Batalla de Puebla

Hello hello blogosphere. I'm here to deliver the much anticipated blog post about the most celebrated Mexican holiday in the United States--notice I didn't say America because I feel strongly against the definition of a country with the name of a continent. Ironically, it is also the least celebrated holiday in Mexico.

That's right folks, 5 de Mayo is not a work holiday in Mexico, it is not a lets-wear-sombreros-and-drink-margaritas day, and it most certainly not our 4th of July. What it is, is a day to commemorate the first battle in which Mexico defeated France; and a day of hope for the Mexican military forces. Go nuts with the Wikipedia article here.

That said, I have to admit that this holiday is a great opportunity to showcase Mexican gastronomy. It is great motivation for any passionate foodie--and even more for us Mexicans--to put together a gourmet meal. And this year was no exception: I'm proud to say (or write) that for the first time ever, I made a batch of traditional green salsa from scratch.

You may be laughing at the fact that my super proud moment consisted of throwing some ingredients into a blender and simmering the mixture for a while, but salsa is everywhere in Mexican cuisine. It is in enchiladas and chilaquiles, and huevos rancheros and enfrijoladas; atop tacos and molletes, and sopes and fajitas. It is a great dressing for meat and an even better dip for totopos (tortilla chips). If you have salsa, you're all set.

Here my is meal for my cinco de mayo: marinated fajitas, mango pico de gallo, loaded guacamole Enjoy!

Marinated Chicken Fajitas with Lime (adapted from Martha Stewart)
Active time: 20 minutes. Total time: 30 minutes + marinating.
Makes about 6 servings.

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch thick slices
• 2 large bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch thick strips
• 1 large white onion, halved and sliced lengthwise

1. In a large bowl, whisk 3 tablespoons olive oil, garlic salt and chili powder in a large bowl. Add chicken, bell peppers and onion. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Place in a Ziploc bag and let stand in the refrigerator for at least one hour and up to four hours. 
2. Heat remaining olive oil over medium high heat in a large saucepan or wok. Add chicken and vegetables and cook, flipping once or twice, until chicken is done, about 5 minutes. Serve hot with tortillas, guac and salsa.

Sunday.

Raise your hand if you hate Sunday nights.

Yup, my hand is close to the ceiling; my arm is shooting straight up. I hate Sunday nights. Part of it is for the simple reason that the weekend is over and work usually looms in the horizon (at least during the school year), but another part of why I hate this night is because I always have a fight with my pillow.

Throughout the day I'm usually tired. I can't wait to crawl into bed as early as possible. But come Sunday night I'm lying in bed, eyes wide open and mind thinking working at full speed. And then it just becomes a full-on battle with my pillow: I turn it over more than fifty times until I finally give up and throw it to the side. Then I start fighting with my covers. It's a mess and in the end I'm sprawled face up staring at the green light from the smoke detector of my ceiling.

So yeah, that's another reason why I hate Sunday nights. But then again, it's almost summer, which means that soon Sunday night should feel just like any other night. 

Anyways I decided to make cupcakes again yesterday. Why? Because I didn't want to study for my exams and I was planning a Cinco de Mayo gathering. My mini-party didn't really go as planned but the cupcakes came out great. 

They're margarita cupcakes, but honestly they taste like a tangier version of key lime pie. Both the cake and the frosting have tequila, but it's just the right amount. They have just a slight trace of it and it makes the other flavors (lime, lime, lime) pop. Enjoy!

Margarita Cupcakes (adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)
Active time: 25 minutes. Total time: 50 minutes + cooling
Makes 16 cupcakes

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• Zest and juice of 1½ limes
• 4 tablespoons tequila
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Line two cupcake tins with 16 liners (I used one 12-cup and one 6-cup, but otherwise distribute evenly) and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. 
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light anf fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each
4. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add lime zest, juice, 2 tablespoons tequila and vanilla extract.  Beat on low speed until combined. Mixture might look curdles, but it's normal. Add dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk in two batches. Mix until incorporated.
5. Divide batter among prepared baking tins. Bake cupcakes for about 25 minutes or until slightly golden and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer tins to cooling rack and allow cupcakes to cool for 10 minutes. 
6. Transfer cupcakes to rack. Brush cupcake tops with remaining tequila and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Tequila-Lime Frsoting (adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)

Active time: 10 minutes. Total time: 15 minutes.

Makes enough for 16 cupcakes.

• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2¾ cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 2 tablespoons tequila
• Pinch of coarse salt

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip butter on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low and gradually add powdered sugar, mixing until well incorporated. Mix on medium speed for 30 more seconds.
2. Add lime juice, tequila and salt and mix on medium-high speed until fluffy. If frosting is too soft, add additional sugar, one spoonful at a time. Frost cupcakes and garnish with lime zest and sprinkles.

Sopes, Guacamole y Mas

Like I said before, my roommate and I had a Cinco de Mayo party. It was awesome, but the cooking took quite some time and a lot work. When I decided to make an array of Mexican dishes to introduce my friends to the reality of Mexican food I did not realize how time consuming it was going to be. Needless to say, I was freaking out before the party. But in the end everything turned out great... and everybody loved the guac!








