cinco de mayo.

 last last thursday was cinco de mayo and since we do not drink on school nights (very grown up of us i know) we saved our celebration for saturday night. i love meal planning and the more ethnic the better & the wackier the day - icing on the cake.

not many people celebrate cinco de mayo out here in la belle provence but then again i'm not many people. having a foodie mum & dad, loving mexican food and having mexican exchange student live with us throughout my teenage years, us celebrating this does not come as a surprise.

notice the kids hamburgers - the mexican theme did not do it for them. tragic i know.

i ended up choosing a simple but complex flavour meal, - still with me? - everything had many components but the taste was clean and refreshing.

to drink - watermelon mojitos. don't they just sound exotic? the husband thought so too but they ended up being more my thing than his.

for dinner we had chicken soft tacos. so good!!! there really hasn't been a soft taco that i haven't fallen for when introduced. i ended up marinating 4 chicken breast's (wish i had pounded it a little flatter - thoughts for next time and there will be a next time!) in heaps of freshly squeeze lime juice & minced garlic with chopped cilantro (i actually took scissors and just cut it over top). i had ended up squeezing about 5 limes and minced about 6 garlic cloves. don't forget to salt and pepper as well! most common mistake in cooking is forgetting those two superheroes - they are your greatest sidekicks in the kitchen. i just let that sit around on the counter while i prepared everything else and the grill got hot - you can prepare this earlier in the day and place in the fridge if you would like, i wouldn't let them go longer than 3 hours as lime juice has the power to cook food. throw them on the grill and cook till done. let them rest off the grill covered with foil for 10 minutes and then slice on the diagonal and serve them up! serve with warm flour or corn tortillas. now the fun part - toppings! this is where your imagination can run wild! i went with more lime juice for squeezing, salsa, hot sauce, lime cilantro sour cream, hot peppers, chopped cilantro, chopped seeded tomatoes and shredded romaine. pass the plates and let your guests build there own!

then the sides came out - game over! we had a watermelon feta salad and a salsa salad. yum and yum.

we ended up being able to sit out long enough to get the effect of the candle light and actually enjoy the evening outside. pretty good saturday if you ask me.

watermelon mojitos adapted from the barefoot contessa
when i first spied this recipe on her back to basic series my mouth was salavating. i change a few things to make this more enjoyable to our palate. it was a little too sweet and strong to me at first.
first you take 30 leaves of fresh mint (hook #1) add it to a mortar & pestle (very important) and crush it up to release the oils - take a moment and breath it in. add big chunks of cubed watermelon (no rind) to your glorious food processor and puree (add a little extra - i'll fill you in in a bit about that later). add your mint to your decorative pitcher. add 1 1/2 cups of white rum (hook #2). add 2 cups of your watermelon puree (keep the rest close by) and add 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup simple syrup (taste first at 1/4 cup). now put in 6 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lime juice (hook #3). stir. pour 3/4 the way into a tall glass and fill the rest in with soda water. garnish with watermelon spears.
simple syrup: place one cup of water and one cup of white sugar in a pot and bring to a boil. remove from heat and let cool. voila!

drinks for your junior diners: take the reserved watermelon puree place half way in a glass with some ice cubes and then top off with soda water. add a squeeze of lime & don't forget the decorative straw!!! yum!

watermelon feta salad

this is so easy and so bright & refreshing.
cube up your watermelon - however much you want. squeeze fresh limes over top and toss. add your cubed feta. allow to sit for at least 30 mins for all the flavours to meld.

salsa salad stolen from my friend corrine

dice up some red peppers, seeded tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, (i also added corn this time - cut off the cob), you can also add some black beans - cover the whole thing in fresh squeezed lime juice (there seems to be a theme here)

lime cilantro sour cream.

so easy and a really cool way to jazz up sour cream. place as much as you want of the sour cream in a bowl and squeeze fresh lime juice all over and add cilantro. keep adding and tasting till it's how you want it. simple! and adds just the right touch. you can add some diced jalapeno to it as well.

dinner: a new outfit for old chicken.

for the love of chicken.

My mother was always a whiz in the kitchen. She was pretty much a whiz at everything but her main domain was the kitchen. From having a catering company to a sandwich delivery shop to food stylist for the movies to having her own cafe up north, food has always been her thing. So by default food has been prominent in mine and my sister's lives. I have heard tell of stories of me rolling spanokopitas at the table at age 5 to being quite proud of my styled buffet at the age of 17 - complete with a four tiered fruit cascade - for an Adam Sandler movie (unfortunately not featured in the end result).

But the one thing that has always stuck in my mind was her power over leftovers. She could make something and you would believe that she started anew rather than jazzing up something that was about to walk out of the fridge. 

This recipe here has always been my favorite. Chicken Enchiladas. Not traditional in any sense of the word, just traditional in appearance and the fact that you can't stop eating them! I always make a big pan in hopes of getting two meals out of it when really I should make two pans! I actually will create leftovers (or buy a store bought rotisserie chicken) if I know this is one the menu for the week. Want to wow a crowd? Make these! (great also for leftover turkey!)

my chicken enchiladas

** this recipe has no measurements, it's all by feel and what you have in the fridge.

vegetable oil

shredded leftover roast chicken

sliced onions (about 1 and half depending on how much chicken you have)

sliced red pepper (about 1-2, you can substitute any other pepper - you just really want some in there)

Optional: Sweet corn, black beans, fresh diced tomatoes - Have fun with it!!!! 

Optional: Salsa

Flour tortillas - 6 to 10 depending on how much filling you have, small or large.

Tomato Sauce

Shredded Cheese

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Brush the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish with some vegetable oil and set aside.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook for about 5 minutes until soft and slightly translucent. Add peppers and cook until soft. Add shredded chicken and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes to get in all hot and slightly browned. Now add any extra ingredients you want in there - I add some salsa at this point for a little liquid and heat inside. Sautee together for a couple of minutes then turn off heat.

Place your flour tortillas in a stack beside your pan and start filling them. Place filling in the center and roll up and place seam side down in the dish. Repeat until all the filling is gone.

Cover rolls generously with tomato sauce and then sprinkle shredded cheese down the center. Place in pre-heated oven for 35 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve! Optional condiments: Franks Red Hot Sauce, Diced scallions, sliced black olives, salsa, sour cream.