April 28, 2015
Many people believe that Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of Mexico’s Independance. But it’s not. According to Wikipedia, Cinco de Mayo (5th of May in English) is the day reserved to commemorate the Mexian Army’s unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla back in 1862. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Cinco de Mayo:
Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "fifth of May") is a celebration held on 5 May. It is celebrated in the United States and in Mexico, primarily in the state of Puebla, where the holiday is called El Día de la Batalla de Puebla (English: The Day of the Battle of Puebla). Mexican Americans also often see the day as a source of pride; one way they can honor their ethnicity is to celebrate this day.
The date is observed to commemorate the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín. In the United States, Cinco de Mayo is sometimes mistaken to be Mexico's Independence Day - the most important national holiday in Mexico -which is celebrated on September 16.
At Chocology, we love any reason to celebrate ~ and chocolate is the tool in which we bring it all together!
So, to celebrate the battle fought back in 1862, we thought we would bring you a couple of recipes.
Can you imagine chocolate in chili? Well, we’ve tried this recipe and can say with confidence that chocolate actually taste GOOD in chili! Perhaps you’ll give it a try at your Cinco de Mayo celebration. Originally found on the All Recipes website.
Paleo Chili
Ingredients
Original recipe makes 4 servings
1 cup boiling water
1 1/2 teaspoons coconut oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ground bison *
1/2 pound spicy ground pork sausage *
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 dried chipotle pepper, stem removed
Directions
Soak chipotle pepper in boiling water until softened, about 10 minutes. Remove pepper from water and mince.
Melt coconut oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir onion, green bell pepper, and red bell pepper until tender, 5 to 10 minutes.
Stir garlic and minced chipotle into onion mixture and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Stir bison and sausage into onion mixture. Cook and stir until meat is browned and crumbly, 10 to 12 minutes.
Stir chili powder, cumin, oregano, cocoa powder, and Worcestershire sauce into the bison mixture; add crushed tomatoes, salt, and pepper and stir.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until flavors are blended, 10 minutes.
*Note: We used regular grass-fed hamburger in our recipe in place of the bison and sausage. It was terrific!
The second recipe came about quite by accident. Madeline was rushing off to a friend’s house with Nacho ingredients in tow. As an afterthought, I threw in some white chocolate fudge for the kids to enjoy as desert.
Much to my surprise, the friend’s mom called later thanking me for the ingredients for the white chocolate nachos! They had mistakenly grated the white chocolate as “cheese” for the Mexican dish. But it was a hit! And I had a new recipe. Maybe you’ll try it with your Paleo chili.
White Chocolate Nachos
Ingredients
1/4 lb White Chocolate Fat-Ass Fudge!
Bag of Corn Tortilla Chips
1/4 lb Pepper Jack Cheese
Whether or not you celebrate Cinco de Mayo, it’s always fun to have an excuse to play with chocolate. If you try either of these recipes, be sure to let us know what you thought. Or perhaps you have a unique Mexican recipe that calls for chocolate. Share with us in the comments section or of course on Facebook or Twitter.
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