometimes have), I rinsed it and patted it dry with paper towels. I then cut the slices into cubes. I sautéed the Garlic and sliced Onion and then added the Eggplant. The Tofu was rinsed, dried and cut into cubes also and then added to the Stir Fry. I also added Asparagus tips that had been left over from a previous meal.
For a Sauce, I added some Hoison Sauce, some Lite Soy Sauce and a little Sesame Oil. This was all served with Jasmine Rice. I like Jasmine Rice because it is aromatic (a nice scent) and cooks up very nicely. Somewhat a cross between long-grain (which is usually dry when cooked) and short-grain rice (which is soft and moist when cooked.)
Before making dinner, I also made some Triple Lemon Cookies. This cookies is a nice crisp cookie with lots of lemon flavor. Just the right thing when you want something crisp and flavorful, but not too sweet and gooey. The Cookies were our dessert.
Triple Lemon Cookies
Saturday – 3/24 – Today, I decided to retry the Crab Creole recipe which I am going to do for my PreTeen/Teen Class at Let’s Get Cookin’ in April. I created a variation on the recipe and decided to make it Crab Nachos as I had Tortilla Chips that were begging to be used. Just before taking the Crab Creole out of the oven I sprinkled on some Queso Fresca (Fresh Mexican Cheese). After taking the Crab Creole out of the oven, I surrounded it with the Tortilla Chips. The Nachos were served with the leftover Cole Slaw from Thursday night along with Fresh Strawberries that I purchased at the Farmer’s Market today. Dessert were the Chocolate Chip and Triple Lemon Cookies.
Crab Creole Nachos garnished with Red Bell pepper
After dinner tonight, I made a Batter for Ebelskivers for Breakfast on Sunday Morning. This recipe was given to me by one of my Danish Exchange Students when i was teaching High School. The recipe was originally from his Grandmother. This recipe is different from most of the ones here in that it uses yeast instead of baking powder and therefore needs time to raise up. Thirty minutes would be sufficient, but I prefer to make the batter the night before. You must always allow extra rooms for the raising of the batter or otherwise it will overflow the bowl and make a mess in the refrigerator.
Categories: Baking, Breakfast Ideas, Cooking for Everyone, Dessert Ideas, Dinner Ideas, Leftovers, Main, Mexican, Salads Tags: Apples, Avocado, Bacon, Baked Beans, BBQ Ribs, Cheese, Cheeseburgers, Ebelskivers, Enchiladas, Guacamole, Lemon Cookies, Mexican, Mexican Rice, Onion Soup, stir fry vegetables, Tomato
