Tag Archives: Mexican

Key lime margarita

drinks 6 Comments

It’s summer! The time when I reach for Lucy Buffett’s cookbook before anything else.

This one is based on Lucy’s Cadillac Margarita, adapted to, naturally, include key lime juice. Because I am obsessed love it.

Key lime margarita

Ingredients

  • 1.5 ounces tequila
  • 3/4 ounce Grand Marnier
  • 1 ounce key lime juice
  • 1 ounce simple syrup
  • juice of 1/2 lime

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a shaker with as much ice as will fit
  2. Do the margarita dance (shake it up)
  3. Run a lime wedge around the edge of the glass and dip it in coarse salt
  4. When the drink is fabulously cold and frothy, pour into said glass and enjoy.

Chilpotle cheese dip

snacks 5 Comments

I’ve been doing a bit of desperation cooking around One Particular Kitchen.

In the initial thick of things with the flood we were trying to stay out of the way, stay home, and leave the available gas, water (oh the irony), roads and groceries for those who needed them far more than we did.

We figured since life gave us limes, we’d make margaritas. And margaritas call for chips and dip! A quick inventory of the pantry revealed no Ro*tel. How is that possible? So I threw together this.

Chilpotle cheese dip

Ingredients

  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 1 can chiles chilpotles
  • 1 lb. Velveeta

Instructions

  1. Pour can of tomatoes (undrained) into a large bowl
  2. Dice chilpotles and add to bowl
  3. Cut Velveeta into cubes and add to bowl
  4. Now melt this either in the microwave, stirring every minute or so, or by setting the bowl over a pan of boiling water, double-boiler style
  5. After it’s all melted either serve as-is or use an immersion blender (carefully! This stuff is hot) to make it totally smooth
  6. Serve with chips and mucho margaritas

Before I let you go make this, a note on my fair city: the water is going down. Nashville is open for business. We’d love to see you! Amazing things are happening here. The flood? We got this. Please come visit and see why I’m so proud to live here and why there’s no other place like this in the world. We are Nashville.

Lissa’s frozen margaritas

drinks 11 Comments

Lissa and I have decided we’re going to be professional guacamole and margarita tasters. Anyone in the market for that? Anyone? Well let us know. We’re available.

Given our fondness for that combination, I thought it was time to share Lissa’s margarita recipe with you. I declare it Lissa week here at One Particular Kitchen! We’ll celebrate! (With margaritas!)

Lissa’s frozen margaritas

Ingredients

  • 4 oz tequila
  • 2 oz Triple Sec
  • Splash of liquid margarita mix
  • Splash of Grand Marnier
  • Splash of orange juice
  • 1/3 large can frozen limeade concentrate

Instructions

  1. Pour all ingredients into a blender with plenty of ice, blend until smooth

(One of these doesn’t hurt for these; I’m just sayin’. Mine even works after a user error fail!)

I am a saltaholic so I go for the lime-and-salt rimmed glasses. The Yankee not so much — no salt for him. The Kiddo? All Cheerios all the time. That’s how we roll.

Queso fiesta dip

snacks 5 Comments

It’s another LuLu Buffett recipe! This was every so slightly modified from LuLu’s Crazy Cheesy Queso Dip. I love it especially right now because the red and green peppers look all Christmasey. Aww!

Here’s what I used:

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 sweet yellow onion
  • 1/2 red bell pepper
  • 1/2 green bell pepper
  • 1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles
  • 1 pound Velveeta or other melty cheese
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper (white pepper if you have it)
  • Salt to taste

To make the cheesy goodness:

  1. Slice cheese into 1″ chunks and put it and milk in top of double boiler, or in a large glass or metal bowl put over a pan of boiling water to start melting
  2. Finely dice onion and peppers in the food processor
  3. Melt butter in heavy saucepan and add diced veggies; cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until veggies are soft
  4. When cheese/milk mixture is melted, stir in cooked veggies and add cumin, pepper and salt
  5. Serve immediately with chips, or keep warm in a crockpot for your fiesta

Tamales

lunch, supper 5 Comments

It’s another recipe from The Cousin! You remember her, right? The Cousin of Salsa Roja fame? Yeah, that girl. So you know it’ll be good. Let’s get to it!

Before you do anything, get a bunch of corn husks soaking in water.

You will need for the tamale sauce:

  • 3 tablespoons oregano
  • 4 tablespoons cumin
  • 2 onions, quartered
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 3 oz. package dried Ancho chiles
  • 3 oz. package dried California chiles
  1. Bloom the oregano and cumin in olive oil: warm a bit of olive oil in a small skillet, and toss in the spices; stir till you just start to smell them, then remove from heat
  2. Put onions, garlic and chiles in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then let it rest
  3. When cooled off, run through a food processor, then warm back up
  4. When hot again, add 2 tablespoons sugar, and salt to taste

For the tamale masa:

  • 1 cup grease, Crisco, or pork fat (I had bacon grease in the fridge, of course)
  • 3 cups dried corn masa (such as Maseca)
  • 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon salt
  • 1/2 cup tamale sauce (above)
  1. Beat grease in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment
  2. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl
  3. Add tamale sauce to dry ingredients
  4. Add a bit of water if it looks too dry — you want it to feel kind of like Playdoh
  5. Slowly add mixture to grease in stand mixer and mix until smooth; add more water or dry masa as necessary

To make your tamales:

  1. Remove husks from water and pat dry (don’t have to completely dry, just make them a little easier to handle)
  2. Spread masa on smooth side of husks
  3. Put filling in the middle of the masa; roll the husk tightly, then fold up the end (see video here — not mine — for a very quick demonstration)
  4. Stand them upright, open side up, in a tamale or vegetable steamer for 90 minutes. Fantastic hint from The Cousin: put pennies in the bottom of your pot under the steamer; if they start clanging around you’ll know you need to add more water

After they’re finished cooking, discard husks and serve with your tamale sauce. SO YUMMY, and great comfort food for the cold weather upon us. Enjoy!