While my husband and I didn't have the chance to celebrate Cinco De Mayo this past Tuesday, we did get the chance … yesterday. We were only a few days late…
For our unofficial Cinco De Mayo, Justin made fajitas, guacamole, salsa, and Brazilian limeade! Yum! :) Don't you wish you had been here to have dinner with us? He would have made more (think black beans and rice), but since he was cooking for just the two of us and it was already 8PM, he decided to keep it simple.
We began with Deborah Schneider's guacamole recipe. It seemed simple enough and we knew we'd be able to snack on it with some delicious tortilla chips while Justin finished making the fajitas. For someone who has grown up on American style Mexican food, you would think I would be comfortable with spice. Not so! Spice and I simply do not get along! Needless to say, I was a bit concerned about the guacamole recipe when I saw that it included chile peppers and onions. When Justin typically makes me guacamole, I make him stick to avocado, tomato, and lime juice which I suppose is more of a fruity mush then legitimate guacamole. Whatever. I eat it. :) I guess, given the recipe I'm comfortable with, you can understand my apprehension of adding the additional onion and chile pepper to the mixture. Knowing how I feel about spice and being a super awesome husband, Justin de-seeded the chile peppers to try and reduce the level of spice for me without straying too far from the recipe altogether. And guess what? YUM! While I do love my avocado-tomato-lime mush, I found Schneider's recipe to be fantastic! It had just a little bit of heat (very little, fyi), a little lime juice, and tons of flavor! It was by far one of the best guacamole recipes I have ever tasted! :)
Because you can't base your opinion on a book with just one recipe, at the same time as we were snacking on guacamole and chips, Justin started making the Salsa Quemada. Based on the information provided by the author for this recipe, it looked like a basic salsa and one that would go fantastically with just about anything. As it turns out though, this recipe was not quite what we were expecting. Justin pulled the simmering salsa off of the stove to try it and we found ourselves not only shocked by the intensity of the flavor, but also by the spice. I'm comfortable and familiar with a base tomato flavor and just a bit of spice, but this recipe was not that…
Rather than give up on the book entirely, I began looking through the introduction of the book where the authoress writes about how to tone down the spice of a salsa and shares information on the different ingredients she uses throughout the book. As it turns out, she offers tons of strategies for whatever kind of salsa you hope to achieve. She stresses that her book Salsas and Moles is only an introduction to salsa and mole making. She anticipates that cooks will become so comfortable with the ingredients that, eventually, they can transform her recipes into something more personal that is their own.
Having only made 2 recipes so far and only being truly impressed with one, I look forward to more kitchen experiments in the future where we can transform the salsas she recommends into something a bit more palatable for me.
On the other hand, Justin's fajitas and Brazilian limeade are out of this world! I think I would be more than happy to celebrate Cinco De Mayo again! And again and again and again …
I know I'm a bit late, but did you do anything fun for Cinco De Mayo? Did you drink margaritas and party all night long? What about cooking a fantastic Mexican meal at home? Share! I'd love to hear!
If you are interested, you can buy Salsas and Moles here.
* I received the book Salsas and Moles for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
