Sunday, January 24, 2010

Mango Salsa and the Mexican Fiestivities


I have been so slacking! My newest recipe was almost a week ago, so I've decided to finally blog about it while waiting for my jambalaya to cook. We had invited some friends over last weekend with their two kids and I'd been toying around various ideas of what to make all week. The visit was postponed but we ended up with an impromptu gathering, so I went with my original menu plans since I was so excited about it! My plans were to redo a few things that I had made somewhat off course the first time and try out one new recipe. I love Mexican food and can eat it almost every day, so I decided to redo the tacos with avocado salsa, the cheesy chile rice, and try out a mango salsa. Being that the first two items were pre-blog I figured I could loop the recipes in here for you. Enjoy!!

The tacos come from my first issue of Cooking Light. They're delicious, simple, healthy, and inexpensive. More importantly, they're the recipe that started this whole thing! I couldn't believe how simple it was and loved the few tips I learned from it and decided to keep on logging recipes. The cheesy chile rice came quickly after from an older version of "All You" magazine, and the mango salsa was picked (after much deliberation) from You Enjoy My Cookbook. Another recipe from Cap'n Mike! I promise to show others some love as time goes on.....

I originally had made the tacos with chicken since the recipe declared it an acceptable substitution, but this time I used steak as was inteded. I also bought some medium sized shrimp and had some chicken short cuts on hand for a third protein. I know, I know... short cuts in a recipe blog?! Well, they're convenient and taste good and I threw it in as a last minute "I might not have enough meat" moment and was glad that I did! Ok, this is my issue, not yours... sheepish moment over.....

I started out by preparing the salsas earlier in the afternoon. It was just as easy to make two different salsas as it is to make one! They pretty much have the same base ingredients and all of the items compliment each other so I could use the same cutting board & knife. I kept them in the fridge and brought them out about 30 minutes before serving.

Right before everyone arrived, I rubbed the sirloin with spices and marinated it with the juice from one lime. Then I peeled and deveined the shrimp and tossed them with some paprika, cumin, garlic, salt, & pepper. Once it was time to prepare everything, I pulled out my trusty double burner flattop pan. I love this pan!!! It works for so many types of things- pancakes, bacon, burgers, fajitas, and for cooking two types of meat at the same time! I seared the steak and sliced against the grain, serving with a little pink in the middle. I sauteed up the shrimp, heated the chicken, and put them on a platter.

What I love most about these tacos is that it turned me on to corn tortillas. I never really liked them, but always felt like I should. This method calls to place the tortillas over an open flame for 10 seconds on each side. It really gives the tortillas a nice texture. As a bonus, they're a little thicker than flour tortillas and can really hold up to whatever you put in them. They're quickly becoming my favorite way to eat tacos.

Finally, I wanted to serve an awesome side dish and decided to do the cheesy chile rice again. The first time that I made this I didn't have scallions, which is an ingredient, and left them out. It was definitely missing something. Well, that something was scallions!! I made the rice again this time, using brown rice instead of white. I mixed the rice with sour cream, cheese, diced green chilis, scallions, salt, and pepper, topped it with parmesan cheese, and baked in the oven. Wow!!! So amazing, Creamy, cheesy.... loved it. And I couldn't tell that the rice was brown versus white.

Once everything was out, my table looked so pretty! The taco presentation was beautiful. The salsas were so colorful and I put out shredded cheese, tomato salsa, sour cream, and cabbage for those who wanted it. The avocado salsa is fantastic and goes really well with the lime marinade in the steak. It really works and has tons of flavor and great textures. The shrimp tacos were amazing with the mango salsa! It was a little heavy on the onions, but so delicious.

I love the taco options and will be fine tuning the salsas to create something perfect. Without a doubt I'll be making this again and again and again.

Tacos with Avocado Pico De Gallo- Cooking Light Magazine
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1932636

Mango Salsa- "You Enjoy My Cookbook- Cap'n Mike"
1 ripe mango
1/2 small red onion
1 jalepeno
1 red hot pepper
2 cloves garlic
Cilantro (leaves from a few stalks)

Cut flesh from mango pit. Peel the mango skin and cube to 1/2 inch pieces. Then, remove tips, stems, & seeds from peppers. Chop the peppers, onions, and garlic coarsly.
Add mango, peppers, onion, garlic, cilantro and a pinch of salt to food processer and pulse to desired consistancy.

2 comments:

  1. Can you heat flour tortillas over a flame like you do for corn tortillas? The mango salsa sounds delicious as did your whole mexican feast! We used to buy fresh green chiles 100 lbs at a time when we lived in AZ; we'd have them roasted and the freeze them for use throughout the whole year. Sooo good!

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  2. I think you could probablt heat flour tortillas the same way, but cook them for a little less time. Good call!

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