Soup for Cinco de Mayo. Photo courtesy
Dole.

You could whip up some tortilla soup for Cinco de Mayo. Or, try this Mexican Chicken & Rice Soup.

There are dozens of “Mexican-style” Chicken Soup recipes out there. This one is tasty and easy to make. Don’t omit the lime or the cilantro; both provide authentic (and delicious) Mexican flavors.

MEXICAN CHICKEN & RICE SOUP RECIPE

Ingredients

Preparation

1. PLACE chicken thighs, carrots, onion, bay leaf and salt in a large stockpot and cover with 8 cups of cold water. Cook over medium-high heat just until the mixture begins to boil. (NOTE: We remove the skin from the thighs to reduce the fat and cholesterol in the soup.)

2. REDUCE heat and simmer for 30 minutes, until chicken is tender. Remove all the ingredients from the stock. Discard the onion and bay leaf. When cool enough to handle, remove the chicken from the bone and chop the chicken and carrots into bite-sized pieces.

3. PLACE 1/4 cup rice in the bottom of each of 4 bowls. Distribute the chicken, carrots, chopped red onion and cilantro evenly among them and top with 1 cup of stock. Squeeze some lime juice on top and serve, garnished with a lime wedge.

Makes: 4 Servings | Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes.

Cookie maven Ann Clark of Make More Cookies wants more people to bake biscochitos. Crisp and crunchy, biscochitos are a cinnamon cookies, “a cross between shortbread and cinnamon toast,” says Ann. You don’t have to shape them like cactus or chiles; biscochitos are traditionally cut in a diamond shape for weddings or in a fleur de lis shape. Any cookie cutter will do. (The cactus and chili pepper cookie cutters are available on Amazon or at AnnClark.com.)

These classic Mexican cookies are “the perfect cookies to nibble on during Cinco de Mayo,” says Ann. Often served at Christmas and at weddings, biscochitos came to Mexico by way of Spain; the inclusion of anise seed and brandy or wine or wine attests to their European heritage. They are beloved in the southwestern U.S., and are the official state cookie of New Mexico.

Cactus- and chile-shaped cookies are a fun option for Cinco de Mayo. Photo courtesy Ann Clark.

Recipes for biscochitos often state that you must use lard to make them authentic. Ann says that lard does, indeed, make cookies with a uniquely light, crisp texture. But it also makes them taste like lard. Her recipe uses a combination of shortening and butter.

Two other departures from tradition: To help the cookies keep their shape, Ann’s recipe uses less baking powder than is usually called for. And, to reduce the risk of breakage, instead of dipping the baked cookies in cinnamon sugar they get a coating before going into the oven.

This recipe makes about 20 cookies.

Make biscochitos in your favorite shapes.
Photo courtesy Cowgirl Way | Pinterest.

BISCOCHITOS RECIPE

Ingredients

Preparation

1. STIR sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl and set aside.

2. BEAT butter and shortening together in a bowl; add 1/4 cup sugar and beat until fluffy.

3. ADD egg, brandy, vanilla and anise; mix until completely incorporated.

4. WHISK together and add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix just until all ingredients are well blended; do not overmix. Chill dough for 3-4 hours before rolling.

5. PREHEAT oven to 350ºF. Roll dough out on a lightly floured counter to 1/4-inch thickness and cut with cookie cutters. Transfer cookies onto cookie sheets that have been lined with parchment paper or silicone liners.

6. BRUSH each cookie lightly with water, using a pastry brush; sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly colored. Let cookies cool slightly on cookie sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

 
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If you know a mom who loves chocolate and dogs, is there a better Mother’s Day gift than these chocolate pup bonbons?

Made by hand by Gearhearts Chocolates, the milk chocolate bonbons are filled with silky chocolate ganache, which is lightly infused with handmade peanut butter.

And they’re guilt-free: Five percent of sales of Peanut Butter Pups is donated to Companions for Heroes, a not-for-profit organization that matches rescue pets as companion animals to our nation’s wounded veterans.

Read the full review and order yours today.
 

FIND MORE OF OUR FAVORITE CHOCOLATES &
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
CHOCOLATE.

Who can resist these chocolate peanut butter pups? Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

Make agua fresca for Cinco de Mayo. Photo
© Raptor Captor | Fotolia.

In Spanish, agua fresca means fresh water. In culinary terms, it refers to a variety of refreshing cold drinks that are sold by street vendors and at cafés throughout Latin America; they’re also sold bottled and are whipped up at home.

A traditional agua fresca is an infused, sweetened water, flavored with fruits and/or vegetables—often a more complex layering of flavors than lemonade and limeade. It is nonalcoholic and noncarbonated.

The recipes can include a combination of fruits or veggies, flowers (like hibiscus), herbs and/or spices, cereals (barley, oats, rice), seeds (chia), even almond flour. Agua de horchata, a very popular recipe, is made of rice spiced with cinnamon.

While some look forward to Margaritas and other alcoholic libations to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, kids and adults who refrain from drinking should indulge in an agua fresca or two. Of course, you can add a shot of rum, tequila or other spirit for those who want to celebrate with it.