I made quesadillas--the real way, with just cheese--, sopes, guacamole, pico de gallo, tortilla chips, and margarita cupcakes. Here are my notes on each of the dishes.

• Quesadillas were made with fresh tortillas with the Maseca I had from before and, unfortunately, a blend of shredded cheese (due to the lack of real Mexican cheese in Boston). 
• Sopes, a traditional Mexican dish, consist of a tortilla-dough base filled with beans and topped with cheese, cream, lettuce, salsa, etc. I only did the cheese topping because everything else would have been messy, but the best way to have them is with everything!
• The guacamole however was the show stealer. I got many compliments on it. It was a mixture of several recipes, including some left over Trader Joe's pre-made guac. 
• Pico de gallo, as always, was delicious and easy to make.

• The tortilla chips were of two kinds: home-made and store bought. Needless to say, I prefer home made, but I did not have enough time to make more.

• And for dessert, margarita cupcakes. I must say I am not a big fan of cupcakes. I do not know why, but they never really amaze me, so I must confess that I have no idea how they tasted. They seemed to be a crowd pleaser though.

Sopes

• 2 cups Maseca (instant tortilla dough)
• 1 1/4 cups water plus extra for moistening dough
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Vegetable oil, enough to fill a large sauce pan about one inch
• 1 can refried beans
• Shredded cheese (Manchego would be ideal, but mozzarella is fine)

1. Preaheat oven to 200 F.
2. Combine Maseca, water and salt in a large bowl. Using your hands, knead dough until it is formed, adding more water if necessary to keep it moist. You want the dough to be moist, but not wet. Cover dough with damp towel to keep moisture in.
3. Heat a pan over medium-high heat. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place between two pieces of plastic wrap. Flatten into discs, less than 1/4 inch thick, about 1 cm.
4. Place discs on pan and cook for one minute. Flip and cook about 1-2 more minutes. Take each disc and carefully pinch the sides to create border, keep in mind that discs will be hot. Set aside and repeat with rest of the dough.
5. Heat oil in saucepan over medium high heat. Once hot, fry sopes until golden, about 3-5 minutes. Drain sopes on paper towels.
6. Heat refried beans over low heat in a small pot. Spread a thin layer of beans on each sope, staying inside the border. Sprinkle shredded cheese over each sope and place on rimmed baking sheet. 
7. Turn oven off and place sopes inside to keep warm until served.

Guacamole (adapted from Skinny Guacamole)

• 2 packs ready made Trader Joe's guacamole
• 2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1 13 frozen peas, thawed and pureed
• 1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (keep the seeds if you want it more spicy)
• 6 ripe avocados
• Juice of 4 large limes
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• S & P

1. Combine first five ingredients in a large bowl until well blended. Add avocados and blend while mashing. Add lime juice, one at a time, and stir to combine. Add cilantro leaves and mix in carefully. Season with S & P.

Margarita Cupcakes (adapted from Tablespoon)

• 1/2  cups crushed pretzels
• 1/4  cup butter, melted
• 2  tablespoons sugar
• 1  box Betty Crocker SuperMoist white cake mix
• 1 1/4 cup nonalcoholic margarita mix
• 1/3  cup vegetable oil
• 4  teaspoons grated lime peel
• 4  egg whites
• 2  containers (6 oz each) Yoplait Light Fat Free key lime yogurt
• 1 1/2  cups frozen whipped topping thawed

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Line 24 baking cups with cupcake liners (if you only have a 12-cupcake pan, use it twice, keeping batter in refrigerator while first batch bakes). 
2. In a small bowl, combine crushed pretzels, butter, and sugar until blended. Spoon 1//2 teaspoon mixture into each muffin cup.
3. In a large bowl, beat cake mix, margarita mix, oil 2 teaspoons lime peel, and egg whites until combined, scraping bowl to incorporate. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling about 2/3 of the way.
4. Bake cupcakes fro 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cupcakes completely.
5. In a medium bowl, combine whipped topping, yogurt, and 2 teaspoons lime peel. Whip until soft peaks form. Frost cupcakes and serve.

And last but not least, I made Mexican-colored jelly shots with a recipe from Jelly Shot Test Kitchen. This blogs is amazing! If you have not visited it yet, do so now; believe me, you will not regret it.

Sneak Peek

So my roommate and I are having a Cinco de Mayo/End of the Semester party tomorrow (cue excitement). I decided to make actual Mexican dishes (petit-sized) and other goodies. Anyways, I have started making some of the treats since I won't have that much time tomorrow--being the last day of classes and all.

Here is a preview of what will be completed and served tomorrow.

But before that I also wanted to explain that Cinco de Mayo in the US and in Mexico is a completely different holiday. The only "holiday" detail I can remember about Cinco en Mexico is not having classes that day. Other than that, its just another ordinary day.

For all of you who don't know why the holiday takes place, it is done to commemorate the victory of the Mexican army over the French in Puebla (I guess maybe if I go to puebla on the fifth of May I might encounter a more similar holiday celebration).

Also, I will be posting the finished product and recipes at the end of the week (probably), so stay tuned!