Even the Cook Can Celebrate

Cinco de Mayo is fun. It’s the sort of holiday you celebrate without cards and gifts--or lots of last-minute cooking, if you follow the party menu we suggest. We’ve tried it on a group of Southland friends.

Every dish can be prepared in advance, either entirely or in part. You disappear into the kitchen only to reheat and dish up some wonderful food.

Meanwhile, your guests snack on toasty canapes topped with a spicy puree of mushrooms, chiles and garlic and melted cheese. The inspiration for this appetizer comes from Punta Morro, a seaside restaurant in Ensenada. There, you sip margaritas or local wines as you assemble the appetizers.

The procedure is to pile cubes of Mexican cheese onto baguette slices and spoon on the chile mixture. We’ve turned these components into a hot snack, as suggested by Mayi Brady in The Times Test Kitchen.

The main dish, meat braised with tomatoes, green peppers and chiles, is a revision of an old California-Mexican recipe. The original called for thin beef strips. This version uses a tri-tip roast, which is cooked whole, then sliced and arranged on a platter. It’s an easier approach for serving a group. The meat can be cooked hours before the party or a day ahead, refrigerated and reheated.

Instead of the usual beans and rice, the meat is paired with jalapen~o-spiked stuffed baked potatoes. These can also be prepared in advance and baked just before serving. The recipe is from Leticia Backhoff, who teaches cooking in the Tijuana-Ensenada area. Backhoff is married to one of the region’s leading winemakers, Hans Backhoff of Monte Xanic winery.

A green salad with sliced avocado would be nice with these dishes. Or you could serve the cool, crisp fruit and vegetable relishes typical of street stands in Mexico.

The dessert copies one served at La Embotelladora Vieja, a restaurant connected to Santo Tomas winery in Ensenada. There, strawberries are cooked in Merlot and spooned around vanilla ice cream.

Just as firecrackers climax the Fourth of July, the dinner ends with an explosion of taste in the form of ancho chile brownies. These are the creation of Nancy Zaslavsky, the Brentwood-based author of two Mexican cookbooks. The brownies appear in her latest, “Meatless Mexican Home Cooking” (St. Martin’s Press; $29.95).

The only issue we haven’t addressed is drinks, leaving you to choose from sangria, beer, soft drinks or limeade made with the small, intense Mexican limes that appear now and then at local Mexican markets.

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MENU

Punta Morro

Queso Serrano

Tri-Tip with Tomatoes and Peppers

Leticia’s Jalapen~o-Cheese Stuffed Potatoes

Fresh relish platter of jicama and carrot sticks, sliced cucumber, fresh pineapple wedges

Strawberries in Merlot

Nancy Zaslavsky’s Ancho Chile Brownies

COUNTDOWN

Day before or morning of party: Cook beef. Cool in baking pan, cover and refrigerate. Make brownies; cool and wrap airtight.

Morning of party: Make chile-mushroom sauce for appetizers; refrigerate. Prepare stuffed potatoes except for final baking, cover and refrigerate. Make Merlot-strawberry sauce for ice cream; chill.

Afternoon of party: Slice fruit and vegetable relishes except for any that discolor when exposed to air. (Slice those just before serving.)

Two hours before serving: Remove beef and potatoes from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature.

One hour before serving: Start reheating beef. (Can be done after guests arrive if you plan a leisurely party with an hour of drinks and appetizers.)

40 minutes before serving: Bake potatoes. (Can be done after guests arrive; see note above.)

When guests arrive: Slice baguettes, spread with chile-mushroom sauce, top with cheese and broil.

Last minute: Arrange relishes on serving platter. Slice meat and arrange on platter; spoon salsa over slices. Arrange potatoes on separate platter. Pour beverages.

After main course: Spoon strawberry-Merlot sauce over ice cream. Arrange brownies on serving dish. Make coffee.

INGREDIENTS

STAPLES

Butter

Vanilla extract

Cinnamon sticks or ground cinnamon

Eggs

Garlic

Olive oil

Vegetable oil

Onions

Pepper

Salt

Sugar

Flour

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SHOPPING LIST

1 pound bacon

3 green bell peppers

2 to 3 small baguettes French bread

1 (1-ounce) package New Mexico chili powder

6 jalapen~o chiles

1 (2-ounce) package ancho chiles or (1-ounce) package ancho chile powder

1 (7-ounce) can pickled serrano chiles

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

3 quarts vanilla ice cream

1 bottle Merlot

3/4 pound mozzarella cheese

1 (6- to 8-ounce) package fresh mushrooms

6 large baking potatoes

1 (12-ounce) package queso fresco

6 3/4 pounds tri-tip roast

1 (1 3/8-ounce) package sesame seeds

1 pint sour cream

3 pints strawberries

6 tomatoes

3 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce

1/4 pound shelled walnuts

PUNTA MORRO QUESO SERRANO

1 (7-ounce) can pickled serrano chiles

1 cup roughly chopped mushrooms

3 cloves garlic

1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil

Salt, pepper

2 to 3 thin baguettes, sliced

1 (12-ounce) package queso fresco or feta cheese

Beware: This salsa is extremely hot. Reduce the chiles to half a can or less if you can’t stand the burn.

