Our Latin Holiday Meal

Our family experiments with food from all over the world. This last holiday our family Christmas meal had a Latin influence.

Now this meal was truly a joint effort by everyone. Jeneca’s mom, Donna, is a superb home chef and the preparation for our dinner party started a week in advance when she hosted a Tamale Party. Tamales take time to prepare and many hands are needed to create these savory cornmeal pockets filled with pork or chicken. The finishing touch on these pockets is the corn husk wrappers that seal in the goodness. If you ever make them yourself, prepare at least 4 – 5 dozen. They freeze well and can make a improptu dinner some time down the road.

The entertainment for the evening was hanging out in the kitchen with every guest involved in the cooking. See that big martini glass with the plump olives? That kept the party rolling!


One martini for you, One martini for me

My son-in-law put his muscles to the tortilla press and started the production of perfect 8” homemade corn and flour tortillas. Jeneca was at the stove, cooking them and keeping up with Eddie as he flattened the tortillas.

Perfect 8" round homemade tortillas

The empanadas were constructed by everyone. Delicate pastry dough, finely rolled out and cut to turnover size and stuffed with yummy beef and ground pork, almonds, raisins, Sherry, and cinnamon and cloves. The edges were pinched together and plop, plop they went into the hot oil till golden brown.

To master the Empanada

I could rely on our son, the chef, to come up with some great sauces for the tamales from ingredients I had on hand. He made a Mole Rojo (Ancho chilis, toasted cumin, toasted coriander, and much more) made into a puree that was smooth and bright. Another tamale sauce option was a fruity Pineapple Cilantro salsa with a sweeter taste.

We started dinner off with a small bowl of robust Albondigas Soup garnished with cilantro, a dab of sour cream, and diced green onions.

The Main Course:

Chiles Rellenos
Fresh Fruit Salad with oranges, pineapple, apples, and grapes
Homemade Tortillas
Tamales: Carnitas and Chicken
Empanadas de Picadillo (translation: pie/turnover of minced meat/hash)
Guacamole

The dessert finale was a tangy Lime Tart and petite Pumpkin-Raisin Empanadas.

Bravo! What an evening. Great food, fantastic company, and holiday cheer all around.