Mexico
Cinco de Mayo, Mexico!

Cinco de Mayo, Mexico!

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Hi! And Happy Cinco de Mayo, Mexico!

Are you having tacos and margarita’s today? 

What is Cinco de Mayo?
Cinco de Mayo is May 5th every year and is observed to commemorate the Mexican’s army’s unlikely victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. (Thanks Wikipedia!)
 
What’s the best thing about Mexico in my opinion?
I’ve never been to Mexico before, so this opinion is based on what I have had as a Canadian eating Mexican in Canada; the best thing I love about Mexico, is avocados!! Avocado’s are one of my favourite things to eat and I have already had some for lunch today! Check out a recent post of mine on “How to cut an avocado!”
 
Want to cook Mexican and need a good cookbook or a couple recipes?

In April I purchased this cookbook called Mexico: The Cookbook (check it out here!) It truly is the bible of authentic Mexican cooking with over 650 recipes! From street foods, to enchiladas, to grasshopper tacos (yes you read that correctly!) to salsas, moles and guacamole; the recipes offer fresh flavours and colourful presentations. If you are a Mexican cuisine fan and you love cooking and experimenting with new ingredients then I highly recommend this book! So far I have only tried one recipe and it is incredible! It was also really easy to pull together and is a great one-pot meal that has a comfort food feeling to it. 

 

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Drunken Chicken

From the Coahuila region
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings 8

Ingredients

  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 4 Tbsp cooking oil
  • 1 whole chicken
  • 4 cloves garlic chopped
  • 2 sprig parsley chopped
  • 1 cup chopped chorizo
  • 1 cup chopped ham
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp ground clove
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup slivered almonds
  • sea salt

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a large saucepan.
  2. Quarter the chicken and add the pieces, the tomatoes, garlic and parsley to the hot pan. Cook over medium heat, turning the chicken pieces occasionally, for 10-15 minutes.
  3. Add the chorizo and ham and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
  4. Add the wine and cook until the wine has mostly evaporated.
  5. Add the sugar, spices, raisins, almonds and salt.
  6. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and liquid has thickened.
  7. Serve with rice.

Recipe Notes

Things I changed:
The recipe called for fresh tomatoes and then you puree them. I opted for canned and didn't puree.
The recipe called for corn oil - I used olive oil.
I doubled the amount of garlic, pepper, clove, cinnamon and nutmeg because I love all those flavours!
The recipe called for 2 cups of wine - I accidentally drank the other cup and only added one. I feel the chicken was still drunken chicken with one cup. 😉

Adapted from Mexico: The Cookbook

Last weekend I had my parents over for some smoked ribs and as a side I served a Mexican black bean and corn salad. It was excellent and I am also eating it everyday this week for lunch with some diced chicken breast! 
Mexico
 
 
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Mexican Black Bean and Corn Salad

Serve as a side or eat as a meal!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • Can of black beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 1/2 cup of corn I used frozen - you could use fresh, but boil it first
  • 1 red bell pepper chopped
  • 1/2 purple onion chopped
  • Some parsley chopped (most call for cilantro, but I hate it! Use what you want)
  • 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp. lime juice
  • 2 Tbsp. honey
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 chipolte peppers in adobo sauce comes in a can
  • 1 or 2 avocados chopped

Instructions

  1. Place the first 5 ingredients in a bowl and stir.
  2. In a food processor or mini blender, process the next 9 ingredients, until smooth.
  3. Pour the dressing over your salad. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour - overnight is better.
  4. Before serving, add cut up avocado and toss salad gently.

Recipe Notes

Adapted from A mix of about 6-8 recipes online

Would you rather not cook and instead go out for Mexican?
If you aren’t into cooking and would rather go out for some authentic Mexican, check out these places!
 
My two favourite places to get my Mexican on are: 
Tres Carnales (only in Edmonton, Alberta) – the BEST tacos in Canada (my opinion)
Mucho Burrito – really good, fast food Mexican
 
Other close contenders: 
Taco del Mar
Julio’s Barrio (Alberta Only)
 
Drinks?!
Shots of tequila anyone? Or tame it down a little with a margarita!
A Margarita consists of tequila (liquor made from the blue agave plant), lime juice, triple sec (orange liqueur like this one I made!) all mixed into a sea salt rimmed glass. 
 
Not into the hard stuff? Try a Mexican Cervesa!
Corona
Dos Equis
Sol
  
Are you celebrating Cinco de Mayo? Are you cooking or going out for Mexican? Are you celebrating with a drink?

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