Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, and although I have no Hispanic heritage at all, it is still a great excuse to cook a good meal for the family. I’m smack in the middle of the Midwest but we do have a large Hispanic population so I have access to various markets. I also work from home on Mondays so I have a bit more time to do prep, etc. I can’t spend all day cooking, but I can get up for a few minutes and move a pot from one place to another and keep an eye on something simmering, chop an onion, etc.
So, other than the standby Tacos and Fajitas what would be a fun thing to make for my family. I’ve got two boys (older teens) who like things spicy but may not even try it if I tell them that it includes beef tongue, etc. I’ve been to Mexico many times so I also understand that it isn’t all Tex/Mex so that is fine as well. One thing is that I’m not a big fan of Mole so although I won’t rule it out all together, I’ll probably lean to something else.
I did my grocery shopping for the week yesterday and completely blanked on CdM.
If I’d remembered, I think I’d have marinaded some chicken thighs in an achiote and orange juice salsa before grilling over lump charcoal.
Then, probably tacos or perhaps enchiladas.
I would have splurged on a couple limes which are outrageous at the moment.
Instead, it was lamb stew yesterday evening. This would be a cinnamon, thyme, cumin and red wine variety.
I’m making babybacks and brats and Romanian sausage today to eat throughout the week.
We are doing carnitas for dinner tomorrow. Grilled Mexican Street corn for the side and Bohemia for the beer. Fresh corn tortillas from the factory on the next block. Gustatory delight!
I intended to not do Cinco de Mayo. It was on a Monday, there were no parties, blahblahblah.
Only there’s a Taco del Mar near the office, and Friday or Saturday I decided I’d have something from there for lunch on Monday. There was no connection between May the 5th and having quasi-Mexican food. Just happened. I had a chicken enchilada, a carnitas taco (with guacamole and jalapeños and nothing else), rice, and refried beans. If you’ve been to Taco del Mar, you know it’s not really ‘Mexican’, but it’s what passes for Mexican fast food up here.
The SO called as I was driving home. She asked if I wanted fish tacos for dinner. Why not? I’d made some fried catfish Saturday, and there were leftovers. So we had tacos made of corn tortillas (We were out. We’re never out of corn tortillas!), leftover catfish, cabbage, lime juice, sour cream (we don’t have any crema), salsa, and shredded cheese. We had Rosarita refries and tortilla chips on the side. I don’t know if she wanted fish tacos because it was 5 May, or if she wanted to finish off the last fillet of fish and that was a way to stretch it for two people.
When I stopped at the market on the way home from work, other people were buying Mexican food things. The cashier said to me, ‘You’re celebrating Cinco de Mayo! Lots of people are today.’ I said, ‘Eh, we have some leftover fish.’ I told the SO as we were eating, and she said 'We do “Cinco de Mayo” a lot around here. L ’ That reminds me that I’ve had a hankering for chiles relleno. She’s unimpressed by the ones at any of the local restaurants, and she likes the ones I make. I’ll have to think about that. Maybe I could make some machaca and make enchiladas soon. (Or tacos. Either way, the leftovers get rolled up into taquitos and put into the freezer for quick snacks.) And some beans. Only she thinks I’m silly to go to the effort of making refried beans when we can have them out of a can for a dollar, and much quicker. Oh, well. And rice. But remember not to use the HOT tomatoes in it. I forget that some people don’t like things as hot-spicy as I do.
I threw some chicken thighs in a crock pot along with a handful of roasted garlic cloves, a few liberal shakes of cumin and a conservative shake of cayenne pepper, some thinly sliced banana peppers, a few mild teeny red peppers and a diced rib of celery. Glopped a cup of medium heat salsa over the mess and let it cook away for 5 hours on high. I didn’t even need to shred the chicken when it was done, just stirred a few times and it all fell apart into a glorious mess of juicy shredded chicken with few visible veg pieces.
Served on corn tortillas with ripe tomato chunks and plenty of cilantro, with black beans and Mexican rice on the side. It made the whole house smell delightful while it was simmering, and went very well with a pitcher of margaritas.
The wife and I just polished off a huge plate of nachos. Not that crap like you get at a movie. Not a jar of Cheez Whiz in sight. Ground beef sauteed with onions, jalapenos, garlic, chili spices and a can of black beans; good quality corn tortilla chips; cheddar and jack melted over all. Sour cream, salsa, avocado chunks, raw jalapeno, cilantro on top.
But home made ones are so much better. Even taking some drained canned pintos and mashing them up in a pan with some cumin, sauteed onion and/or garlic, some chili powder and some lime juice is head and shoulders above Rosarita’s. And almost as easy.