Senin, 31 Maret 2014
Academy Award Winning Buffet of Goodies!
As my mother would say I love to watch anything that jumps around in front of my face. What she means by that is that I adore television and movies, particularly old movies, the ones you see on TCM. If I did not have to make a living, and because it would be socially unacceptable, I could sit like a zombie in front of a big screen tv and mindlessly click and blankly stare my way through life. Obviously, I, therefore, consider Academy Award night a very special night, not only for the awards, but for the clothes, jewels, hair, makeup and gossip which is equally as entertaining. In honor of my very special night, Nan (and I) prepared a very tasty little buffet full of my favorite goodies. My niece, Sophia, who is also my very eager and quite compotent sous chef, assisted me in making a fresh salsa and mango habenero chicken wings. Nan contributed her famous and most delicious taco dip to the party.
For the salsa, I (and Sophia) chopped approximately 4 tomatoes and placed them in the food processor with 1/2 onion, 1 garlic clove, several fresh chili peppers, a bunch of cilantro, the juice of one lime and salt. Because the tomatoes were of the dreaded winter variety and were barely even pink in color, I added about 1 teaspoon of tomato paste to add a bit of color, but up the flavor, add provide consistency. I pulsed it all to the proper consistency, but be careful, you dont want to pulverize it into tomato juice. Taste for seasoning and serve immediately.
My brother requested Mango Habanero chicken wings which I experimented with because I have never made them before. The flavor was great but I was so worried they would be too hot that I did not add enough habanero so, while tasty, they did not provide the kick I was looking for. In a small saute pan with a little bit of oil, I sweated about 1/2 small onion, 2 garlic cloves and 3/4 of a habanero pepper (if you want it hotter add the whole pepper). Set them aside to let them cool for a moment and added 1 can of Mango Nectar (you can find it in the Latin food aisle of the grocery store) to the food processor. Once cool, I added the onion mixture to the mango necture and turned pulverized until it was a smooth and very loose mixture. Next, pour the mixture in a sauce pan and add about 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of your favorite hot sauce and heat until reduced slightly. Just before you are ready to pour the mixture over your cooked chicken wings (see entry from February 19 for more on cooking the chicken wings), remove from the heat and wisk in a half stick of butter, cut into smaller pieces. Pour over the wings and serve hot!
While most layered taco casseroles I have seen are cold, this one is heated in the oven. In a pie pan, start with a layer of refried beans. Top with a layer of 1 pound of browned ground beef cooked with taco seasoning, about 1/2 bottle of your favorite jarred salsa and a mound of cheese (we used cheddar/jack). Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes or until bubbly and melted. Spoon onto your plate and serve with tortilla chips, hot sauce and sour cream.
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