Flexible, fun and festive options for Cinco de Mayo food and drink!
Hands down the best Mexican taco recipe I have ever made is something I made years ago for Cinco de Mayo that I saw on the Today show. This is it and everyone ALWAYS loves it … this year we are going to make it with ground beef instead of pork… just to do something different and because we happen to have a lot of ground beef and no pork …so I’ll tell you how that turns out, BUT IN THE MEANTIME, for tomorrow’s Cinco de Mayo, perhaps the flexibility of quesadilla will work best for those with enough stuff stocked to make it happen without having to make a trip to the grocery store.
Now recently I created my very BEST beef quesadilla… the notable ingredient that made it a winner was prepackaged pot roast from Costco… not impressive AT ALL on its own as a pot roast, but using the meat for a quesadilla was magnificent…melted together with a Mexican blend of cheese, black olives, jalapenos, onions, fresh cilantro and topped with grilled green peppers and onions, fresh avocadoes and salsa… it was, like I said, the best ever beef quesadilla to come out of my kitchen. I brought some white rice to life with canned black beans, canned diced tomatoes, fresh lime juice, salt, and pepper. Corn and/or red peppers would be a good addition, too… you can add in or leave out a variety of items you already have on hand for both of these festive creations. So have fun fine tuning to your taste, daring to combine ingredients you otherwise may not have and enjoy the flexibility of not following a recipe and using what you can find in your kitchen!
In case you don’t know how to make a quesadilla… it is pretty easy. You need flour tortilla,shredded cheese, cooked meat and/or refried beans, and any of the potential ingredients I mentioned above… open the tortilla, layer your ingredients on one side, fold the other side over and either fry (and flipping once), bake or use a sandwich grill to warm it all together, melting the cheese and just slightly browning the outside of the tortilla. Once it’s done, remove it from the heat to slightly cool for a few minutes and slice it into triangles… easiest way is to cut it in half and then cut the halves in half. Top it with sour cream, salsa, and whatever else you want and enjoy!
As for drinks, Mexican beer and margaritas are always a good adult choice for Cinco de Mayo. Tomorrow we are going to break out some tequila for fresh Paloma cocktails! Basically, it’s a shot of tequila, an oz.of simple syrup ( which is just equal parts sugar and water melted together) and fresh grapefruit and lime juices…rim the glass with salt if you wish. There are many variations and can be made with lemon/ lime or grapefruit soda if you don’t have fresh grapefruit and also with club soda… the important thing you MUST have though is what?… TEQUILA!!! OF COURSE!!