Turn undrained chiles into blender. Add mushrooms and garlic, then puree to thick paste. Slowly add enough olive oil to make thick sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread each slice of bread with small amount of salsa. Top with cheese. Broil until cheese is melted and bread is browned.

12 appetizer servings (2 cups salsa). Per serving:

230 calories; 570 mg sodium; 26 mg cholesterol; 12 grams fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams protein; 0.13 gram fiber.

TRI-TIP WITH TOMATOES AND PEPPERS

Salt

1 1/2 teaspoons hot chili powder

6 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

6 3/4 pounds tri-tip beef, about 3 roasts

Pepper

6 tablespoons oil

3 onions, chopped

6 tomatoes, chopped

3 green bell peppers, cut in thin strips

2 to 3 jalapen~os, cut in strips, optional

3 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce

Hot New Mexico chili powder is available in most supermarkets. Add more if you like a really hot dish.

Combine 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and chili powder in small cup. Add garlic and mash to make paste and set aside.

Season tri-tips with salt and pepper to taste. Heat oil in large heavy skillet. Add tri-tip and brown about 3 minutes on each side. Remove meat to platter.

Add garlic paste and onion to drippings in skillet and cook until onion is tender. Add tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapen~os and tomato sauce and mix well. Heat through.

Place meat in roaster or other large baking pan. Pour sauce over meat and bake at 350 degrees until meat is very tender, about 3 hours.

Remove meat to cutting board and slice. Arrange slices on platter. Spoon sauce over slices.

12 servings. Each serving:

397 calories; 783 mg sodium; 119 mg cholesterol; 21 grams fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 41 grams protein; 0.89 gram fiber.

LETICIA’S JALAPEN~O-CHEESE STUFFED POTATOES

6 large baking potatoes

12 slices bacon

3 small onions, chopped

3 jalapen~os, seeded and minced

Salt, pepper

3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, grated

1 1/2 cups cup sour cream

This is a party dish from Leticia Backhoff of Ensenada. It works without the chiles as well.

Bake potatoes at 400 degrees until tender, about 1 hour. Cool slightly.

Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop out pulp with spoon, leaving in just enough to keep shells from breaking.

Cook bacon in skillet until crisp. Drain, reserving fat, and crumble or chop into little pieces.

Fry onions in bacon drippings until tender. Combine onions, crumbled bacon, jalapen~os, potato and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Stuff mixture into potato shells. Top with cheese. Place in baking pan and bake at 375 degrees 20 to 30 minutes, or until browned and heated through. Serve with sour cream.

12 servings. Each serving:

292 calories; 314 mg sodium; 42 mg cholesterol; 21 grams fat; 14 grams carbohydrates; 11 grams protein; 0.43 gram fiber.

STRAWBERRIES IN MERLOT SAUCE

3 cups Merlot or other red wine

3 tablespoons sugar or more to taste

3 pints strawberries

3 quarts vanilla ice cream

This dessert is from La Embotelladora Vieja restaurant in Ensenada.

Bring wine and sugar to boil in large saucepan. Add berries and simmer until softened. Chill. Arrange ice cream in individual serving bowls. Top with strawberries and wine sauce.

12 servings. Each serving:

343 calories; 121 mg sodium; 59 mg cholesterol; 15 grams fat; 41 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 0.40 gram fiber.

CHOCOLATE-CHILE MOLE BROWNIES

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 eggs (3 if more cake-like texture is preferred)

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons pulverized cinnamon stick or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 stemmed, seeded, toasted ancho chiles, ground to powder, or 3 tablespoons ancho chile powder

1 cup flour

1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

1 cup chopped walnuts

Nancy Zaslavsky came up with these unusual brownies for her just-published “Meatless Mexican Home Cooking.” “Ancho chile’s smoky-sweet fruit and slight anise flavor . . . complements dark chocolate perfectly,” she writes.

Melt chocolate with butter in top of double boiler. Remove from heat to cool.

Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and ground chiles with electric mixer. Stir chocolate into egg mixture, then stir in flour, sesame seeds and walnuts. Dough will be sticky. Turn mixture into buttered 12x8-inch baking dish and spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees until center is just set, 22 to 23 minutes. Do not over-bake or brownies will lose their chewy texture and edges will be overdone. Cool in pan at least 30 minutes before cutting into squares.

2 dozen (2-inch) brownies. Each brownie:

202 calories; 56 mg sodium; 28 mg cholesterol; 11 grams fat; 24 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 0.65 gram fiber.