Talking Modern Mex food and Dulce de Leche

My husband and I used to entertain a lot. A lot. And often, on the fly and a half-dozen times, it was lechon asado for a hundred. Since Maria was born I could probably count on two hands how many times we have prepared feasts for our friends. Que pena.

This weekend, there were 17 mouths at our house, all after a couple of hours of canoeing down a gloriously high Harpeth River.

The kids got pizza (que se chiben), the adults got Modern Mex, which I put together from a few recipes in Bon Appetit, a magazine I love and adore and delight in. (Photo from the June 2009 Bon Appetit article I used).

It made me want to have fiestas every weekend.

I’m sharing some of the recipes, because they were a hit, and because there’s a caramel dulce leche version that you can try, and if you know me, you know I am all about the dulce de leche.

First, the sangria — Rose wine, pineapple and guava juice. I had no guava juice (Hello, I live in Nashville!), but I did have guava mermelada, which my dad brought up from Miami and I had no idea what to do with until this weekend. I used it anyway. Here is the recipe. You can thank me and tell me how much you love me later.

Shrimp with lime and cumin and a mango, avocado salsa. I left out the scallops. Ay, Dios! I made arepas using a cheater shortcut from Publix, and I threw in black beans and corn. I made rice with summer squash and parsley and cheated on the black beans by using canned. Crema Mexicana went on the table, as did sour cream and chipotle hot sauce.

Had I not been pressed for time, I would have made the toasted coconut caramel topping for ice cream. (My guests got Key Lime Pie ice cream). But, goodness, the caramel topping is dulce de leche with Coco Lopez in it. It is so on the schedule for this weekend. Maria likes to make ice cream, and I like eating it.

If you like dulce de leche, by the way, check out Marta’s recipe on the Tiki Tiki blog this week.
(And tomorrow, you can read Laura I. Gomez’s Tiki Tiki post about throwing a Green treintanera fiesta.)

If I don’t post for a while, it is because I am drunk on pineapple, guava sangrias.