Taco Party!

I really wanted to try my hand at making carnitas, so we rang in the Chinese New Year with a taco party. I'm still plagued by fuzzy photos, but it's getting better! Here's one pork taco, with black beans, salsa, and Mexican cream cheese (aka. crema).

The full spread included: carnitas; chicken with onions, bell pepper, and tomatoes; fresh tomato salsa; black beans slow cooked with onions and a smoked ham hock; hard and soft tortillas; crema; radishes; and margaritas with fresh lime juice and Coralejo blanco tequila.

We didn't take too many pictures because everyone was starving, but here's the tomato salsa: two large tomatoes, half a red onion, a handful of cilantro, one seeded and ribbed jalapeno, the juice of half a lime, and a sprinkling of sea salt. All you do is dice everything, mix it together, and taste to see if you need more salt or lime. Easy, and much more delicious than storebought. In my opinion, the red onion makes a big difference in salsa.

The carnitas, made using a recipe from epicurious.com. The secret ingredients are freshly squeezed orange juice and brandy. I never would have thought of it on my own!

Anyhow, the party was a ton of fun. There's something about sitting around assembling your own food that just makes for a good time. That, and the meal was followed by chocolate cake. What could be better than that?