Cookapelli

last year at our cinco de mayo event

Three years ago at a wonderful pub, May Kelly’s, Jonathan and I decided it would be fun to toss his menu out and play with real Mexican food. We figured that if just our friends showed up it would be a success and we would have fun exploring the cuisine. That first year sold out the restaurant and we had to turn away over 30 reservations. I made over 300 corn tortillas that night and we had a great time. The next year snuck up on us pretty quick and was also a great success, again selling out the restaurant. So it seems like yesterday when Jonathan and I decided that we needed to build our menu early for our 3rd cinco event at the Oxford House. Of course that was in early February and it’s now about 10 days until May 5th. We’ve finished the menu and the shopping list. Now it’s time to prep and figure out how to make the kitchen work for this. So here is the basic menu:

Cinco De Mayo 2010

-Crisp Flour tortillas with Salsa Fresca and Guacamole-

Appetizers
Tampico Chilaquiles
Green Tortilla ‘Soup’

Maine Shrimp Ceviche
Tomato, Lime, Avocado, Chiles, Coconut, Plantain Crackers

Garnachas Yucatecas
Yucatan Braised Beef & Masa Tartlette

Ancho Chile Relleno Capeadas
Chipotle Molasses, Soldier Bean Refrito

Salad
Original Ensalada Alex-Cesar Cardini
The Ceasar Salad

Entrees
Pato En Mole Verde de Pepita
Duck in Green Mole, Ancho Rice, Cabbage & Sweet Pepper Slaw

Carne Claveatada
Pot Roast Studded with Bacon and Almonds,   Yucca Frites,
Roasted Cauliflower, Espazote Gremolata

Pescado  Pibil
Banana Leaf Roasted Snapper, Kobacha Squash, Chile Glaze,
Spiced Lentils

Pollo en Escabeche
Chorizo &Potato Stuffing, Spiced Squash,  Poblano Rice

Torta de Elote
Sweet Corn Torte, Oaxacan Chile Strips, Cilantro Cream,
Crisp Potatoes

Desserts
Sopapillas de Canela
Sweet Cream Ice Cream, Warm Chocolate

Sweet Plantain Turnovers
Ricotta Stuffing, Peanut Caramel

Mango Lime Ice

Flan de Naranja
Orange Custard,Vanilla Shortbread

Yucatan Coconut Pie
Almond Shortbread Crust

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Still trying to fill out the site and see what it’s going to grow into. So this week I’ve added a conversions page and a bookshelf page. The conversions table  is to help anyone duplicating these recipes in different parts of the world. If I’ve missed something that would be useful, please let me know and I’ll add it. The bookshelf page is devoted to listing the books and resources I use for inspiration, learning, and reference. I’ll leave this to books I own and use, although feel free to suggest other material for me to discover.

Some more breakfast recipes and photos coming up this weekend as I continue to document some of my breakfast basics. Pending my attention span I should post my infamous scone recipe as well as ginger pancakes with a pear compote.

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I’m finding it interesting to actually document what I make or more importantly what goes into what I make and how much. Then trying to interrupt my routine to get photos is tough as well. Over the years my time prepping breakfast is usually from 6 to 7:30ish in the morning. The body knows what to do and the mind is still a bus stop or two behind.

This morning for breakfast I made blueberry muffins, stuffed baked apples, and quiche crepes. I’ve thought about how I want to put recipes on this blog and decided each recipe will have it’s own post, easier to find and sort out from my verbal chaff.

The first recipe will be for crepes. These are so simple and can be an edible vehicle for so many dishes. In this instance I used a crepe instead of a pastry shell for individual quiches. And for the most part, when I talk about a dish that has crepes, this is the basic recipe I use (next post). The muffins are also a very simple base for so many different types of muffins I make, so I’ll refer to that recipe as well when I talk about variations.

Here’s a pic of the finished quiche crepe. The quiche is tomatoes, ham, and cheddar lightly spiced with oregano.

ham, tomato, cheddar quiche in a crepe shell

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My first blog set up has gone sort of smooth, if you don’t take into account the first setup inadvertently got erased in my hosting account when I tried to upgrade it. So expect some more changes as I see how all this works. Hopefully some beer brewing pics will be up this evening and then some more stuff tomorrow when I document a breakfast.

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