Cinco de Mayo

I have always found it to be a bit amusing that people celebrate Cinco de Mayo since it isn't a US holiday. I'll bet if you ask half the people you know if they know what Cinco de Mayo is, some of them won't. However, a friend of mine I believe adequately described it as just another excuse to drink. I think I have to agree since bars and restaurants offer drink specials on Mexican beer and margaritas or they serve up some Mexican inspired fare...even if it's nachos. 

Well...keeping with the tradition...celebrating a holiday that didn't affect my heritage, I have been cooking some Mexican inspired dishes. Sunday night it was jalapenos stuffed with crab and bacon and Monday night, I made fresh guacamole. I LOVE guacamole so I'm unsure why I have only decided to make it just now, in fact, I bought some fresh made guacamole at the grocery a few weeks ago and I must saw, I enjoyed mine a whole lot more.  I always keep avocado in the house, so as I was cooking fajitas, I decided to make guacamole. The recipe is quite simply, it's fresh and oh so yummy! 

Simple, Fresh Guacamole

Serves: 1-2 with one avocado
1 lg. avocado (if you are making for more than two people, use 3 lg. avocados) (mashed)
1 Roma tomato (if you are using 3 avocado, use two Romas) 
1/4 fresh cilantro
1 tbsp. lime juice
Cumin
Pepper
NOTE: I did not use chopped onion because I don't like raw onion and I was typically use fresh jalapeno but I stuffed those on Sunday night so I was out (Stuff Jalapeno Recipe to follow). 

Mash the avocado in a bowl (I didn't use a food processor or blender because I didn't want it to soupy...I like my guacamole with some chunks of avocado). 
Add the tomato, cilantro and lime juice and stir. Season with cumin (this is a must seasoning) and pepper to your taste. I didn't use salt because I try not to salt unless it's absolutely necessary. 

I ate the guacamole with fresh corn tortilla chips (they make them fresh at my local grocer)! 

The second Mexican inspired recipe was stuffed jalapenos and this is my own creation: 

Crab & Bacon Stuffed Jalapenos

6 lg. jalapeno peppers (seeded and cut in half) 
1/4 cup crumbled bacon (use fresh bacon, not fake bacon bits) 
1/4 cup of crab
1/2 whole lemon
1/2 onion (diced)
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
6 oz. cream cheese (use neufchatel for lower fat, which is what I used) 
2 tbsp. fresh cilantro
Cumin
Pepper
1 tbsp. EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
Colby Jack or PepperJack cheese (whichever you prefer) 

Cook the bacon and crumble. In a saute pan, heat the EVOO then add garlic and onion. Cook onion until tender. Add the bacon and crab. Squeeze the lemon over the crab meat (this helps tone down the crab so that it blends well with everything else). Turn burner to medium low then add the cream cheese. (NOTE: Instead of pre-softening the cream cheese, I added it to the saute pan so that the cheese would blend better with the rest of the ingredients. Season mixture with cumin and pepper. Scoop mixture into jalapenos. 

Here is where you might want to deviate. As you can see from the photo, I have the jalapenos on aluminum foil. I did this because I put mine on the grill. So...I sprinkled the stuffed peppers with Colby Jack cheese, covered and creased the seams. I cooked on the top rack of the grill for 20 minutes. These peppers could also be cooked in the oven on 350 at 20 minutes in a pan.  

Hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I did! 

-Kim