Feliz cinco de mayo!

Well, today is the 6th, but yesterday we celebrated Mexican heritage the best way we know how - with margaritas and fajitas! And chips, salsa, and guacamole, too. Here are some of the recipes we used:

Flour tortillas

• 3 cups unbleached flour
  2 tsp. baking powder
  1 tsp. salt
  4-6 tbsp vegetable shortening or lard, For a lower fat version use 4 Tbsp lowfat margarine
  ~1.25 cups warm water

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl, then cut in the shortening/lard/margarine (I used a combination of half lard, half shortening). Next add the warm water a little at a time until your dough is soft but not sticky.
Knead the dough for a few minutes, then form 12 small dough balls and let them rest for at least 10 minutes.
Heat a cast iron pan (I used our griddle) over medium high heat - you'll want it evenly hot before you cook the tortillas. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin (a pelote would be more authentic), adding flour when needed to keep it from sticking, and lifting and flipping every so often. Roll them out to very thin - that's the best way I can describe this - then lay them, one at a time, on the hot griddle, waiting only seconds before flipping, and again before removing. They are ready when flecks of brown begin to appear on the tops of bubbles. Wrap in a towel to keep warm and moist and serve warm. Reheat in oven if necessary. Yum!

To make tortilla chips I made a second batch of tortillas, then cut them into wedges and lay them out on a cookie sheet, sprinkled with salt and cumin, then baked at 350 for about 5 minutes per side (total 10 minutes per batch). Yum again!

Guacamole in our house is merely mashed avocados mixed with a dash of garlic, a pinch of salt, and the juice of about half a lime.

Grilled Chicken Fajitas

• 1.5 lbs. chicken breasts, rinsed and trimmed of fat
  3 Limes - juiced
  2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  1 tbsp. vinegar (white wine or apple cider)
  2 tbsp. olive oil
  1 tsp. oregano
  1/2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
  1/2 tsp. salt

Combine lime juice, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, oil, oregano, pepper and salt in a glass bowl. Add chicken and marinate, covered, for 2 hours, turning twice.
Remove from marinade and grill over hot coals, 4 inches from the heat for about 12-15 minutes, turning once and basting with marinade until chicken is cooked through. Do not over cook.
Remove chicken to a cutting board and allow to stand for ~5 minutes before slicing into strips.

In our house we top fajita with guacamole, sour cream, tomatoes, fresh cilantro and/or salsa, and a mixture of cheeses. Yum yum yum!

And last, but very definitely not least, Traditional Margaritas!

• 3 tbsp. tequila
• 1 1/2 tbsp. triple sec
• 1 1/2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
• dash of sugar
• Ice, lime wedge, and salt

This is pretty straight forward, but here are some tips:  to more efficiently extract juice from a lime, heat it for about 10 seconds in the microwave before cutting and squeezing.  To dissolve the sugar add it to the lime juice while it is still a tad warm - if it isn't a tad warm and the sugar won't dissolve, microwave it for a few second then stir.  Use a lime wedge to moisten the edge of the glass then tip it upside down in a plate of Kosher salt to coat the rim.  Coat the rim before filling the glass, of course - if you've mixed up those two steps you've probably had too many already!

Thai curried chicken

This is a recipe I got from my Healthy Cooking magazine (love that magazine!) a while back and have saved for the kind of night when a warm crock pot recipe was warranted.  Tonight was that night - it's chilly, we're all tired, and I feel like I'm coming down with a cold.  Unfortunately, this dish lacked the kick I was hoping for.  The only real alteration I made was adding carrots to the crockpot for the last 20 minutes in order to make it an all in one meal.

• 2+ lbs chicken breast halves, ~ 6 breasts at 6oz each
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 14 oz. light coconut milk
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric, ground
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 pieces green onions, sliced, divided
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp cold water
• 1-2 tbsp lime juice
• 3 cup hot cooked rice

Directions:
Sprinkle chicken with salt and brown both sides in a large nonstick skillet. Place in a 5qt slow cooker.
Combine the coconut milk, curry, turmeric and cayenne; pour over chicken. Sprinkle with half of the onions. Cover and cook on low for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours or until chicken in tender.
Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Stir in lime juice. Serve chicken and sauce over rice. Sprinkle with remaining onions.