What is a good menu plan for an authentic Mexican dinner for 8?

Question

I love gourmet cooking and have no problem going to a lot of effort and seeking out obscure ingredients. I want really good recipes that will work well together. Any good websites that exclusively feature Mexican cuisine? (please, not allrecipes or recipezaar!) Thanks

Answer 1

Pescado a la Veracruzana (aka Fish Veracruzana) is a wonderful and wonderfully easy authentic Mexican dish to make. It is a nice detour from burritos, fajitas and the like. No obscure ingredients are necessary just fish, tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, olives, capers and lime/lemon juice are the main ingredients in most recipes. You can also use shrimp with the same sauce. I serve mine with saffron rice.

I don't exactly have a recipe (I just throw it all together until it looks right, sorry) but I am sure you can find adequate recipes on the net.

Answer 2

Tamales. The Mexican women next door make the best tamales and they literally take two days to make. And the refried beans are made from dried pintos and boiled with lard and onion, and manchego cheese on top after they're mashed and fried.

I have yet to master the tamales, but the refried beans are great. What sucks is that they don't give out the family recipes.

Answer 3

In New Mexico most Mexican restaurants serve tortilla chips with salsa and quacomole (avocado dip) and queso (that's melted cheese with spices), then for an easy entree, how about tacos or quesadillas (not fried for fat conscious folks), all served with rice and/or beans.

For dessert in New Mexico, sopapillos, fried bread, with honey is always served. Other things like flan, too, but sopapillos for NM is traditional.

Below are some good food sites for Mexican recipes.

epicurious.com
foodtv.com
allrecipes.com

Good luck! Cooking new foods is always challenging.

Answer 4

Bake Chicken and Chunky Salsa together with Spanish Rice and Cheese Quesadilla. You can make the Salsa yourself since you said you like the effort. . I then put some cheedar cheese on the top of the chicken. But you can use goat cheese. Then serve it with some salsa on the plate with the cheese. The Salsa is awesome for dipping the Quesadilla in. My english hubby loves it and says it's one of the best meals ever :)

Answer 5

rice with saffron???
you can go ahead and make some chicken mole with rice... doesn't necessarily have to be spanish rice but you said you like to make the effort. just that the mole sauce itself has a lot of flavor. white rice would do just fine... 2 cups water about 1 tbs oil let it boil add about 3 (maybe 4 because it's 8 servings) cups of ricecover and in about 10 minutes turn and let sit again... add water if needed. anyway, for dessert you can make an almond flan.
you'll need:
1 baking pan
1 large pot to let the baking pan sit in.. make sure baking pan is not too small. you want the pan to fit tightly so that it doesn't sink
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 water
4 eggs
1 can of evaporated milk
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped almonds (or any nut of your pref.).
put the baking pan on stove on high. beat the eggs in large bowl along with can of evap and sweetend condensed milk on high. add vanilla. while this is beating, combine sugar and water and mix until soupy... not thick but so that it leaves a thin layer on wooden spoon. poor sugar water in pan and begin to stir constantly. stir until water begins to turn brown... you will smell it burning... that's just the water turning into caramel. once it turns golden brown it's okay to to take it off the stove. tilt the pan side to side so the sides get coated... sugar will continue to turn darker. once it's coated evenly, stick in freezer. the eggs and milk should be mixed well by now. stop the mixer. you should see a ton of bubbles form. add chopped nuts stir with spoon. get large pot and add water... half way should be fine. put on high heat. when it starts to boil, take pan out of freezer. mix eggs a little bit before pouring onto pan. when this is done cover with aluminum foil carefully place in pot. it will cook for about an hour. check by jiggling the pan. if it's a tight wiggle, it's ready... if it's still a little thin leave for a few more minutes. if water starts to boil over lower the heat... when done, let it sit and cool. this is the tricky part. get a nice plate or whhatever flat service you want to place it on and place it ontop of pan... carefully, but quickly flip over. be very careful with the caramel because it's liquidy now and it will splatter. it should flip over evenly. top with fruit if you like... also, when checking to see if ready, DO NOT pick with toothpick or knife... this will cause cracks and will not allow it to flip evenly

Answer 6

i love food network.com i have it as my homepage. a tapas party would work well. it is a little tast of a few dishes.

Answer 7

how about, burritos.. and a make your own fajitta table... so you and your 8 guests could be creative and make all different types of kinds!
xoxo