Del-icious!: Enlightening rainbow tacos for a birthday

Event: Neil's 39th birthday

Date: 4th August 2013

Location: Our roof deck

Guests: Juenessa, Karl, Frank, Shelley, Marcus, Deena, Roshni

Menu: Mexican tacos

Yucatecan pork

Prawns in adobo sauce

Swiss chard and potatoes

Chipotle - tomatillo salsa

Mango - habanero salsa

Pickled red onions

For just over a week at the end of July to the beginning of August, Vancouver has a wonderful carnival like atmosphere due to a bank holiday long weekend and two huge events. One is the Celebration of light, an amazing free fireworks competition held over three nights with three competing countries. 25 minutes of beautiful, spectacular fireworks are choreographed to music. It is truly a sight to be seen. Then, usually on the Sunday after the firework finale is the annual Pride Parade, hence rainbow tacos. Neil's birthday usually falls around one of the events, this time the Sunday of Pride and we celebrated with our own party on our deck.

I chose Mexican tacos for the different flavours and social nature. Everyone passing round dishes and trying a bit of everything is so much more fun than just a plate of food in front of you. I also learnt many things about Mexican ingredients and cooking techniques while making these, hence the enlightening comment.

It was an absolutely perfect night. Lanterns and lights twinkled into the sky with the stars out to provide their own illumination. The weather remained mild and pleasant after a scorching day and Lilac slept peacefully in her crib while the adults drank beer and listened to good tunes.

All the recipes here are from Just Tacos by Shelley Wiseman

Recipe : Prawns in adobo sauce
For this recipe I had to buy ancho chilies, which I was informed means any large fresh chili 'ancho' actually meaning wide. I bought green poblanos although the recipe stated the sauce would be red. I was told it depends on what chilies are available. I also bought Mexican oregano, which is apparently a different herb to the regular kind.

5 large garlic cloves, 4 unpeeled and 1 peeled

4 large ancho chilies, cut open and seeded

1/2 tsp cumin seed

5 peppercorns

1 clove

1/2 cup water

1 tsp cider vinegar

1/4 tsp dried Mexican oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

If I was to make this again I would decrease the amount of water to 1/4 cup as the marinade was a little too wet to actually stick to the prawns.

Toast the unpeeled garlic in a heavy frying pan until slightly softened and brown, about 8 minutes.

Then, toast the chilies in the same way until they are fragrant and brighter in colour, about 1 minute. Place the chilies in a large bowl of water to soften for 20 minutes and peel the garlic.

Toast the cumin, peppercorns and clove in a dry pan until fragrant, about 1 minute also.

Place all the toasted ingredients as well as everything else into a blender and blend to a smooth sauce.

Add about 1 lb of raw, peeled prawns to about 1/3 cup of the adobo and let marinade, covered and chilled, for a minimum of two hours. To cook, the recipe stated skewering and barbecuing the shrimp, although I fried for convenience sake. Serve with warmed tortillas, mango - habanero salsa, (recipe below) and lime wedges to squeeze over.

The adobo sauce can be used for all manner of things, such as marinading or basting chicken or pork or drizzling over the tacos as a salsa.

Recipe : mango - habanero salsa

2 cups diced mango

1 cup chopped red onion

1 habanero chili, finely sliced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

4 tbsp lime juice

1/2 tsp salt

Mix everything together in a bowl, stir well and cover if not using immediately, although this salsa should be eaten as soon as possible.

Neil and Lilac playing before the party

Recipe : Swiss chard with potatoes

This recipe was so simple I was a little concerned it would be bland, but as a fine testimony to how the simplest things can be the best, it was wonderfully toothsome and meaty with an interesting flavour combination of earthy potato and sweet, minerally chard. In a taco with the tomatillo - chipotle sauce and a little feta, (couldn't find the Mexican version), it was probably my favourite taco of the evening.

1 lb of Swiss chard (this looks like an absolute mountain of veg, but like spinach, it wilts down dramatically)

1 large potato, (8 oz)peeled and cut into chunks

2 cups water

1/2 tsp salt

Rinse the Swiss chard well if you bought it at a farmers' market or farm shop, it's usually covered in grit.

Chop the chard finely. Bring the water and salt to a boil, then add the potato, cover and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the Swiss chard and cook for a further 5 minutes. Drain very well and serve with tomatillo - chipotle salsa, (recipe follows), some nice crumbly, fresh cheese and warmed tortillas.

Recipe: tomatillo - chipotle sauce

WARNING - This is SPICY (The canned chipotle chilies in adobo are very, very HOT)

1/2 lb fresh tomatillos, husked and rinsed

3 cloves garlic, peeled

2 tbsp canned chipotles in adobo sauce, include some sauce

1/4 tsp salt

Place the tomatillos and garlic on a foil lined baking tray and and bake at 500oF for 10 minutes. Remove the garlic and continue cooking the tomatillos for another 10 - 15 minutes until brown and soft.

Transfer the tomatillos, with juice, garlic, chipotles and salt to a blender and blend until smooth.Cool.

This fiery, smoky, fruity salsa can be kept in the fridge for up to one week.

Recipe : pickled red onions

1 large red onion, thinly sliced. (You need about 3 cups)

1 habanero chili, finely chopped

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup distilled white vinegar

(This recipe instructed that the onions first be soaked in boiling water. I omitted this step as I thought they may be crispier without).

Place the onion in a container and stir in the chili, oregano and salt. Add vinegar to just cover and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for about 8 hours until they turn vivid pink in colour.

Recipe : Yucatecan pork

This was unbelievable. Incredibly tender, literally falling apart and spicy, savoury and toothsome. Gorgeous.

1/2 tsp cumin seed

1/2 tsp black peppercorns

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1 dried arbol chili

1/4 block anchiote paste

a little water

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/2 large onion, chopped

3 lbs pork shoulder, cut into 2 inch pieces

2 large frozen banana leaves

1/4 cup water

First, thaw your banana leaves and toast them. To do this you can either hold them over a gas flame, moving them back and forth or over an electric burner. Either way, they will start to lose their whitish coating and become shiny and bright green. Set aside.

Toast the cumin, peppercorns and chili in a small dry pan over medium heat until fragrant. Grind to a powder, adding the allspice. Transfer to a large bowl. Dissolve the anchiote paste in a little water, stirring and mashing until smooth and add to the bowl. Finely chop the garlic and mash to a paste with the salt. Add this to the bowl also with the orange juice, oregano and vinegar. Stir well then add the pork and onion. Cover, refrigerate and marinade the pork for up to 24 hours, minimum of 2.

To roast the pork, heat the oven to 325oF. Line a baking dish with the banana leaves, leaving enough overhang to cover the pork and lay the meat and onion inside, evenly spreading out. Sprinkle with the water then wrap the banana leaves over the pork, covering with foil if necessary to keep it in place. Also cover the whole pan with foil and bake in the middle of the oven for 3 - 3 1/2 hours until very tender and juicy.

To serve: shred the meat with two forks and eat with warmed tortillas, cheese, pickled red onions and cilantro, (or any of the other salsas in this post).