Three of our favorite combinations:

They’re as easy to make as lemonade. Try different recipes and develop your own signature. You’ll be certain to have people dropping by through the warm spring and summer months.

TIP: To ensure that the sugar dissolves, use simple syrup or ultrafine sugar (which you can make by pulsing regular sugar in the food processor or spice mill). You can infuse the simple sugar with herbs (we like basil or rosemary). Here’s the simple syrup recipe.

And here’s the agua fresca recipe we had recently at Tres Carnes, a wonderful new Texican smoked meat spot in New York City (more about it below). The house agua fresca, a combination of apple, cucumber and lime, was so refreshing that we had a second. Thanks to executive chef Sasha Shor for sharing her recipe.

TRES CARNES AGUA FRESCA RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. MAKE a basic simple syrup by boiling water and dissolving sugar in it. Reduce by 1/3 until a syrup forms. Cool completely.

2. TRIM ends from cucumbers and chop into large chunks.

3. CORE apples and remove stems, discard cores and seeds.

Smoked pork shoulder, our favorite among three delicious smoked meats at Tres Carnes restaurant. Photo © Chris Gardiner | Fotolia.

4. PURÉE cucumbers and apples with lime juice in a blender or food processor until all is incorporated and you have a thick purée. The consistency should be similar to thinned applesauce.

5. STRAIN the purée mixture through a fine mesh strainer, removing all fruit and vegetable pulp. You may have to strain twice depending on your strainer.

6. ADD simple syrup and water and stir well. You may have some sediment but that’s ok!

7. CHILL the agua fresca and serve over ice. Garnish and serve.
 

TRES CARNES RESTAURANT: TEXICAN SMOKED MEATS IN A FAST FOOD VENUE

Tres Carnes is the newest best thing to happen to fast food. The first outpost launched recently in New York City (at Sixth Avenue and 22nd Street). If the great food and lines snaked out the door are any indication, it’s a smash hit.

You move through a line past the hot table, where personable counter staff put whatever you want in a bowl, in a burrito wrap or onto a plate with two soft tortillas. You choose from three kinds of smoked meat (the “tres carnes”) prepared by Mike Rodriguez, an award-winning pitmaster—smoked brisket, chicken adobo and BBQ pork shoulder—and revel in the delicious sides of beans, corn, greens, guacamole and squash. Chili is Texas-style: all meat, no beans.

There are so many delicious sides that vegetarians can have as wonderful a meal as carnivores. Everything is seasoned with great finesse, and the food is of a quality that doesn’t get any better at far fancier, white tablecloth restaurants. In fact, we can’t think of any other Tex-Mex restaurant we’d rather return to.

The eatery is so new that there are no photos of the fab food on the website, no place to sign up for information, not even a Facebook page or Twitter. But keep checking at TresCarnes.com, and hope that a Tres Carnes comes to you, soon.

Thinking ahead to Cinco de Mayo? Bring something hot to the party—a bottle of Stoli Hot vodka, with jalapeño flavor and a hint of chipotle smoke. You can also make your own (recipe below).

Introduced last year as a new flavor, Stoli Hot is a reformulated version of the 1962 flavor, Pepper (Pertsovka). Another 1962 flavor, Honey and Herb (Okhotnichya), is now called Stoli Sticki. They were the brand’s first flavored vodkas, and the freshening up of the concepts was a 50th anniversary celebration.

Stoli Hot mixes well with lime juice, mango nectar, orange juice and pineapple juice. We loved it in a frozen mango Margarita, the flavors echoing our favorite flavor of paleta (Mexican ice pop), mango chili lime.

The distiller has developed Stoli Hot cocktail recipes, including, among others:

Some like it hot. They should enjoy drinking shots of Stoli Hot. Photo courtesy Stolichnaya Vodka.

 
There are plenty of ways to have a hot time on Cinco de Mayo!

MAKE YOUR OWN INFUSED JALAPEÑO VODKA

You can infuse your own vodka with jalapeños, and can also play around with a touch of chipotle or liquid smoke flavor. Home-infused vodka will have a different flavor from Stolichnaya’s, since commercial vodkas are flavored with extracts instead of infused with fresh fruit.

Just because you’ll be infusing jalapeños doesn’t mean you can buy the cheapest vodka on the shelf: The impurities will still be apparent. Of course, you don’t have to infuse the most expensive vodka, either, unless you want to.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. REMOVE stems from jalapeños and cut into quarters lengthwise. Add to vodka bottle.

2. STEEP in a cool, dark place for one week; then taste. If you’d like a hotter flavor, continue steeping and check weekly.

3. REMOVE the jalapeños. You can keep them in the bottle for a picturesque touch, and they will continue to add flavor for a few months until their flavors are thoroughly incorporated.

TIP: It’s not easy to remove the fruit from the bottle. Instead, keep an empty vodka bottle around for making infused vodka. Transfer the vodka you’re infusing into that bottle and add the fruit. Then, when your infusion is complete, decant the flavored vodka into the original bottle.
 
