TexMex - Viva Las Vegas Reunion

Last weekend, the gang that went to Las Vegas got together to reminisce about the holiday and share their photos.

I had volunteered (or been volunteered - I can't remember which) to cook, so the question was - what to have to eat?

We decided that a Mexican meal would bring back memories of the meal we had in Las Vegas.

To start with I cooked a Corn and Red Chilli Chowder which was accompanied with Soda Bread (memories of San Francisco there.) The chowder consisted of a puree of creamed corn, onions and tomatoes to which was added corn kernals, red peppers, chillies, potatoes and stock. Once cooked a swirl of cream and some chopped parsley completed the dish. It must've been nice as I was asked for the recipe.

Soda Bread is fun to make and, I've found, quite messy. It's quick, as you don't need to wait for the bread to prove and very tasty.

For the main course we did a selection of dishes. My wife did a couple of salads and made some guacamole. I'm not a huge fan of guacamole, but homemade stuff is always much nicer that the shop bought version, and this was no exception. It was very spicy and made a perfect accompaniment to the quorn fajitas. We also made chicken fajitas for the non-veggies that were there.

Also on the table were peppers stuffed with beans and cheese; rice with tomato, carrots and green beans; flautas - tortilla wraps filled with feta cheese, peppers and seeds; chilli potato cakes and a couple of salsas. All rather nice, even if I do say so myself. One of the salsas was made with chipotles en adobe, and I highly recommend using this as, as well as being very spicy, it has a fantastic smoky flavour.

We had a great idea for dessert. We found a company that would create edible photos (www.eatyourphotos.co.uk). You email them a photo and they then sent you a version of the photo created in edible ink. The turnaround was really quick and the quality of the picture was excellent.

Initially we we going to get a cake for and ice it with the photo of the gang at the Stratosphere Tower. We eventually decided that we would make an iced trifle. It was different, but worked really well and every one ate their own heads, which must have some psychological meaning, I'm sure...

The meal was accompanied by several different kinds of margheritas (including strawberry and mango and peach if my memory serves me correctly) which were rather nice. All in all it was a great evening. Thanks to all those who helped out in the kitchen with the food and the drinks.