Cinco De Mayo Menu

We had a fun Cinco De Mayo celebration at our home last night after a perfectly fabulous day!
Drinks: Skinny Margarita
Appy: Pineapple Mango Salsa and chips
Dinner: Mexican Chicken Cups with Rice and Beans
Dessert: Bailey's Pot de Creme

So, Here is how to make it happen:

Skinny Margaritas
2 shots Don Julio, 1 shot triple sec, 1/2 shot lime juice, Lots of Ice

Pineapple Mango Salsa
1 really ripe Mango, cut into bit sized pieces
2 slices of fresh pineapple (or 1 can pineapple), cut into bite sized pieces
1 small jalapeno, finely chopped
2T red onion, finely chopped
2T freshly chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
dash of salt

Combine and chill


Mexican Chicken
*There are several ways to do this depending on your time and food on hand. You can: cut up a rotisserie chicken, boil chicken breast and shred, or slow cook the chicken. (This time I slow cooked the chicken, but any method will work!)

1 can of organic cream of chicken soup <--- please avoid Campbell's with its chemically separated chicken...you really don't want that horror in your food...I digress
1/2 red pepper diced
3 breasts chicken
Juice from 1 lime
1 jalapeno, trimmed, halved and (mostly) deseeded
1t chili powder
1T paprika
1/2t cumin
dash of salt and pepper

1 package of Small Tortillas


Put chicken, red pepper, jalapeno, juice from lime and soup in a crock pot and cook 3-4 hours until chicken pulls apart. Remove chicken, pull apart. Remove about half the liquid and set aside. Place shredded chicken back into slow cooker with remaining soup. Add seasonings and enough liquid back to combine chicken. You do not want it soupy or you will have really WET tacos! :)

Turn oven on to 400 degrees. Then, pull out a muffin tin  and flip it over. You are not going to fill the cups, you are going to your the back side as a mold. For my muffin tin, I used a med. size Tupperware to cut my tortillas down. Basically make the tortilla circle about 1.5" smaller. Once I had them all cut out, I nooked for 15-20 secs so they were easier to form. I then coated the outside of the muffin form with butter and pressed onto form. If warmed, they will drape over lovely. Then, I put a little butter on the outside just to help crispy them up. (not too much though or you will have a mess in your over...yes...I did that!) Bake for 5-6minutes until shells are crispy. Then, removed and pop off the form.

Fill with a scoop or two of Mexican chicken, add a bit of shredded cheese ( I mixed cheddar and Monterrey jack) and serve with a dollop of sour cream or a wedge of avocado.

Rice and Beans
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 can black beans (or any type of beans...I'll try fava next time)
1 can dice tomatoes (I diced up organic plum tomatoes)
1 cup water (use as needed)
dash of salt
dash of paprika, cumin, chili powder

Heat all ingredients up in a pan until hot.


Pots de Creme
**I used Baileys in mine, but you can simply use vanilla or any flavored liquor you prefer!

1 bag chocolate ( you can use any type you prefer: dark, semi or milk...I used semi- sweet)
4 eggs
1T Baileys
dash of salt
1c REALLY hot coffee

Place chocolate, eggs and Baileys in a food processor and process to break chocolate up a bit. Then, pour in HOT coffee (I nooked mine left over cup of coffee in the micro for 1.5 minutes first). Then, process until smooth...you do not want any unmelted bits of chocolate). Pour into your serving dishes and chill in the fridge for an hour or 2.
***Just a side note: The semi sweet were REALLY rich and delicious so I would recommend smaller dishes. I used sundae cups and small ramekins. For me, the ramekin sized portion was plenty! AND a must needed garnish...FRESH whipped cream! Did I say yet these were heavenly!!! (and super simple!!!)