Chefs: Molly & Jen
Menu:
Guacamole & Chips
Gazpacho
Tex-Mex Salad with Lime Dressing
Shrimp Tacos with Saffron Rice
Something we noticed about dinner--it takes a long time to prepare, and very little time to scarf down. So I took a note out of my fascination with French dining and thought we'd serve this meal in courses, slowing things down a bit and really enjoying each component. I think it worked out smashingly, and I'm hoping to research more meals that we can serve in courses without messing up the flow of dinner.
So, the dinner--Molly wanted something light and summery, so we went heavy on the vegetables with the guacamole, gazpacho, and salad. The guacamole had 1/2 jalapeño in it, which gave it the perfect kick. The gazpacho was good. As Mark said, it's like salad soup, which I know, doesn't make it sound all that appealing. It was refreshing, but not my favorite. It tasted very...healthy. The salad was a little blah. The lime dressing was nice, but overall there was nothing remarkable about the salad.
The shrimp tacos were delicious. We had a variety of fixin's like shredded cheese, queso fresco, tomatoes, avocados, and shredded lettuce. The chiles in adobo sauce really helped to flavor the shrimp. Instead of springing for saffron and doing it right, I just used a bag of rice with saffron and chicken flavoring, but I did sauté some onion and garlic to cook with it, so it was a little supped up.
For dessert, Molly made a delicious homemade tres leches cake. It was wonderfully moist and a nice complement to the flavors of the meal.
In attendance: Jean, Sandy, Hugh, Mark, Molly, Noah, Liam, Josh, Jen
In attendance: Jean, Sandy, Hugh, Mark, Molly, Noah, Liam, Josh, Jen
The Recipes
Guacamole
3 ripe avocados
1/4 cup finely chopped
red onion
1/2 jalapeño pepper,
minced (more or less, to taste)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
leaves and upper stems
Pinch or two of coarse
salt
Juice of one lime
Cut
the avocados in half and remove the pit. Spoon the flesh of the avocados into a
molcajete, mortar and pestle, or mixing bowl. Add the onion, japalpeño,
cilantro and salt, and combine. Add the lime juice and stir gently, so as not
to crush the ingredients too aggressively.
Gazpacho
2 ripe tomatoes
blanched and peeled, chopped
½ med red
onion, chopped small
1 seeded cucumber,
chopped small
1 pepper (red, orange or yellow)
3 cloves garlic
3 cups of V-8
¼ cup white
wine or champagne vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
Salt and pepper
to taste
Tobassco sauce
to taste (optional)
Combine all the ingredients. Let the dish sit in the fridge
overnight for the flavors to combine and serve cold. Any leftovers can be saved
for about a week.
Tex-Mex Salad with Lime Dressing
Salad: Lettuce, red pepper, corn, black beans, queso fresco
2 tablespoons
freshly chopped cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon red
wine vinegar
1 teaspoon lime
zest
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 cup sour cream
1 clove garlic,
smashed
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup
extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly
ground black pepper
Blend
all the ingredients except the olive oil until smooth. While machine is
running, slowly drizzle in the oil until incorporated. Season, to taste, with
salt and pepper.
Shrimp Tacos
2 tablespoons
chopped chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1/4 cup
sour cream
1/4 cup
freshly squeezed lime juice, divided
~ 2
pound bag frozen, uncooked shrimp
3 cloves
garlic, minced
Olive
oil
Kosher
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
12 corn or flour tortillas
Thaw and shell shrimp.
In a bowl, combine
chiles, sour cream, lime juice, garlic, and shrimp. Let marinade for an hour in the fridge.
Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add the shrimp mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are just cooked through.
Heat tortillas in then or microwave. Assemble
into tacos with condiments of your choosing.
