Great Mexican Dish Ideas for the Holiday's

Hey guys, Blogger Chef here and we are finally getting into Holiday season full swing. Once Halloween passes, there’s only one thing on everybody’s mind and that is the upcoming holidays. This personally is a special time of the year because it’s one of the few times to celebrate with the entire family or friends. Coming from a big family this gives us a special time of the year to see the extended family and catch up on all the exciting news. Not only does this time of the year allow us to catch up with loved ones, it also provides us with a chance to eat good food that we save for the holidays. Coming from a Mexican background we usually save special meals for holidays, events, and special occasions. It’s gives us something to look forward to knowing we may not get another chance to enjoy are favorite foods. In this article, I wanted to bring you guys some great Mexican holiday food that will surely be a great addition to your table.

Let’s start with one of my personal favorite meals during the holidays and that is Mexican tamales. Nothing beats a warm homemade tamale made from scratch on a cold Christmas or New Years. Tamales are made from a special dough called masa and them steamed in a corn husk. Tamales are usually stuffed with chicken, pork, cheese, or peppers along with its unique salsa. Tamales is a time-consuming meal to prep and the cook time is well over 3 hours, however the result is worth the effort. Another great thing when making tamales is that they are made in bulk, so you know you won’t run out while celebrating the holiday’s.

The next holiday meal is for those who like a good traditional Mexican soup. The soup is called pozole and is a favorite meal for the holiday season. Pozole is full of hominy, pork or chicken, and the stew. This dish has different variations to it because you have three choices of stew. Pozole stew can be green, red, or white and depending on the spices and peppers used it will determine the stew. Once you decide on the stew, you can decide to add chicken (usually for the green and white) and the pork (usually for the red). The pozole is another time-consuming meal to prepare because of the time the hominy takes to cook. Usually hominy takes over night on a light boil to fully cook, so you must get started on it early. Pozole is then garnished with onion, radish, lime, sour cream, and avocado. This meal is a great way to start the day nice and early with a good soup for everyone to enjoy.

Let’s change the pace a little bit with my next holiday meal with some tacos. One of the best meals you can have during the holidays is some good, homemade tacos nice and hot right off the flattop. Tacos are a great holiday meal because they are fast and easy to make on the spot. You can feed your whole family and stay under a good budget because they are cost efficient. It may not seem like a special meal for the holidays, but it gets the job done and leaves everyone happy. If you’d like to experiment and try some different tacos I would recommend al pastor or tacos de cabeza. These tacos are some unique because the taco de cabeza is literal cow head meat, but steamed. These tacos are delicacy and are only made during special occasions. The al pastor is a marinated pork taco with grilled onions and is sure to spice things up during the holidays. Don’t forget to cut plenty of onion, cilantro, avocados, and limes for the tacos.

This next Mexican holiday dish is another specialty and involves goat meat. Barbacoa is Mexican dish where the whole goat is slow-cooked in a pot. The whole goat gets used and is marinated in spices to add flavor. Traditionally this meat is supposed to be cooked over an open fire, but a big pot works just fine. By cooking the meat in the pot however, the meat is steamed a little bit more. By increasing the steam the meat is going to turn out more than tender than usual. This dish is perfect for a holiday dinner because it’s filling and will be something different on the table. This barbacoa is accompanied with onion, cilantro, and a spicy salsa for taste. This dish takes about three hours to cook on low heat and marinated for at least a day before to maximize the flavors.

The final Mexican dish that can make your holiday’s special is flan. Flan is a custard dessert that feels like you are eating cheesecake, but sweeter and more Jell-O like. This dessert is a great way to end the night after a good feast. The dish has a layer caramel on the bottom and on top for added flavor. This custard dessert is served cold and is sure to be a favorite around the dinner table. Also, it’s worth pointing out that the flan can be messed around with and other types of sweets can be added to it. For example, you can make a strawberry or chocolate flan, instead of the plain traditional caramel.

The holiday season is here and it’s best to start planning what is on the menu for those special occasions. The food is almost always the star of the night, so why not try a few traditional Mexican dishes to impress those you care about. These recipes are unique and bring something different for any event. The important thing to remember when trying these recipes is don’t be afraid to go heavy on the seasoning’s and always be prepared with extra food just in case. Don’t forget to properly temp everything to avoid any food borne illness and keep your work area clean, it’ll be less to worry about on the big day.