I love Southwestern cuisine – highlighted in a Cinco De Mayo menu that hopefully will be one of your favorite party menus of the year. Enjoy with classic tequila cocktails or sangria. You can reach me on ChefsLine’s hotline and chat on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings if you’d like some personal guidance with my recipes.

Cinco De Mayo Menu Espectaculo
Salted Tortilla Chips with Spicy Avocado Cilantro Salsa
Tossed Mexican Salad with Bloody Mary Vinaigrette
Pan Seared Black Refried Bean Tacos with Cilantro Key Lime Salsa and Chevre
Whole Roasted Chicken Mole Poblano
Pina Colada Tres Leches Cupcakes with Vanilla Ice Cream

Read more about Puebla’s Cinco De Mayo celebration > > >

A delicious, economical and easy soup the whole family will love.

Kitchen Guy’s Black Bean Soup Recipe
Ingredients
2 cups dried black beans
1 small onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 small jalapeño peppers, minced
2 Tbsp. butter
1 medium tomato, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. cumin
1/2 cup medium hot salsa

Method
Pick through beans for stones and bad beans. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook at a gentle boil for 10 minutes, cover, and remove from heat. Let stand undisturbed for at least 1 hour.

Sauté onions, bell peppers, carrots, celery, cilantro, and jalapeños in butter over medium-high heat for 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and garlic and continue to cook over medium heat for 5 more minutes.

After beans have soaked, drain and place in large saucepan with sautéed vegetables, and cover with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer uncovered until beans are tender. Stir occasionally and add water if needed. Let cool.

Drain beans and vegetables, reserving liquid. Puree beans and vegetables in batches along with a small amount of liquid in the food processor (if desired you can reserve some beans and vegetables for texture). Mix in enough of the reserved liquid to create a soup-like consistency; then add cumin and salsa to taste.

You’re less than 45 minutes away from having hot, fresh Cheddar Cheese Biscuits!

Kitchen Guy’s Cheddar Cheese Biscuit Recipe
Ingredients
2 cups bread flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup shortening
2/3 cup whole milk

Method
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray 2 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick cooking spray. In a bowl mix the flour, salt, baking powder, cream of tartar, sugar, and the cheese. With a pastry blender or fork, cut in the shortening and mix until it resembles coarse meal. Add the milk all at once and stir with a fork until the dough forms a ball. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead 14 times. Pat out the dough until it is a half-inch thick. Cut into 2-inch rounds. Place them in the cake pans touching each other and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

A sophisticated, yet easy, Asian style salad with sesame-crusted seared Ahi.

Seared Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna Over Crisp Greens Recipe

Ingredients
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 1/2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp. minced shallot
6 Tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. sesame oil
4 3-ounce Ahi tuna fillets
salt and pepper to taste
sesame seeds
fresh salad greens

Method
Whisk mustard, soy sauce, 2 Tbsp. lime juice, grated ginger and shallots. In a steady stream, add 4 Tbsp. canola oil, whisking constantly until blended. Add sesame oil and whisk again.Season tuna with salt and pepper and dip one side in sesame seeds.Heat remaining canola oil in fry pan over very high heat until nearly smoking. Add tuna, sesame seed crusted side down and sear about 30 seconds. Flip and sear the other side for about 30 seconds. Remove to a cutting board immediately to stop the cooking.Toss field greens in another bowl with any leftover oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. Divide among 4 plates. Slice tuna into quarter-inch slices and place on top of salad. Drizzle soy-mustard dressing over each and serve immediately.

With the end of winter come the first of the new year’s sun-fortified flavors, and what better way to showcase them than with that deconstructed designer dish, the omelet? They’re easy, quick, and low-carb/low-fat. No need for a recipe here (although I included one below anyway), just a few tips to help get the best effect out of your eggs and spring ingredients with notes.

Act 1: Mis en place. Meaning, prep everything you will need for the omelet. Once the eggs go into the pan things move pretty fast so advance prep is key. Your tasks include: beat together eggs and milk or cream. Notes: Beat thoroughly for fluffier omelets. And, don’t add salt yet – it makes the eggs chewy. Chop vegetables into a small dice. Grate the cheese. Slice fish if you are using any. Assemble tools: two sauté pans (or one and a steamer), a sharp knife, a cutting board, and a heat-resistant rubber spatula.

Act 2: Steam or sauté your veggies. While steaming, also include your choice of fresh herbs, salt and fresh ground pepper. If you are incorporating fresh fish, let the other ingredients cook half way before introducing it to heat, since it will cook very fast. If you are using mushrooms (which I happen to love), go ahead and sauté them thoroughly to really bring out their distinct flavors. If you are using spinach, wait until the last second to add it in with your other vegetables. Leave avocados raw.

Act 3: Build an omelet. First, drop some extra virgin olive oil into a small sauté pan over medium heat, making sure it gets spread evenly across the whole pan. Ladle in some of the egg batter, depending on how large you want the omelet to be (less is more). Carefully tilt the pan into circles over the flame so that the eggs spread and cook evenly and slowly. Using a rubber spatula, you can poke the egg so that runny parts cook faster or to pull the egg from the sides of the pan. Gently lift slower cooking bits of egg to ensure it all cooks evenly. Your omelet is ready for the additional ingredients when the egg still appears liquid on the top of the omelet.

Sprinkle grated cheese over one half of the eggs, following with the still-warm spring vegetables, just enough to cover one half side of the omelet. Note: if you are using fish you may not want to use cheese. Using your spatula, carefully fold the empty half of the omelet over the over vegetable side. Heat through and plate it up! Garnish your dish with fresh herbs, tomatoes, pepper flakes, grated or crumbled cheese, cucumbers, melon, scallions or chives, sour cream, and/or hot sauce.

Other choice spring omelet ingredients include: most fresh herbs, mushrooms, artichokes, arugula, asparagus, avocados, bell peppers, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chives, corn, eggplant, green onions, leeks, peas, zucchini, summer squash, spinach, mussels, oysters, cod, flounder, halibut, salmon, sole, and trout.

Chef Adam’s Salmon Omelet Recipe:

Ingredients
3 eggs
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
1/8 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces fresh salmon
1/4 cup chopped morel mushrooms
salt and pepper to taste

Method
Thoroughly whisk the eggs, sour cream, tarragon and a little pepper (no salt yet).
Sprinkle the salmon fillets with salt and pepper. Heat a saute pan over high heat and add a little olive oil. When the oil starts to smoke a little, add the salmon and let sear for about two minutes on each side. Remove from heat and set aside.

Lower the heat to medium and add a little more oil and the morels, and cook for about 5 minutes, until the mushroom aroma becomes pronounced (other mushrooms ought to be more well-done to bring out their flavor, but morels are delicate and can burn fairly easily). The mushrooms and salmon can be done ahead, so that the omelet is much easier, quicker and more convenient to make for brunch.

Preheat a new saute pan over medium heat (a clean pan will prevent the eggs from sticking), add the butter, and spread it around with a spatula (I like to use a heat-resistant rubber spatula) for an even coating. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and, holding the pan over the flame, tilt the pan in circles to cook the eggs evenly. You can move the uncooked portions of egg around with the spatula to help them cook evenly. Add the salmon and mushrooms, positioning them over one half of the eggs. Carefully fold the other side over and turn the omelet out onto a plate. Garnish with sour cream and chives.