In the chips? Add lobster to your guacamole! While lobster salad is also popular in an avocado half (i.e., stuffed avocado), you can add a twist using it atop guacamole. For special occasions, of course.

This recipe is adapted from one sent to us by Dos Caminos restaurant in New York City.
 
 
RECIPE: LOBSTER GUACAMOLE

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Garnishes

 
Preparation

1. MASH 1 tablespoon of cilantro, 1 teaspoon onion, 1 teaspoon minced chile, and the salt together in a medium-size bowl, using the back of a spoon to mash against the bottom of the bowl.

2. ADD the chopped lobster to the bowl. Add the avocados and gently mash them with a fork until chunky smooth.

3. FOLD in the remaining cilantro, onion, and chile. Stir in the tomatoes and lime juice; taste to adjust the seasonings.

4. GARNISH with the pickled ginger or extra cilantro. Serve with warm corn tortilla chips.
 
 
TO WARM TORTILLA CHIPS

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet or pan with parchment paper (optional, for easier clean-up).

2. ADD the tortilla in a single even layer. Heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until the chips are warm.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF AVOCADO

> THE HISTORY OF LOBSTER

[1] Fancy schmancy: lobster guacamole (photo © Temazcal Cantina | Boston).

[2] Tortilla chips taste so much better when warmed in the oven before serving (photo © Cabo Chips).

[3] Pickled ginger, the sushi condiment, adds an exotic garnish to the lobster guacamole (photo © Cotton Bro | Pexels).

We’ve been asked how to put together a cheese plate for Cinco de Mayo. Truth to tell, Mexico’s signature cheeses, from fresh to aged, are white cheeses made for cooking. They’re not intended to be nibbled during cocktail hour or as a cheese course.

To learn about Mexican cheeses for cooking, read our article, Cooking With Hispanic Cheese.

For a cheese course, we have three recommendations. You can serve one or all:

Creative presentation: wedges of Manchego cheese topped with wedges of membrillo and a sprinkling of chili powder. Photo courtesy The Best Spanish Recipes.

 
We’re already getting hungry for this cheese plate!
 
*Quince paste, often made in a loaf form, is a sweet, thick, jelly made of the pulp of the quince fruit. It is sliced and served with the cheese.

†Marcona almonds, imported from Spain, are a variety of sweet almond. They’re slightly shorter and plumper in appearance compared to the almonds typically found in U.S. markets. But you can serve any raw or roasted almonds with manchego or any cheeses.

[1] Ice cream tacos: olé! (photo © Taste Of Home).

[2] Chocolate shavings for “taco’ garnish (photo © Hebert Candies).

How about ice cream tacos for Cinco de Mayo?

You can make them the easy way, with frozen round toaster waffles, or make crunchy pizzelles and fold them into taco-like shells.

But we adapted this recipe from Taste Of Home, which uses actual tortillas. As a neater alternative to tacos, you can form the tortillas into a bowl (drape them over an actual dessert bowl).

Prep time is 20 minutes. With all due respect to Klondike’s Choco Tacos, these taste a lot better!
 
 
RECIPE: ICE CREAM TACOS

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Choice Of Toppings

Select two toppings; you’ll need two tablespoons of each.

 
Plus

1. COMBINE the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle on one side of each tortilla.

2. HEAT the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the tortillas, one at a time, with the cinnamon side up. When the tortilla starts to brown, fold it into a taco shape and drain on paper towels.

3. USING the same skillet, cook and stir the pecans for 2 minutes or until lightly toasted.

4. ASSEMBLE: Line up the taco shells in a baking dish to keep them upright, open-side up. Place two small scoops of ice cream in each tortilla shell; add the toppings, drizzle with sauce and finish with the whipped cream.
 
 
HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE CURLS OR SHAVINGS

To shave chocolate or make chocolate curls, start with your favorite chocolate bars—solid, without nuts or other inclusions.

1. WARM the chocolate bar in a microwave for 3 seconds. Use a vegetable peeler to scrape down the side (not the front/back) of the bar, forming curls.

2. PLACE the chocolate curls on a wax paper-covered dish or baking pan and refrigerate until firm. It is easiest to move the curls with toothpicks.

This isn’t exactly an authentic Mexican recipe, but it’s close enough for Cino de Mayo. Presented by the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (“Beef, it’s what’s for dinner”), it’s a stylish, fresh way to serve guacamole or salsa with tortilla chips. Just add some steak to it!