FIND MORE OF OUR FAVORITE SPIRITS & COCKTAIL RECIPES.

For all the deviled egg fans out there: Here‘s a springtime recipe for Sweet Pea Deviled Eggs from Del Monte. You can use cooked fresh spring peas in season (now!), or can use canned peas year-round. This recipe also works for St. Patrick’s Day and other green-theme occasions.

Substituting peas and avocado for half of the egg yolks reduces the cholesterol load.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Makes: 24 stuffed egg halves

RECIPE: Sweet Pea Deviled Eggs

Ingredients

These deviled eggs have reduced cholesterol: Only half of the yolks are used. Photo courtesy Del Monte.

Preparation

1. COOK eggs: Place in a large saucepan, completely covered in cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat, run under cold water briefly and peel. Peeling under cold running water helps to remove the shell more easily and helps to cool the eggs for handling. Cut in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks; set aside 6 of the 12 yolks for for another purpose (see below).

2. PLACE 6 egg yolks in a blender or food processor with the peas, avocado, mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, mustard and salt and black pepper. Purée until smooth.

3. SPOON equal amounts of the purée into each of the egg white halves. Garnish with parsley and/or paprika.

If you have extra yolks, we know what to do
with them. Photo courtesy American Egg
Board.

USES FOR COOKED EGG YOLKS

If you’ve got extra egg yolks:

 
We found this recipe for Pennsylvania Dressing, which was served in the dining cars of the Pennsylvania Railroad atop a salad of iceberg lettuce, tomato wedges, sliced cucumber, scallions, radishes and celery:

PENNSYLVANIA DRESSING RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. MASH egg yolks with enough tarragon vinegar to make a smooth paste.

2. ADD each ingredient in the order listed, mixing well before adding the next. Beat with a whisk until blended thoroughly, about 1 minute.

3. POUR into a glass jar and cover tightly. Chill at least 1 hour before serving. Makes 1 pint.
 
FOOD TRIVIA: WHY THE EGGS ARE HARD COOKED, NOT HARD BOILED

It‘s a technicality: While the cooking water is brought to a boil, the eggs are actually simmered until cooked, not boiled.

If you don’t celebrate Easter, today is also:

Rabbit enjoying his Easter dinner.

It’s really easy to make this ice cream cake
for Easter, or to simply serve three pretty
colors of gelato or sorbetto in a bowl. Photo
courtesy Talenti Gelato\.

By the time dessert comes, we’ll be bursting at the seams: no room for carrot cake or coconut cake (can we get that to go?), not to mention pie or anything chocolate.

But what’s a festive meal without dessert?

Our solution? The beautiful spring colors of Talenti gelato:

 
Read the full review of Talenti gelato to see how to turn them into a lovely “Easter Nest” dessert, that everyone will have room for…and how easy it is to make the colorful ice cream cake in the photo.

Bunny Pops: Rice Krispie Treats or ice cream
bars. Photo courtesy Recipe.com.

How cute are these Easter Bunny Pops?

They’re a creative Easter snack idea: Rice Krispie Treats on a stick. Here’s the recipe, from Recipe.com.

You can also port the idea to ice cream bars: Paint bunny faces on ice cream bars (our favorite brand is Magnum Ice Cream Bars):

ROYAL ICING RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE ingredients with an electric mixer on low speed for 7-10 minutes, or until the icing loses its shine. If the icing is too stiff, add more water, a teaspoon at a time.

2. STIR in more food color as needed. Put into piping bag with a small icing nozzle, or a plastic storage bag with the tip cut off (smallest possible opening).

3. OUTLINE the ears, create the eyes, nose and mouth. Switch to a wider nozzle to fill in the ears.

FIND MORE OF OUR FAVORITE COOKIE RECIPES & ICE CREAM RECIPES,

A colorful and yummy beet dip. Photo
courtesy Dole.com.

We love beets in every form: baked, Harvard, pickled, beet ravioli, steamed beats, soup (borscht is Russian beet soup), in gourmet appetizer recipes, in green salads, with goat cheese and endive…even beet ice cream (substitute beets in a strawberry ice cream recipe) and beet cake (food trivia: the original—and best—red velvet cake recipes got their red hue from beets, not food color).

You can even enjoy beet juice in cocktails: a beet Martini or this beet Mojito, for example.

Now, here’s another way to enjoy beets: as a dip with crudités or a bread spread. The recipe is courtesy Dole Foods.

It’s a beautiful color for Easter or any other festive occasion.

BEET DIP & SPREAD

Ingredients

Beet dip with cucumber ribbons on skewers. Photo courtesy Dole.com.

Preparation

1. PULSE beets in bowl or food processor wuth scallion and spinach, until finely chopped.

2. ADD cream cheese, lemon juice and salt, and process until well-blended, leaving some texture in dip. Transfer to bowl and stir in chives.

3. SERVE as a dip with crudités or as a spread on toasted french bread.