Wohoo, after almost two years, when I showed you How to host a Sushi Party, I’m finally throwing in some new food party inspiration for all of you who love to cook and eat in company. This time I’ve got you covered with recipes and inspiration for a successful Mexican Food Party with tacos, tortillas, nachos and much more.
On New Years Eve we’re usually not the kind of people who are keen on celebrating, let alone party hard ^^ However, we received some dear visitors. Having friends over at your place is always a great reason to get some serious cooking action going and to try some new things from my to-cook-list. This time I started with cauliflower wings and pulled jackfruit as a base for a Mexican inspired NYE dinner with wraps, tacos, beans, lots of veggies and homemade dips.
I discovered the super practical tortilla ships at our local supermarket. They are amazing! You can fill them up sheer endlessly, you don’t have to roll them up (and lose half of the filling while eating it) and they won’t crumble to pieces, as it is the case with tacos 😉
Another plus: You can add them to the Steakreaktor/Beefer* to gratinate them with cheese within seconds
What would fluffy tortillas and crisp tacos be without a hearty filling and fresh and creamy dips? Rather boring and dry, I’d guess. Pure, raw veggies alone won’t make you happy, so think about other options for you and your guests, that’ll make them squeak with joy.
The supermarkets are stuffed with thousands and thousands of different brands for sauces and dips. Yet, I’d highly recommend to make your dips with fresh ingredients from scratch. That’s neither difficult nor too time consuming and the results will make you much more proud than any bottled sauce possibly could. Apart from that: Nothing can beat a freshly prepared guacamole 😉 These are the dips I made:
4-6 servings
I basically worked 1 to 1 after the recipe by Minimalist Baker
If you’re a great cheese lover you won’t acknowledge the resemblance to a ‘real’ cheese dip, but that was never my intention. This dip is awesome for what it is. It is soft, creamy, salty and … in a way kind of cheesy ;). So give that lil egg plant a chance!
No matter if ‘veggie’ or ‘meaty’ – our tacos and tortillas are in desperate need of some hearty sauces and fillings for the full taste adventure. I’ve tried two different recipes which were waiting on my to-cook-list for seemingly ages.
The huge, up to 10kg heavy tropical fruit (originally from india) consists of fibrous pulp, which might remind one or two of chicken (first dangerous meat substitute trigger for all the meat lovers) and is therefore not only suited for sweet dishes but also for hearty stuff.
Our party guests loved this foreign, spicy BBQ jackfruit a lot and it actually didn’t matter one bit if it resembled chicken / meat or not. Seriously, I’m actually not intending to imitate meat dishes or substitute anything. I love to test new ingredients and get the full flavour out of everything.
Let’s keep it that way: It somehow resembles something meat-ish like a pulled pork which was drowned in spices and sauce. But it also has a fruity and unique taste, that makes it typical jackfruit. Jackfruit doesn’t need to pretend to be something else. It’s amazing the way it is.
Good question! Depending on which part of the world you’re from you’ll either be able to buy a fresh whole fruit or you have to help yourself with canned jackfruit in pickle.
for 4-6 servings as a filling in wraps / burgers or the like
I’ve wanted to make these for months now and I’m so happy to finally be able to tick them off my list and rate them with three stars. The cauliflower, torn to pieces, is first breaded in a flour-spice-almond milk mix and finally glazed with a BBQ sauce.
Well, those delicious bites call themselves ‘wings’ as they are not only remind you of chicken wings visually (the natural ‘meat shape’ of cauliflower ;)) but also because they are similarly prepared as wings, ribs and the like. I don’t really care if there are readers among you who take this as yet another confirmation of their ‘meat substitute hate’. I rather am delighted for all of you who love trying new things and want to test a new way of preparing cauliflower 😉
I got this recipe idea from various pinterest boards and facebook groups. The basic recipe I’ve worked from is that of the wonderful Dana from Minimalist baker. Here’s my version:
1. Mix the ingredients together. Bit by bit add the water. The batter should be thick but pourable. Add just enough water to make it pourable and sticky to the cauliflower
2. Dip the cauliflower into the batter and spread them on a baking paper covered tray. Bake in the preheated oven at 220°C / 450°F for about 20 minutes.
3. Remove the baked cauliflower from the overn and carefully dip the chunks into the thinned sauce. Place them on the tray again and bake for another 20 minutes until the glaze has caramelized.
4. You can serve the wings with sour cream.
I don’t think I’ve ever posted so many recipes in one post. Maybe I’ll be adding more jackfruit and cauliflower recipes after those basics ones, what do you think? Let me know what you are up to this year and if you want me to focus on something special 🙂
Happy New Year and let’s rock 2018!
