Cinco de mayo recipes

While the most obvious choice for celebrating Cinco de Mayo might be your old taco night standbys and a big bowl of guacamole, for the ultimate spread, we recommend branching out and trying some new dishes. Impress your fellow margarita-drinking buddies with your vast knowledge of Mexican cuisine, from spicy soups to chalupas you won’t find at Taco Bell. Don’t forget the essential every-kind-of-hot-sauce bar either. Try these 15 Mexican-inspired recipes for the most delicious fiesta.

1. Elote: This tasty street food snack is so fun to eat. Try grilling the corn instead of boiling for a nice char and smokey flavor — either way, they’re getting slathered in mayonnaise and cotija cheese, so they’re bound to please. (via So Munch Love)

2. Chicken Flautas With Avocado Crema and Ancho Chile and Tamarind Sauce: These chicken flautas are the ideal finger food for a party. Because the contents are baked and sealed inside a rolled tortilla, you won’t even need a fork and knife to eat them. They make a great portable bite for those times when your favorite song comes on and you *have* to bust a move. (via Hatchery)

3. Brisket Sopes: If you love tacos, you’ll adore sopes. They’re a traditional Mexican dish made from thick rounds of fried masa, and this version is topped with ultra-tender slow-cooked brisket. Crack open a cold cerveza and enjoy. (via Muy Bueno Cookbook)

4. Jicama, Mango and Citrus Salad: This refreshing salad, full of tropical flavors and fresh citrus, will make you feel like you’re on vacation. There’s no wrong way to enjoy it: Eat it plain or packed into lettuce as a delicious wrap. (via Sobre Mesa)

5. Cheesy Avocado Quesadilla: If you’re short on time but still want to party, these quesadillas are just the dish for you. Upgrade the basic cheese ‘dillas you know and love from childhood with avocado slices and seasoned ground beef, for a hearty bite that’s easy to make but still tastes impressive. (via Damn Delicious)

6. Avocado and Tomatillo Green Chile Salsa and Baked Flour Tortilla Chips: This creamy salsa is like a cross between salsa verde and guacamole. This means it’s highly addictive, so you better have a lot of chips handy. Try it on top of tacos, nachos or even on a torta — this salsa tastes good on *everything*. (via Muy Bueno Cookbook)

7. Easy Restaurant Style White Queso: This ooey, gooey white queso is bound to steal the show at any party thanks to a fiery kick from red pepper flakes and pickled jalapeños. You’d better make extra to feed the margarita-drinking crowd. (via The Cookie Rookie)

8. Churros With Chocolate and Espresso Sauce: What’s better than fried dough and chocolate? If you can come up with something, good for you — we’ll be over here munching on these churros. These amazing, crispy treats are coated in cinnamon sugar and paired with a velvety chocolate and espresso dipping sauce you won’t be able to get enough of. (via Drizzle and Drip)

9. Skinny Mexican Pizza: Quash two cravings at once with Mexican Pizza. Though it’s hard to pinpoint many similarities between this dish and actual pizza (save for its round, open-faced nature), once you take a bite, you’ll get it. Cut into slices and share with friends… or don’t share at all. (via Snixy Kitchen)

10. Ceviche: Use sushi-grade fish for the best taste and peace of mind. Though you’ll be marinating the fish in lime juice, you’ll still want the freshest, best quality product you can get. (via Feasting at Home)

11. Mexican Torta With Refried Beans and Guacamole: Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with the most delicious Mexican sandwich around. Some of the bread is scooped out to make extra room for fillings like refried beans, guacamole and cheese. We’re okay with that, and we might even suggest saving those bread fillings for sopping up any sandwich spillage. You’re welcome. (via Amuse Your Bouche)

12. Mexican Street Corn Salad: Forgo the corn on a stick for a less-messy, easy-to-eat elote salad. Add black beans, red onions and bell peppers to make it more salad-like and colorful. Bonus: The dressing uses yogurt instead of mayonnaise and sour cream for a healthy twist. (via Live Eat Learn)

13. Red Beef Pozole: This traditional Mexican soup is full of tender stewed beef, hominy (dried maize) and a super flavorful red chili sauce. It’d be nice if you had leftovers after your Cinco de Mayo festivities, but don’t count on it — this soup doesn’t play around. (via Muy Delish)

14. Homemade Chalupas: These chalupas are nothing like the kind you’ll find at your local Taco Bell. Set out toppings like shredded beef, avocado, salsa and cheese, and let everyone assemble their own. (via The Stay at Home Chef)

