Cinco de Mayo Fiesta

About author / Pamela Chester

Mom of two; graduate French Culinary Institute; kids cooking program instructor; Master's degree in food studies. Creates kid friendly foods and loves her slow cooker.

Cinco de Mayo commemorates Mexico's victory over the French in the 1862 battle of Puebla.  In Mexico this special day is honored with celebratory foods.

In the United States Cinco de Mayo is enthusiastically embraced by Mexican descendants and non Mexican-Americans alike, and marked by celebrations featuring parades, mariachi bands, and folk music.  Enjoying traditional Mexican and Mexican-American cuisine along with plenty of margaritas and cold Mexican beer is part of the fun.  This year, you can use the slow cooker to help in cooking an exciting Friday night fiesta that includes a mix of traditional Mexican-American dishes.

Mexican cuisine is diverse and combines native Aztec foodstuffs (corn, ground corn tortillas, chili peppers, tomatoes, squash and beans) with a rich variety of items brought by Spanish conquistadors and settlers (rice, beef, pork, chicken, and various herbs, fruits, and vegetables).  Traditional Mexican foods include guacamole (avocado based dip), chilaquiles (fried corn tortilla chips with cheese and red or green salsa topping), enchiladas (rolled tortillas filled with chicken, cheese, and or meat and covered with sauce), and mole poblano (sauce of roasted poblano peppers, spices, and chocolate).  Mexican food—-which varies according to region—-is colorfully presented with many vegetables and salsas (sauces).

Get the party started with chips and several varieties of salsa.  There are a wonderful variety of salsas available at the supermarket and in gourmet markets.  Another promising way to find some great salsa is to visit your favorite local Mexican restaurant and see if they sell containers of fresh salsa to go.

You may also want to make an appetizer such as chicken tortilla soup.  You can make the chicken stock the day before in the crockpot.  At the end of the day finish the soup by shredding the chicken back into the stock and adding the rest of the ingredients—-lime juice, a can of diced tomatoes, one or two chopped jalapeno chilies, one chopped onion and a little minced garlic.  Just reheat on low for an hour before dinner and garnish with tortilla strips, cilantro, and lime slices.  You could also try this recipe for crockpot Mexican tortilla soup.

For a main course, burritos or quesadillas are perfect.  Sour cream and guacamole are the ideal accompaniments to either.  You can purchase pre-made guacamole, or if you have the time, make it yourself.  I learned this recipe while working in a restaurant with several cooks from Mexico.  At the end of every busy Saturday night we would all gather around and enjoy the best freshly fried homemade tortilla chips and this classic guacamole.  I like it medium hot with just enough lime, but you can adjust all of the seasonings to your taste:

Serves/Makes: 4 cups

• 1 pound chicken breast or center-cut pork loin
• coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 Spanish onion, chopped
• 1 dried chipotle pepper, or to taste
• 1 orange, juice and zest of
• 2 cups chicken stock, homemade or low-sodium canned
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme or dried leaves

Serves/Makes: 4

• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 clove garlic, mashed
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
• 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 small red onion, chopped fine
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• salt and black pepper