What's nice about a holiday weekend is that mid-week is Thursday, which means it's almost Friday! For Memorial Day, we just spent it at home with the kids and my oldest daughter's boyfriend. We usually have Kalbi, Korean barbecue short ribs (featured in this post here), but the hubby was craving carne asada tacos. The kids were in charge of grilling this year and cleaning the tables off so we could eat outside, while I prepared the fresh guacamole and salsa, black beans, and Mexican rice. Here's my plate when we were finally done!
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| Starting from top left: 1. Carne Asada Taco with grilled flank steak seasoned with McCormick's Taco Seasoning as a dry rub, Cabbage, Fresh Salsa - Tomatoes, Cilantro, Red Onion, Lime, Salt & Pepper, and Crema Mexicana (Mexican Sour Cream...SO good!), 2. Grilled Peppers, 3. Fresh Guacamole - Avocados, Tomatos, Jalapenos, Red Onion, Lime, Cilantro, Salt & Pepper, mixed together (keep pit in to keep from browning), 4. Mexican Rice *recipe below, 5. Black Beans simmered with some Taco Seasoning and a bay leaf, 6. Queso Fresco Taco, a VEGETARIAN option, with Queso Fresco Cheese (Mexican crumbly cheese), Fresh Salsa, and extra Cilantro. |
Everything was made fresh, as noted in the caption above, and I just mix things in until it tastes good! I kind of hate recipes and once I make a dish, I try to make it without one. But there are some things that need a recipe, like baked goods, or if I just can't remember. With the Mexican Rice it happens to be the latter. Maybe it's because I can't remember how long to simmer and boil the rice more than forgetting what the ingredients are. I originally found this on foodnetwork.com in 2009, but have altered it a bit.
Mexican Red Rice (Serves 4 - 6)
Ingredients-
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups long-grain white rice
1 teaspoon achiote powder (I use 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder if I don't have achiote)
1 bay leaf
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes (I use only 1)
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
Directions-
Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until the onion is soft, about 2 minutes. Add the rice, achiote powder, and bay leaf. Cook and stir until the rice is opaque, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and broth, stirring to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until the liquid evaporates to just below the level of the rice, about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to the low, cover, and cook until the rice is tender, about 20 - 25 minutes. Uncover, fluff with a fork and serve.
That's it...pretty easy, but just make sure you watch it so it doesn't burn.
For dessert, I made fried ice cream upon a request from the kids (which means they had to go get the ingredients at the store). I totally forgot about a no-fry fried ice cream recipe I found that I used to make when they were younger, so it was perfect for our Memorial Day Mexican BBQ theme!
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| Vanilla on left, Coffee on right with a raspberry on top. I forgot to tell the kids to get heavy cream to make whipped cream, so we didn't have any...oh well, it was still delicious! Remember the recipe in general, but couldn't remember ratios, so I used southernplate.com recipe as a guide. |
No-Fry Fried Ice Cream (makes about 20)
Ingredients-
Two 1.5 quarts vanilla ice cream (we got one vanilla & one coffee)
6 cups corn flakes
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
Melted chocolate &/or whipped cream (optional)
Directions-
Heat the oven to 350 F. Scoop out ice cream balls and place on a wax-paper lined plate; freeze for about 30 - 45 minutes. In the meantime, melt the butter and mix in sugar and cinnamon, set aside. Place the corn flakes in a large zip-lock bag and crush the flakes, then place the butter mixture in the bag and shake to mix into the corn flakes. Place on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven for about 5 minutes or until toasted. After it's cooled, roll the ice cream balls in the corn flake mixture. Refreeze for about an hour, then take out and place in a bowl. Drizzle with chocolate & whipped cream, if desired. Enjoy!
Well that basically was our meal for the day with lots of random snacking. We ended the evening by watching The Vow, which was really sweet...true love and all...
What is your favorite barbecue recipe? What is your favorite Memorial Day tradition? Let me know because I could use some ideas. Thank you for visiting and being a part of my journey!
See you later!
Cheryl
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