Fiesta Time!!

In the summer of 2009 I presented a horn recital in Kokomo.  It provided me with a challenge to work towards duing our vacation away from work in Mexico.  It was a wonderful experience to have played a successful recital, to catch up with old friends, and also to see the large amount of support from family and friends.  The recital went extremely well and I was pleased to have planned a reception immediately afterwards.  I provided a buffet of food and drinks for everybody to enjoy.  The following recipe is the homemade avocado salsa that I made for this event.  Everybody raved over it and the entire bowl of salsa was gone before I even had a chance to have some myself!  If you were at that recital and wanted the recipe for the salsa, here it is!!!

Avocado Salsa

1 can of corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 roma tomatoes, diced
large handful of cilantro, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 avocados, diced

1. In a large bowl, combine corn, black beans, bell pepper, onion, tomatoes, and cilantro.

2. In a small bowl, mix garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper.  Pour into vegetable mixture.  Mix thoroughly.

3. Cover and chill until party (at least 3 hours).

4. Add diced avocado just before serving.

Bon appetit!

This recipe makes a lot of salsa.  It can easily be halved if you just want a healthy snack for around the house.  The salsa stays good in refrigerator for several days.

Spice it up

This is where I live.  About two hours north of a major cruise line stop (Mazatlan), just on the other side of the pond of a major vacation destination (Los Cabos), and 12 hours south of the United States border.  Living in Mexico has had both its' perks and dissappointments.  One huge benefit for living quite close to the coast in Mexico is the abundance of fresh seafood in all the markets.  While growing up in Indiana and Tennessee, and also attending graduate school in Ohio, I NEVER had much interest in seafood.  Who could grow an appreciation for seafood when you live in the middle of a huge country with no access to fresh markets?  I remember that whenever my parents said that fish was on the dinner menu I always inwardly groaned and complained.  The only seafood that I could enjoy eating was shrimp, usually in the form of shrimp cocktails.  After living in Mexico for 4 years now, I have eaten dozens of fish filets (salmon, tuna, white fish, etc), peeled and deveined hundreds (if not thousands) of shrimp, swallowed a few whole oysters, and even gotten to enjoy octopus.  All of the fresh seafood is so ridiculously inexpensive that it allows us to enjoy a seafood dish several nights of the week.  Here is a great shrimp dish that provides an extreme twist on the classic shrimp cocktail appetizer.

Spicy Shrimp Appetizer

Ingredients
1/3 cup sriracha hot sauce
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon white sugar (some prefer to double)
salt, pepper
16-20 shrimps

1. Combine all ingredients together (except for shrimp).  Mix well.

2. Pour marinade into a Ziplock storage bag and add shrimp.  Shake to cover all shrimp in marinade.

3. Let shrimps marinate for 3-4 hours in the refrigerator.

4.  Remove shrimps from marinade.  Cook in skillet or put shrimp on skewers and cook over grill until shrimp is pink.

5. Heat the marinade and place in a small bowl for extra dipping.  Sour cream also tastes really good with these shrimps.

Bon appetit!