Friday, April 18, 2008

Fiesta!

Last Saturday Bill and I hosted our first party at The Watermill. We had long been collecting ingredients to support our plot to turn the wonderful people of Ireland into Tex-Mex maniacs! Our plan involved operatives in Dublin and Austin, and a Mexican food supply company in London. Our weapons: Pork Tamales and homemade corn tortillas with three taco fillings-- Pork and Potato, cold chicken salad with chipotle vinaigrette, and shrimp in garlic lime butter. We also offered the classic chips and dips: guacamole, Rotel(R) dip, and salsa. Alas, no jalapeño ranch. While Bill's dishes leaned more toward authentic Mexican than true Tex-Mex, I made a quintessentially American vision of mexican flavors: the 7-layer dip.

Bill did an amazing job planning and executing his menu. He started Wednesday by constructing the tamales and freezing them. Thursday night he made the pork taco filling, and Friday he baked brownies with cinnamon and ancho chili powder. He also roasted the veggies for the salsa and put together the base of jalapeño, tomatoes, and garlic. He even made the garlic lime sauce for the shrimp. Saturday he spent an hour making 35 corn tortillas in addition to steaming the tamales, cooking the shrimp, and making the chicken salad. I experimented with an on-the-rocks margarita recipe.

So, what did people think? Watch the clip to find out. Also, I think you'll find I'm one step away from hosting and/or editing a show on the Food Network.




Needless to say, we were ecstatically happy to be dining on Mexican food. This picture is of our leftovers on Sunday. Bill did dial down the spice levels a bit. He used half the chiles called for in the salsa and chicken salad. He was free with the cilantro however, or coriander as it is known here. Still wonderfully flavorful, and the tamales and tortillas both delicately embodied the yummy essence of corn.

Special thanks to Helen, Lisa, and Bill's muse, Rick Bayless.

9 comments:

mom Gunter said...

You two kids are something else. I don't know when I have enjoyed anything as much as that video. I am going to call Dan and Joel tonight and make sure they see it!!!!!!! Bill you are a genius!!!!!!!!! I wish my ESL class could see the video. I have one young man who is always talking about his mother's cooking. He said that real Mexican food isn't like what we have in Mexican restaurants here.

The people all looked so very nice and friendly.

Unknown said...

Sharon & Bill, Your party looks like a great success. Makes me hungry for some good Mexican food. Maybe we will get some when we go to Tx for Shawn's wedding. I hope all your Irish friends apreciate what a great chef Bill is!

bockelmama said...

Is Shawna getting married?? When are you going to TX Celia?

Laurie said...

Great little video even though you stuck me in it. Funny - I don't remember seeing myself in a video before - I felt like I could be watching my brother!?

The food & party was great. Well done, much appreciated and, wow, it looked like a lot of work.

Laurie said...

Sorry, grammar - The food & party were great!

lisa is cooking said...

Everything looks delicious. Now, it's just a matter of time until there's a TexMex place on every corner in Dublin.

BillG said...

Laurie, we can't help it if you're so video-genic! You gave us some great sound bites and we just had to use them. Thanks for coming, we enjoyed having you and Sharon.

Sharon said...

And thanks for keeping the grammar standards high!

Heather said...

You guys rock! You've always been the hostess with the mostess!