I’ve
been chopped from the Freshly Blogged competition, but I got to cook in all 11
challenges and made it to Top 9 (yay). What an amazing experience! It challenged
me creatively and pushed my culinary abilities – I made custard, consommé and
macaroons for the first time, so I learnt a lot!
All
the best to the remaining 6 bloggers, we’ll see if my personal favourites make
it to the final :)
For
the final challenge we could use the following to create a Mexican inspired
dish: Werda Spicy Mexican Bean Salad, sour cream, spring onion, avocado, cherry
tomatoes, coriander and one added protein. This was my final entry:
Mexican
food intrigues me. It ranges from simplistic flavoursome ingredients and
preparation, to exotic components and time consuming cooking methods. I would
LOVE to go on a culinary adventure to Mexico one day! I was inspired by the
Mexican flag for this recipe, much like the ingredients, the colours are strong
and punchy, but the design simplistic with surprise details.
Tricolour Mexican Dipper with Coriander Butter Tortillas
Serves
4
Prep
time: 30 min
Cooking
Time: 1 hour
You will need
For
the tortillas:
2
cups flour
1
tsp baking powder
1
tsp salt
¼
cup vegetable oil
¾
cups hot water
For
the Re-Fried beans:
Vegetable
oil
¼
cup spring onion (white part only), sliced
1
box Werda Spicy Mexican Bean Salad
Salt
For
the tomato salsa:
16
cherry tomatoes
Salt
Black
pepper
For
the crispy bacon:
4
rashers streaky bacon
For
the spring onion sour cream:
250g
sour cream
¼
cup spring onion (green part only), sliced
Salt
For
the guacamole:
1
ripe avocado
¼
cup fresh coriander, chopped
Salt
Black
pepper
For
the coriander butter:
1
cup fresh coriander, chopped
½
cup butter
Salt
How to make it
For
the tortillas:
Sift
the flour, baking powder and salt together.
Add
the oil. Work it into the flour with your hands.
Add
the water bit by bit and mix well. (It should form a sticky ball.)
Wrap
the dough in cling film and rest for at least 30 minutes.
Divide
the dough into 16 pieces.
On
a floured surface, roll each dough ball into a flat round tortilla (about the
size of a cd).
Heat
a non stick pan to scorching hot, don’t add oil.
Dry
grill each tortilla for 30 – 50 seconds on each side until dark spots appear.
Store
tortillas in an airtight container.
For
the Re-Fried beans:
Heat
some olive oil in a heavy based pot.
Fry
the spring onion until soft.
Add
the Werda Spicy Mexican Bean Salad and cook for about 10 minutes until the
sauce is reduced and it’s slightly caramilised.
Using
a potato crusher, crush the beans in the pot to form a paste.
Season
to taste with salt.
For
the tomato salsa:
Cut
a cross into each tomato.
Blanch
in boiling water for 2 minutes and drain.
Peel
the tomatoes and remove the pips.
Cut
into small cubes, season with salt and finely milled black pepper and set
aside.
For
the crispy bacon:
In
a very hot pan or under a grill, cook the bacon until brown and crispy.
Drain
on paper towels.
Once
cool, cut into small pieces and set aside.
For
the spring onion sour cream:
Mix
the spring onions with the sour cream and season to taste with salt.
Cover
and set aside.
For
the guacamole:
Smash
the avocado to a chuncky consistency and mix in the chopped coriander.
Season
with salt and finely milled black pepper.
Cover
and set aside.
For
the coriander butter:
Just
before serving, melt the butter and mix in the chopped coriander.
Season
well with salt.
Serving:
*Everything
should be served at room temperature, but the re-fried beans and tortillas can
be re-heated if you’d like.
Scoop
the salsa, then the sour cream, then the re-fried beans and then the guacamole
into a glass in layers.
Top
with crispy bacon and garnish with coriander.
Cut
tortilla rounds into quarters.
Drizzle
or paint each tortilla with the hot coriander butter and serve immediately.
TIP:
Serve with a small spoon so that guests can scoop out all four layers and smear
it onto their tortillas.
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