It’s that time of the year again—the time when I cook for 150 people who pass through my family’s house over the course of the afternoon. Every year I choose a theme and make hors d’oeuvres, some over-the-top main courses, desserts, snacks and drinks. This year, in honour of my parents going to Arizona for a couple months after Christmas, the theme is tex-mex. Honestly, it’s mostly
because my mom loves guacamole and margaritas and who am I to deny her that—and on Christmas, no less?
This year’s menu:
-Nachos with chicken, green and red peppers, pickled jalapenos and pico de gallo salsa
-Mom’s favourite guacamole with guajillo grapefruit salsa on the side
-Stuffed jalapeno peppers with rice, grilled mushrooms, avocado, kale and lime
Tacos:
-Fish tacos with sweet and salty pickled cabbage, chilies and carrots with cilantro
-Tequila-chipotle chicken tacos with guajillo salsa
-Pulled beef tacos with crema and salsa verde
-Grilled mushrooms tacos with avocado, kale and lime
Mains:
-Braised Tequila-chipotle chicken on a bed of Mexican rice with whole black beans and aioli crema
-White shrimp with banana and toasted almonds in agua diabla (spicy chili pepper sauce)
-Roasted squash halves stuffed with apple pico de gallo, sherry and toasted pecans
Dessert:
-Salted caramel flan with crunchy vanilla salt and glazed cherries
-Baked bunuelos with cinnamon and honey
-Exotic fruit skewers: pineapple, melons, mango, grapefruit, oranges, grapes with salt and chili powder
-Pineapple-ginger and grapefruit meringues
-Mexican double chocolate cookies
To drink:
-Mexican hot chocolate with cinnamon
-Margaritas with basil-salt rims
Boy I hate supreming citrus fruit. But I spent a bunch of time doing that today. What else are you going to do on Boxing Day but supreme fruit? In Newfoundland none of the stores are open, so even if I did want to shop, I couldn’t.
I also made a giant batch of those double chocolate cookies, made the glazed cherries and pickled two cabbages, a bunch of jalapenos and some shallots. Turns out Newfoundland doesn’t have a whole lot of corn tortillas kicking around, so tomorrow will tell if the tacos can go ahead as planned…and the bunuelos. It’ll also tell if I can make a flan. It’s been awhile. It’s probably like riding a bike…
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