April Fool’s Day

I tend to do this thing where if I know I'm cooking for company I end up making far more food than anyone can possibly eat. Usually it's not because I can't scale quantities in my head or determine how much people will actually have, but it seems as though the more people are coming, the more dishes I want to prepare to accommodate various needs. That or as an excuse to prepare a lot of food. There's nothing I love more than slaving over a hot stove on a Saturday afternoon. That's probably untrue, but it's safe to say that I do enjoy cooking, even after 3 months of doing this project. I'm kind of regretting making so many dishes because I have to write about them and post the recipes now, though!

When I made the Enchiladas I couldn't find corn tortillas anywhere! Turns out that there are 3 different places to disperse tortillas throughout the supermarket; the deli, the import aisle and the bakery. After finally figuring out where the corn tortillas are in the supermarkets I was so excited that I bought a package of them without realizing that they were too small for my purpose and also not necessary. I made homemade tortilla chips with sea salt and lime just to use them up.

A lot of preparation went into making the Chicken Chimichangas since I made the Picante and Guacamole from scratch, as well as grilling the chicken separately. I already made another Guacamole, but this recipe is different, more of an avocado spread, so I included it. A chimichanga is just a fried burrito or, in this case, a baked one. In my opinion pretty much anything sandwich or burrito-like is that much better grilled, toasted or baked to give it that much more pizazz. I think the little bit of extra effort in the preparation shows, but, like the enchiladas, I'm not sure it's really necessary to make your own since the store bought is so much faster and does a good enough job.

I wanted to give plantains another try, but with so many dishes on the go, I wasn't about to do anything fancy. I made simple Baked Plantains just rubbed with oil and then with salt and butter. I think the oil is supposed to prevent them from burning, but they still turned pretty black. They were pretty much inedible and I dismissed them as a garnish.

Something I've been meaning to eat more of, far before my trip to Mexico (where I first actually tried it) and back to my days of low-carbing, is jicama. I think it's pronounced hih-cama (that whole "J" in "jalapeno" thing), it's sort of like a lightly sweet turnip. It's supposed to make a suitable substitute for apples in low-carb apple pie, as well as another potato type starch. I much prefer it to turnip because it doesn't have a lingering bitter taste. We had it in an
Orange Jicama Salsa, which is recommended for dipping with tortilla chips or with grilled meat or whatever like a typical salsa, but I just served it like a salad because it seemed more suitable. The dressing is lime and honey and the whole dish is actually quite tasty if you're looking to try something different. Lime juice and some form of sweetener is a very good low-calorie, high flavor dressing for pretty much any greens.

If I haven't already mentioned my fondness for cumin, now's a good time. I love cumin. Apparently it's the second most used spice in the entire world next to black pepper, so it's safe to say that a lot of other people love cumin, too. It doesn't seem like it's very popular here in the North, but anyone that likes chili powder likely harbors a hidden fondness for it. It's that wonderful smoky flavor that isn't paprika. Sure, it sort of smells like foot, but it makes things taste incredibly good. I prepared Stewed Romano Beans to try and sedate my craving for refried beans without having to refry beans. Of course, the texture isn't the same, and without the added fat the flavor isn't quite there, but it's a very good, much healthier substitute. Just to round things out a bit (you know, in case there wasn't enough food) I made a pan full of Jalapeno Fried Rice. The jalapeno heat is basically lost in the steam, but a light flavor remains. I like it, but it's hardly a focal point dish and just a great side to help sop up tequila.

Finally, for dessert I made an attempt at Churros. Churros are actually Spanish, but when it comes to food Mexico and Spain seem to favor similar fare and it stands to reason. Spanish churros don't have cinnamon, but in my opinion they just wouldn't be as good without it. The dough is remarkably easy to prepare, but the process of frying all those little sticks can take a while with a little pan. Definitely worth trying out if you have any desire for cinnamon pastries though (and who doesn't?)