Request

[andeewah]

The Mother-in-law has asked for ideas about something to take to a Cinco de Mayo party.
Can anyone help?

We want something:
Easy
colourful
not a main course
not TOO much booze in it
simply porn-0-rific

My authentic mexican party food-fu is not strong.

Thanks all!

Comments

[odonata9]

gaucamole. it's so easy and every time i bring it to a party, people love it. just avocadoes, salt and lime juice. to make it more colorful/decorative, i usually chop up tomatoes and red onions and sprinkle those on top.

[nex0s]

get a recipe for Tamales. (i have one at home if you can't find it, i'll transcribe.) it's traditional mexican party food. really wonderful!

please, don't make any americanized stuff like 7 layer dip and the like.

n.

[rosie420]

Dude! 7 layer dip r0x0rz!

[nex0s]

it may be tasty, but "authentic" mexican it ain't!

n.

[kightp]

A fresh salsa such as pico de gallo fits all your requirements. If you want to make it a little more interesting, add a diced, ripe mango (I also love this recipe with peaches, but only when they're fresh and in season).

When making salsa for a party, I usually make two batches, one with cilantro, and one without, and label them to satisfy the cilantro lovers and haters alike.

[feather_armor]

There are cilantro haters?

[kightp]

A fairly large percentage of people perceive cilantro as tasting unpleasantly bitter or soapy; this is apparently a genetic predisposition, and may or may not be related to the phenomenon known as supertaste.

[matrushkaka]

Huh, that's interesting.

I eat these at least once a week.

[karimonica]

Black Bean Salad: Combine equal parts corn and black beans, 1 chopped red onion, 2 chopped tomatoes, 2 cloves garlic. Toss with a dressing made of chopped fresh cilantro (the more the better, IMO) equal parts olive oil and red wine vinegar, black pepper, salt, and a teaspoon of dijon mustard (or siracha if you want it hot!)

Fake-out southwest canapes: Mix 1 brick of cream cheese, 1 each of cup cheddar and monterey jack with 1 package defrosted chopped spinach, 1/2 can black beans and 1/2 can corn. Also, once blended, add some chili powder, cumin, and cilantro. Either fill pyhllo cups, or make phyllo roll ups (or egg roll wrappers, really any kind of pastry works - even refrigerated pizza dough) and bake on a greased cookie sheet until golden brown. I like to accompany these with sour cream, spicy ranch (add chili powder to bottled ranch dressing) and pico de gallo. Guacamole is also delicious as well!

[la_sikka]

you can make a tres leches cake. There's a really good mango one on Food network