Gourmet Tex-Mex - Menu/recipes

I entertained 3 lovely (and rich) widows for dinner recently-----their choice of Menu was Tex-Mex. 
 
They expected taco's and burritos and re-fried beans --- some stuff an old geezer like me could buy frozen and microwave------but I surprised them. I know that even in Texas man, and woman, can not live on bar-b-q and tacos alone. 
 
With the margarita's I served
 
------Black Eyed Pea Salsa
 
Combine the juice of 2 limes
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay ( or whatever)
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
 
Stir in
1--15oz can black eyed peas (drained)
1/3 cup diced onion and
1/3 cup diced peppers
 
Add
1 medium tomato cut up, of course and
10/12 sprigs cilantro--chopped up also.
 
Mix a little bit and chill for at least 15 minutes ---serve with those Mexican corn chip things.  There seemed to be a lot to start but it was soon all gone.
 
Everyone now sat down at my candle lit dining room table to enjoy
dinner on real plates with real silverware.  Wine was poured, of course.
 
Salmon Tex-Mex Style
 
1 1/2 # Salmon filets-------skinned and cut into serving sized pieces.
Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper
 
Pre-heat large frying pan (cast iron is best) over medium heat
While that is going on combine
1) 10oz can--- Ro-Tel diced tomatoes with lime juice and cilantro (drained)
and 1/2 cup mayonaisse
 
Coat salmon pieces with tomato mix and add to fry pan/ pour remaining sauce over the top------cover pan and cook 3-5 minutes per side (depending on thickness of fish) or, until fork seperates flakes of salmon.
 
 
------Bill's World Famous Rice Pilaf with Spinach--------
 
Since I just throw this together from memory there are no real measurements--
 
I cooked up 2 cups of rice (enough so I can have some cooked rice for rice pudding the next day)---thats 2 cups rice to 4 cups water------ 
While that is cooking I fried a chopped up onion til it is just golden, and added a bunch of sliced up mushrooms.  When rice was 3/4 done I add a can of beef stock to the onions & mushrooms and then added the rice, the rice absorbs the juice as it finishes cooking. 
 
In the meantime I take a bag of frozen spinach and microwave it with a tablespoon of butter------covered it takes about 3 minutes.
 
Mix spinach into cooked rice and let set a few minutes (in nice serving bowl) while fish is cooking then grate about 3 tablespoons of parmesan over it-----voila----a winner in any language.
 
For the dessert------
 
I took 8 frozen strawberries per person and sliced them into a bowl.
When they were just thawed I sprinkled them with about 2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar--------use less at first and more as you like.  Sounds nutty but my guests all flipped.
 
That's it----all very easy and all very dee- lich-ous !!!!!!!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Now you may get three marriage proposals!

Nice!

I always tell teenage boys "If you want to set yourself apart from the crowd, a woman always takes notice of a man who can cook well."

Brother Toad I was told the same thing by my mother, who was a professional chef.  

Greymo, I am already spoken for--one of those widows grabbed me and ain't letting go. 

The salmon I used was a real first class Texan Salmon-------and there aren't many of those around. ---------- Remember the Alamo. 

Very nice.  Glad all of you had a wonderful time. Widows need good friends. I have a friend that just became a widow in April, I don't live too near her, but call her often.   Hopefully she will spend a weekend this summer with us.

TAM, keep that up and you're going to be beating them off with a stick (You devil you).