On October 23rd, I threw my boyfriend a big Mexican fiesta birthday party with a dozen of his closest friends. Given that this man has done so much for me and is so special to me, I wanted to make everyone an unforgettable meal, complete with gluten-free chocolate birthday cake! Some of you asked for the recipes so here they are:
Homemade Mango Salsa
Ingredients:
1 red pepper, roasted,peeled and diced
1 mango, peeled and diced
1 small orange,peeled and diced
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tsp jalepeno pepper,chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lime, juiced
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
In a small bowl, add the mango, red pepper, oranges, onions, cilantro, jalapeno peppers, olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. Mix and serve.
The Perfect Guacamole
Ingredients
- 2 ripe avocados
- 1/2 red onion, minced (about 1/2 cup)
- 1-2 serrano chiles, stems and seeds removed, minced
- 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of fresh lime or lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- A dash of freshly grated black pepper
- 1/2 ripe tomato, seeds and pulp removed, chopped
Garnish with red radishes or jicama. Serve with tortilla chips.
Method
1 Cut avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avacado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl. (See How to Cut and Peel an Avocado.)
2 Using a fork, mash the avocado. Add the chopped onion, cilantro, lime or lemon, salt and pepper and mash some more. Chili peppers vary individually in their hotness. So, start with a half of one chili pepper and add to the guacamole to your desired degree of hotness. Be careful handling the peppers; wash your hands thoroughly after handling and do not touch your eyes or the area near your eyes with your hands for several hours.
Keep the tomatoes separate until ready to serve.
Remember that much of this is done to taste because of the variability in the fresh ingredients. Start with this recipe and adjust to your taste.
3 Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air reaching it. Refrigerate until ready.
4 Just before serving, add the chopped tomato to the guacamole and mix.
Serves 2-4.
Authentic Mole Chicken (by far the hardest thing I’ve ever made)
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp. vegetable oil shopping list
- 8 chicken thighs (or use chicken pieces like legs) shopping list
- 1 onion, chopped shopping list
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced shopping list
- 1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced shopping list
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped shopping list
- 2 tbsp. chili powder shopping list
- 2 tsp. ground cumin shopping list
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon shopping list
- 1 can(14 oz.) fire roasted tomatoes, undrained shopping list
- 1/4 cup raisins shopping list
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped (these are sold in small cans in every grocery store in a Mexican area) shopping list
- 1 cup chicken broth shopping list
- 1 cup dark Mexican beer, or any dark beer would be fine shopping list
- 2 tbsp. peanut butter shopping list
- 2 tbsp. sugar shopping list
- 1 tsp. salt shopping list
- 2 squares (1oz. each) unsweetend chocolate (for baking), chopped shopping list
How to make it
- Cook chicken and set aside.
- In a large skillet, sautee onion, bell pepper, poblano pepper and garlic. Cook and stir until veggies are soft and slightly caramelized. Stir in chili powder, cumin and cinnamon and cook 3 minutes longer.
- Add tomatoes, raisins, chipotle peppers, chicken broth, beer, peanut butter, sugar and salt. Bring to a simmer and cook 20 minutes, stirring often.
- Pour the sauce into a blender or food processor and add chocolate. Cover and blend until smooth.
Fresh Mexican Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
- 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped
- 1 tomato, seeded and chopped
- 1 cube chicken bouillon
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 clove garlic, halved
Directions
- In a medium sauce pan, cook rice in oil over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Pour in chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Stir in onion, green pepper, jalapeno, and diced tomato. Season with bouillon cube, salt and pepper, cumin, cilantro, and garlic. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes.
