I'm from California where good Mexican food is a staple. With this in mind, why limit it to Cinco de Mayo. Thanks for the great tips on some good recipes and ideas.
Spicy Cinco de Mayo Menus and a Special Price for Wise Bread Readers!
Photo: Brian Hillegas
Trying to keep it casual this May fifth? Still hoping for a stylish event but don't want to be stressed out? Try out these three sample menus developed with some help from SoupBase.Com. To help keep the stress factor down, they've agreed to do another special price break for Wise Bread readers. Check it out.
To create these menu pairings, I used the following three flavor concentrates from SoupBase.Com: ancho pepper, buffalo chicken chipotle and regular chipotle. (Remember how well their seafood flavor bases worked?) To keep the marinade recipes comparable in ingredients in flavor, I mixed all of them the same using lime juice and olive oil as the only two additional ingredients. See which ones might work for you, and the special price break for Wise Bread readers at the end of the piece.
Ancho pepper steak salad
Sirloin chunks and fresh mushrooms alternated on kabob sticks and grilled provided the warmer element of this menu. I served these over one of my favorite simple dinner bases, the three ingredient mixed green salad, and topped with feta. The side was toasted whole grain dinner rolls with garlic butter, and the main beverage was lemon water. The flavor concentrate definitely took the steak pieces to the next level.
Buffalo chicken chipotle tenders
Using one of my favorite summer grilling items, chicken tenders, I wove each on a stick to baste with the buffalo chipotle marinade. This stuff definitely has a full bodied flavor and makes for a unique grilling experience when everything's cooked and ready to go. We had it over red leaf lettuce, roma tomatoes and red onions with whole kernel corn. Pair the meal with your favorite Mexican beer.
Chipotle sirloin tips with peanut lime coleslaw
Grilled meat was again the theme, mainly because I had meat from the first session to use up. So on the sticks it went, along with the chipotle flavor concentrate. Since I wanted to test drive Brad Haskel's advice on wines that hold up to spicy dishes, I served this with an affordable cabbage-based peanut lime coleslaw that's loaded with jalepenos, cilantro and more. Cornmeal polenta tartlets were on the side, and I paired the whole shebang with a sturdy pinot noir. I have to say, it really did stand up to the spiciness of the meal.
All of these meals were prepared with loss leader sale beef or bulk purchased chicken. At under two dollars a pound each, this really helped make the most of this month's meat money. For other affordable menus for warmer weather, check out last year's back yard barbecue article.
But wait, I promised you a special price break. SoupBase.Com is offering a fifteen percent discount to Wise Bread readers from now until May 31, 2009. The coupon code is blogmay. Try it out on the multitude of restaurant quality flavoring options available through the site.
