A few weeks ago, my friends and I got together for another Top Chef Potluck. Instead of choosing our best recipe, we opted to take the competition a step further and compete with a main ingredient. We chose avocados, and set out to determine who made the most delicious and original meal. From Sam's "Bacamole" to Heruy's Ribeye Fiesta to Ted's Cholcolate Avacado Mousse (newly dubbed "Quetzalcoatl's Pre-Columbian Dessert Deluxxe Flavor Exxplosion"), our work was cut out for us. My submission?
Ever since a disastrous attempt at making grilled sole for Quinn when I first started teaching myself how to cook, I've been a little intimidated by seafood. (We found out the fish had gone bad, so the putrid smell was not, in fact, my fault.) I considered many options centered around avocado -- a Santa Fe Chicken Pizza, hand-rolled sushi, grilled Cuban chicken with a pomegranite guacamole -- but I knew I had to make one of my favorite dishes, chipotle shrimp tacos! I have to credit Quinn (as usual) for the mango-avocado salsa. He and his mom make it for many of their Sunday dinners, and after one taste I was hooked! Despite my seafood qualms, I tackled shrimp with the determination to make perfectly tender morsels for the competition.
