Mexican Party

The tradition that runs in my family, is that the birthday boy or girl gets to choose the birthday cake. Now this week's birthday girl has been extra demanding, you know how girls can be ;) because it was a whole dinner party that was planned, and the theme was Mexican.

So after a few research i choose to make it a "do-it-yourself" kind of dinner: home made tortillas, with chicken fajitas or beef burritos filling and different kind of vegetable, cheese or cream to go with it, the whole "enchilada" ;)
Everybody could make their own wrap. It turned out to be entertaining, and the kids enjoyed making their own food (be aware it can get messy though).

I've decided to share with you the two most "basic" recipe of this evening: the tortilla wrap and the guacamole.
I had in mind to make corn flour tortilla, but after a few research over the internet, i realised it's not just regular corn flour that is used, but a special dedicated one, that i had no way to get my hands on. So i made them with regular wheat flour and i was happy with the result.

Guacamole is such a popular recipe, that everybody has a version of it, i've tried many, and i'm just sharing mine here, i'm not saying it's very original, it's just the one that i like.

Tortilla (based on the recipe from Saveurs Mexicaines)

For 5 or 6 Tortillas

200gr of Flour
60gr of Butter at Room Temperature
1 Teaspoon of Salt
1 Teaspoon of Sugar
1 Teaspoon of Garlic (dried)
1 Teaspoon of Cumin
1 Teaspoon of Paprika
Tepid Water

Put the Flour, salt, sugar and spicies thru a sieve, add the butter and start mixing it in. I used my kitchenaid to do so, it makes the job much easier. Start adding the water little by little, until you get a dough that you can work with. It should be soft, but not stick to your hands.

Put it on your work surface and knit it for a few minutes. Separate the dough into 6 equal parts, roll them in balls and press them down a little. Leave them to rest for about 30 minutes under a clean cloth.

But flour on your rolling pin and working surface, and roll out your tortillas. Don't make them too thin, otherwise you'll have trouble getting them into the pan. Put a pan on a medium to high flame, wait until it's hot and without any fat, cook your tortillas about 40 seconds each side, some bubble will appear, they should get golden brown.

As you cook them, always put a cloth on top of them when they are done, so they stay warm and soft.

Guacamole

4 Avocados
1 Tablespoon of Lime Juice
4 Tablespoons of Fresh Cilantro, chopped
1 Tomato
1 Teaspoon of Piri-Piri Sauce (or Tabasco)
1 Teaspoon of dried Cilantro
Salt

Cut the avocados in half and scrape the flesh out, press it with a fork and immediatly add the lime juice (or lemon will do) so it won't turn grey.
Clean your fresh cilantro and chop it finely. Quarter your tomato and remove the seeds and juice, and chop it quite finely too.

Add the cilantro, the tomato, the Piri-Piri sauce, the dried cilantro and the salt to the avocado. Mix everything, still with a fork, it's not a soup, it still needs some textures.
Taste it and correct the seasoning. I personnaly don't like too much lime in it, but i like to use grinded coarse salt.

Just a tip to finish, to me the best way to prevent the guacamole to turn grey too soon, beside lime/lemon is to put cling film on it, and by that i mean litteraly on it: it oxidates with air, so if you press the cling film down to the guacamole, it works like a protectiv skin.