Tex Mex!

This was week 7 in American Regional Lab. We prepared Tex Mex food and it was one of my favorite weeks yet! Thursday was mostly prepping for Friday, but Friday was a feast!!! Tex Mex is HUGE on protein, after all.

Thursday I prepped the beef brisket by placing it in a marinade to sit overnight. Then I got everything ready for the bbq sauce. I also made Pico de Gallo for the next day. Then I made what is called a Starburst Salad. Oh. My. Goodness. I am a huge fan of strawberries as it is, but the vinaigrette that the strawberries were tossed with is making my mouth water as I type this. Two grapefruit were zested and sectioned, and all the juice is saved from that process and the segments are saved for the salad. Then you combine the juice with sherry vinegar, salt, sugar, and oil. Toss in the poppy seeds and zest and you have an amazing vinaigrette that perfectly complimented the strawberries. I ate all the strawberries except a few that others tasted. But it was mostly me.

Friday the brisket was popped into the smoker immediately. It still needed about 30 minutes to be REALLY tender, but that's one of the drawbacks of such a short class. It had a really wonderful sweet, tangy, and salty flavor to it with the bbq sauce. It was served with Tamales that another girl made.

I also prepped everything for the Shrimp Tacos with Green Chili Chutney. I decided to make the tortilla shells into little tortilla cups instead of the normal taco shape. I really liked the presentation I ended up with. I also enjoyed the flavors of the shrimp in this recipe, especially with the added heat of the green chili chutney.

I made the flan, as well. I made a double batch and they all were eaten.

After all that, I still had time and I had seen some extra strawberries in the fridge left over from the day before. I decided, after asking Chef if it was ok, to make the strawberry salad from the day before, with a twist. He agreed I could have SOME of the strawberries to do what I wanted with. I made the vinaigrette and then I brought it to a simmer with some cream and tempered some egg yolks. I chilled it down and folded in just a little whipped cream to lighten it a little. A Grapefruit Juice Creme Anglaise. Delicious. Strawberries dipped in said anglaise. Divine.

This has been my favorite week so far in American regional.