The total recipe time is 35 to 40 minutes. It’s delicious with beer, savory cocktails and wine.

Find more steak-sational recipes at BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com.

RECIPE: GRILLED SALSA STEAK APPETIZER

Ingredients For 24 Pieces

1. PLACE the beef steaks and 1/2 cup of the salsa in food-safe plastic bag; turn steaks to coat. Close the bag securely and marinate in the refrigerator 15 minutes to 2 hours.

2. COMBINE the remaining 1/2 cup salsa and chopped cilantro; cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

3. REMOVE the steaks from the marinade; discard marinade (always discard a marinade when finished; bacteria, which die when the protein is cooked, can remain present in the marinade). Place the steaks on a grill over medium-hot, ash-covered coals. Grill, covered, 10 to 14 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill, 12 to 16 minutes) for medium rare (145°F) to medium (160°F) doneness, turning occasionally.

4. CARVE the steaks into thin slices; cut the slices into bite-size pieces.

5. ARRANGE the tortilla chips on a platter. Top each chip evenly with the reserved salsa mixture, a piece of beef and topping of guacamole. Garnish with a cilantro leaf. Serve immediately.

Flat iron steak (also called top blade or patio steak) is cut from the shoulder of the steer (the top blade roast), producing a cut that is flavorful, but a bit tougher because it’s cut with the grain. It thus requires marinating and cooking to no more doneness than medium; but produces a piece of beef with deep, rich flavor.

If it seems like a newer cut, it is. It was developed by teams at the University of Nebraska and the University of Florida, with research funded by the National Cattleman’s Beef Association.

The problem presented to the university researchers was the best way to use a challenging cut of beef from the shoulder of the steer. Though a flavorful and relatively tender cut of meat, the top blade roast has a serious flaw in the middle of it; an impossibly tough piece of connective tissue running through the middle.

To make the flat iron steak, the top blade roast is separated into two pieces by cutting horizontally through the center to remove the heavy connective tissue. The result: the roast was turned into tasty, tender, economical steaks.

See our beef glossary for the different cuts of beef.

If you’re having tortilla chips on Cinco de Mayo, celebrate with a better chip. We received a sample of Cabo Chips, and the toughest part has been restraining ourselves so there are still chips left on May 5th.

Cabo Chips were born during a beach vacation to Cabo San Lucas in Baja, Mexico. Created by a college student who set out to make “the best,” these are artisan chips. The company actually grinds whole corn kernels, makes tortillas, and cuts and batch-fries them into the chips.

The seasonings are top drawer, too: fresh lime juice, sea salt, powdered mango (not “mango flavor”), organic cinnamon and sugar. You’ll taste the difference: fresh and natural.

There are currently four flavors:

If you can’t find Cabo Chips locally, you can buy them online at CaboChips.com, in 1.5-ounce snack packs and 5.5-ounce bags.

WHY BLUE CORN IS BETTER FOR YOU

Long ago, we bought our first bag of blue corn chips because we were attracted to the color, and then the naturally sweeter flavor. Much later, we learned that blue corn was better for you than white or yellow corn.

Blue corn-based foods were originally developed by the Hopi natives of Arizona and New Mexico, who bred the blue corn. Blue corn is actually regular yellow corn that has a high level of anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants that give the corn (and blackberries, blueberries, etc.) its blue hue.

THE HISTORY OF TORTILLA CHIPS

Surprisingly, tortilla chips are not a traditional Mexican food. They were first popularized and mass produced in southwestern Los Angeles in the late 1940s by Rebecca Webb Carranza, who, with her husband, owned a Mexican deli and tortilla factory.

Misshapen tortillas were rejected from the tortilla manufacturing machine, so Ms. Carranza turned them into snack chips. She cut them into triangles, fried them and sold them in snack-size bags.

Needless to say, they sold well and became a popular appetizer in California’s Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants. They expanded across the U.S. in a big way in the late 1970s, with the growth of Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants. They replaced corn chips like Fritos as America’s favorite corn chip* snack.

And yes, they made their way to Mexico.

 
*The main difference between the two types of chip is that a tortilla chip is cut from a whole tortilla. A corn chip is corn meal that is processed into a particular shape.

Why is blue corn better for you? See the explanation above. Photo courtesy Cabo Chips.

Some are obvious, some are new:

 
Have we left out your favorite uses? Let us know!
 
†A great use for the broken pieces! Shake ‘n Bake was created to use Kraft’s supply of cereal crumbs.

‡Pulse in a food processor into a flour.