15. Chicken Enchiladas With Salsa Verde: These saucy enchiladas take a little patience to prepare, but they’re totally worth it. Invite some friends to make the process fly by. You’ll need to fry the tortillas, dunk them in sauce, fill and roll, so the more friends on this assembly line the merrier. (via Tasting Table)

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Chocolate pie

Plowing through Life in the Country. One Calf Nut at a Time

Aug 2019

Chocolate Pie

by The Pioneer Woman on October 8, 2014

Whenever my husband, the strapping stallion I call Marlboro Man, imagines chocolate pie—and I imagine that he imagines it frequently, because it’s one of his favorite desserts—he doesn’t think of French Silk Pie or Chocolate Chiffon Pie or Chocolate Chess Pie or any other variation. He thinks of this one. This is just good ol’ basic, can’t-go-wrong, everyone-loves-it, super-easy-to-make, been-around-forever chocolate pie with a pudding filling, and my beloved could seriously eat a slice every day of his life and never get bored.

I could too, I might add.

And speaking of that: This pie is always one of those things that drives home to me the differences between Marlboro Man and me, and let me explain: In no universe would he ever, ever consider adorning his chocolate pie with anything. Not whipped cream, not fruit, not nuts, not sauces…nothing. To him, that would mar the beautiful simplicity of this luscious dessert and he sees absolutely no logical reason for it.

I, on the other hand, will keep adding stuff to the top of my chocolate pie until my fridge is empty, my pantry is cleaned out, and the cows come home.

Differences make the world go ’round!

Now, the first step to making this homemade pie is to put a storebought frozen pie crust into the oven. Ha. At least that’s what I did. I was out of my frozen crusts and I didn’t feel like making one on the spot, so I used a storebought frozen one.

I am not ashamed.

Now, if you really want to impress your friends, forget about the pie crust and come close to burning it, as I did above.

They’ll be amazed at your talent!

All of that’s about to be forgotten, though, when you make this luscious pie filling, which is nothing more than chocolate pudding. (So consider this a chocolate pudding recipe, too!) Start by putting sugar into a saucepan…

With some cornstarch…

Add a little salt (about a fourth a teaspoon; don’t be thrown off by the 1/2 teaspoon measure you see here, as I only added half. Don’t be like me)…

Stir it together gently—I say gently, because if you stir it violently or vigorously, you will create a cloud of cornstarch in your kitchen! And who needs that.

Now, pour in some whole milk. Normally, I’d say “or you can use 2% or skim milk” but in this case, I absotively, posilutely insist that you use whole milk! You must! It makes the pie creamier and gives it the texture it needs. You can always use the skim milk on your Wheaties tomorrow!

Sorry for being bossy.

Separate four eggs…

Pour in the yolks…

Then stir it together and start heating it up over medium heat, stirring very gently but constantly.

The bubbles will calm down and it will start to heat up and thicken. This will seem to take forever at first…

But then, before you know it, it starts to bubble/boil! Right after it starts to boil and thicken, you need to remove it from the heat.

Oh! I forgot to tell you that way earlier, I grabbed some bittersweet chocolate…

And chopped it really finely.

(Note on the chocolate: I have tried this pie with cocoa powder, with semi-sweet chocolate, with unsweetened chocolate…and I prefer bittersweet. You can play around with the different chocolates to see what you like.)

It’s important to have the chocolate all chopped and ready ahead of time, because the second you pull the filling/pudding off the heat, you’ll want to throw it right in…

With some vanilla…

And stir it around to start melting the chocolate, which will happen pretty much instantly because of how hot and lovely it is.

The final step, of course, is to add a little butter for silkiness, flavor, and richness…

And stir it until it melts. Again, this should only take about 4.2 seconds.

Pour it into the baked (and cooled!) pie shell…

Then smooth it out, lick whatever you use to smooth it, and pop the pie in the fridge (uncovered) for at least 3-4 hours. You want it to be totally cool and set!

This filling amount is enough for a deep-dish pie crust, so when I use a standard crust, I always have a little filling left over. So I just scoop it into little cups…

And stick those in the fridge. Ready-to-go pudding!

At long last! The pie is chilled and ready. And gorgeous. And seductive. And irresistible.

Just like Marlboro Man.

Cut a nice, big wedge…

And, if you’re serving it to my husband, just stick it on a plate.

Positively perfect pie!

If I’m eating it, though? Oh, how about some squirt whipped cream and a raspberry?

How about some chocolate syrup?

I actually forced myself to stop there, but I could have gone nuts (literally): Chopped pecans, chopped walnuts…and man, oh man, a drizzle of caramel sauce would be just decadent.

Here’s the handy dandy printable. Make it today! It’s the easiest pie there is. (Note that you could change it up and do an Oreo or graham cracker crust—totally delicious, too.)