Feliz Dia de los Padres

My husband claims I’ve been getting very long-winded on my blogs. So, I went back and checked, and sure enough…I was. So, for you folks who are here reading about Mexican- American Border cooking, I want to tell you El Paso, Texas has the best in the world. Am I biased? Of course I am. I grew up on this cuisine. I’ve tried Mexican, Mexican-American, Tex-Mex, Southwestern, even so-called Nuevo Latino Cuisine in various parts of the country. Nothing tastes like down-home cooking in El Paso. I’m NOT saying that other cities don’t have good food, but when you grow up savoring the tastes this region has to offer, nothing else seems to compare. If you have a favorite place (or city) that you think it has the best Mexican food, send me a comment and let me know.

Tomorrow is Father’s Day. So in memory of my father and in honor of my husband, I’ll leave you with a couple of recipes that I know are (and were) their favorites.














Hot and Spicy Chicken Wings
(makes 40 wings)

40 chicken wings or drummets
3 cups flour
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 stick of butter
1 cup hot sauce (like Louisiana)
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ garlic powder

Oil for frying wings Mix flour, salt, cayenne pepper, and garlic salt. Lightly dust wings with the flour mixture and place on a tray. (Reserve the leftover flour mixture.) Refrigerate tray of wings for 1 hour. Remove wings from fridge. Heat oil, or vegetable shortening in a deep pot to 2 to 3 inches deep. Allow to get hot over medium-high heat. Re-dust each wing piece in leftover flour mixture. Fry wings, 6 to 7 at a time, until golden brown, about 6 to 8 minutes.Drain fried chicken wings over paper towels. Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add hot sauce, black pepper, and garlic powder. Simmer for 1 minute. Place drained wings into a large bowl. Drizzle with the hot sauce mixture. Toss lightly until thoroughly covered in sauce.















Chocolate Margaritas
(makes 2 servings)

Chocolate-Chile Powder*, for rims of glass
1 shot chocolate liqueur
1 shot chocolate vodka (Van Gogh’s)
1 shot tequila
1 shot coffee flavor liqueur
1 shot half and half (optional)
Chocolate-Chile Powder*
2 tablespoons Mexican Chocolate ground into powder
1 tablespoon ground red chile powder

Mix Chocolate Chile Powder ingredients completely and spread out over an open dish. Moisten rims of margarita glasses and dip into the Chocolate-Chile Powder.

For margaritas:
Fill a shaker with ice. Add margarita ingredients. Shake for about a minute. Pour into garnished margarita glasses.
(c)2008