So last night’s small Cinco de Mayo fiesta turned out to be a success!  We had about six couples and I don’t know if they were just being nice (which being the kind people they are could be very true), but they all seemed to really enjoy themselves.  As the guests entered I had blue corn tortilla chips served with homemade guacamole and Trader Joe’s Salsa Autentica and Mike was making house(well let’s be honest, apartment)made “Skinnygirl” margaritas.  Our friend Tara brought over a couple of the actual coveted bottles a little later in the evening and I was happy that ours did the Skinnygirl brand justice!  Being a Bethanny fan, I was so excited to try her margaritas and I must say they were quite delicious and will be a regular item at any events we have this summer! 

After a couple of margaritas and me finishing up in the kitchen I brought out the rest of the food on the evening’s menu.  I made my mother’s enchiladas one with chicken, and one without; sliced skirt steak in Marcela Valladolid’s beer-marinade; and beans-and greens tacos with goat cheese from a recipe I found in this months Martha Stewart’s Living.  I also put out some veggie refried beans and all the other classic mexican fixings including, sour cream, Cholula sauce, diced tomatoes, onions, and cilantro.  I was really pleased with how everything turned out and the guests seemed to leave in the only way I like them to leave, full and happy!  

As this is Part 1 of Fiesta Recipes I thought I would start with the items that I got from Marcela and Martha and feature the enchiladas tomorrow as a tribute to my mama for Mother’s Day.  So let’s get to the taco recipe….

Beer-Marindated Skirt Steak

I made this as a meat item to add to the Beans and Greens tacos.  I personally only had the tacos veggie style, but I thought that the skirt steak would go really well with the flavors of the greens and the goat cheese.  I have to give credit to Mike who grilled the steaks and cooked them to perfection. 

Ingredients:

• 1 orange, thinly sliced with peel
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, halved and smashed
• 2 1/4 pounds skirt steak
• Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
• 1 cup light-colored beer (preferably lager style)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce

Directions:

1. In a wide, shallow glass baking dish, scatter half of the orange slices, half of the onion slices and half of the garlic pieces on the bottom of the dish.
2.  Sprinkle the steak all over with salt and pepper and put in the dish on top of the orange and onion slices.
3. Scatter the remaining orange, onion and garlic over the steak and pour in the beer and soy sauce.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate for 1 hour at room temperature or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
5. Prepare a grill pan on medium-high heat. Remove the meat from the marinade and discard the marinade. Grill the steak to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare.
6. Slice steak into thin slices and serve.

Beans-And-Greens Tacos with Goat Cheese

I unfortunately don’t have as many pictures of this recipe as I would have likes.  I prepared them as the guests were arriving so I wasn’t as liberal with my photo taking.

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbl Olive Oil
• 2 red onions sliced into 3/4 inch round
• 5 garlic cloves finely slice
• 1 lb Swiss chard, destemmed and roughly chopper
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock
• 8 white-corn tortillas
• 2 oz goat cheese, crumbled
• 8 cilantro sprigs

1. Heat oil over medium heat in large skillet.
2. Saute onions til soft, approx. 6 min.
3. Add garlic and cook for 1 min. Stir in chard, beans, and stock. Cook until chard has wilted and the beans are warmed through. Approximately 4 min.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Using tongs, hold each tortilla directly over a gas flame (I use my hands, but I’ve been heating tortillas for years, so just be careful!)
6.  Spoon filling onto tortilla and sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese and cilantro

Here’s a photo of the finished tacos from Martha Stewart’s May 2011 Living Magazine… I think mine actually turned out pretty close! 

Check back mañana for the delicioso enchilada recipe!