Mexican Lunch Idea Request

I am making a mexican lunch as a prize for some boys in my school. There will be 5 boys and 4 staff members..the boys are 15 years old -- and large eaters.

I am not a big - mexican eater- I know quesadillas and tacos naturally, but would like to have some other suggestions. Any starters, main course or dessert ideas with recipes would be great!

Thanks!

Old El Paso do a really yummy burrito packet mix, me and DH love it! We usually add a small can of refried beans to the mince aswell to add to the flavour

I think i know whats for dinner tonight...........

Will it be a buffet kind of style, so it would be easier to have things to pick up rather than dish out?  If you can dish out, you must make some enchiladas!  If pick up is better, how about tostadas?   For starters, the easiest thing would be chips and quac, but I'd do nachos personally. OR, if everyone eats meat, taquitos would be a good starter.   And dessert would maybe traditionally be flan, but you could do fruit filled empanadas or sopapillas with cinnamon sugar and honey.   *drool drool*

Empanadas recipe: http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/sweetsanddesserts/r/appleempanadas.htm

Sopapillas recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sopapillas-2/Detail.aspx

Tacquitos: http://mexican-food.suite101.com/article.cfm/simple-authentic-mexican-taquitos-recipe

Well, you could make tamales, which is great to feed a bigger crowd, but takes quite a bit of time and needs some hard to find ingredients, unfortunately. Enchiladas are always pretty easy and good for bigger groups since you can make a few pans and one or two per person would be filling with other side items. Sour cream chicken enchiladas are great. I'd recommend checking out http://homesicktexan.com for some recipes (you will have to make mods here and there for peppers that aren't available here). Flautas / Taquitos are also really good and kids always like those. Again, you could check the Homesick Texan site for recipes for those. Homemade salsas are always good, guacamole, of couse (gotta have that!) and you can make queso, as well. A big pot of chili con carne with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream served on the side could be good and quite easy, too. You could whip up a big batch of carnitas in the slow cooker, or any number of things!  

I'd keep it simple - like a taco bar for the main event.  Tortilla chips with guac & salsa for a starter.  A big pot of chili is versatile - can be eaten as chili or spooned into flour tortillas (for burritos) with all the fixings.  Anything you want for dessert really - I'm not a huge fan of what are considered Mexican desserts myself.

If I were doing a more intimate dinner party, then I'd do the enchiladas & more involved stuff.

Starters- tostadas, quesadillas, empanadas, jalapeno poppers (can be purchased frozen at sainsburys)

Main- tamales, enchiladas, or a make your own taco bar (can slow cook some beef or pork with various spices for a more traditional meat)

Desserts- flan, dulche de leche, or my favorite- churros!

And don't forget horchata to drink.

Everything I listed can be made with easy to find ingredients (except for the tamales that should be made with masa).  I'm a self proclaimed Mexican food snob and refuse to make anything from a box.  If you want recipes let me know. I have a huge book of them!

Btw- excellent idea! I'm sure they'll love it!

And if you have have time before the do to prepare check out mexgrocer.co.uk.  They have masa and corn husks for tamales.   

I'd do the taco bar myself. I've found a lot of British folks, especially kids, don't like the soft corn wraps, masa, etc. And a lot of them don't like refried beans (I've heard it looks too much like dog food!).  So options are good and a serve-yourself bar works well for that. Quesadillas would also be good as a starter. I'd do plain cheese or maybe chicken for that.

For dessert you could do vanilla ice cream with honey and cinnamon or even do a chocolate cake with cinnamon in it... it's more interpretive of 'mexican' food, but might be a good way to introduce newbies to it!

You could make a tres leches cake for dessert... there's a recipe for that on the Pioneer Woman's blog. Looks easy to make, too.

I agree with Balrmerhon that it might be better to stick with things that are somewhat familiar to your guests already, like tacos, quesadillas, etc. You could maybe do some Mexican rice on the side. The flautas / taquitos would probably go over very well, though, if you want to give them something new along with the other stuff. Just shred some cooked chicken or beef with some Mexican spices and then roll in corn or flour tortillas and deep fry them. Serve them with salsa, guacamole, soured cream, queso or whatever dips you might be doing. Or just make some nachos!

Oh man, if anyone is going to make some tamales, just tell me what time to turn up, because I love me some tamales!  

But that has got to be one of the fiddliest and most time consuming things to make, IMO.  Usually the making of tamales is a party in itself, traditionally, whereby a whole bunch of women (not saying men can't but talking tradition here) get together just to spend the day/afternoon making tamales en masse (both a mass of women making tamales, as well as making a mass of tamales) for an event like Christmas or a fiesta etc.  I've generally only ever had really good tamales at a restaurant, or something like I used to live near a Catholic church (with a big Mexican-American component to its congregation) that had a big outdoor Mexican food fiesta thing every year as a fundraiser.  Sadly, I've not personally known anyone who makes them solo for just everyday home eating, unless vnicepeeps does - in which case I'll be right over...

Oh man, if anyone is going to make some tamales, just tell me what time to turn up, because I love me some tamales!  

But that has got to be one of the fiddliest and most time consuming things to make, IMO.  Usually the making of tamales is a party in itself, traditionally, whereby a whole bunch of women (not saying men can't but talking tradition here) get together just to spend the day/afternoon making tamales en masse (both a mass of women making tamales, as well as making a mass of tamales) for an event like Christmas or a fiesta etc.  I've generally only ever had really good tamales at a restaurant, or something like I used to live near a Catholic church (with a big Mexican-American component to its congregation) that had a big outdoor Mexican food fiesta thing every year as a fundraiser.  Sadly, I've not personally known anyone who makes them solo for just everyday home eating, unless vnicepeeps does - in which case I'll be right over...

We should have a tamale party one day! That would be fun (and rewarding, of course, with delicious tamales!)  Mmmm. I miss them so much! 

We should have a tamale party one day! That would be fun (and rewarding, of course, with delicious tamales!)   Mmmm. I miss them so much!  

I was thinking about that!  And margaritas.  Wondering about the state of the finished tamales after a lot of margaritas...

Oh yeah, I see that JessicaKate mentioned horchata...  I first had horchata in Spain (in Andalucia) where it is made from tigernuts, water, and sugar (no idea what tigernuts are?) - the proper full name for it there is orxata de xufes (or horchata de chufas).  So when I tried a Mexican version of it, I was disappointed when it tasted nothing like the horchata I had in Spain.  The Mexican or Latin American horchatas will vary in ingredients, apparently:  rice milk or milk, other kinds of ground nuts or seeds, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, etc.

I can't look at this thread. It makes my belly ache....so hungry! 

Ahhh tamles, my hubby and i have started a tamale factory in our kitchen, lol.
I want some horchata right now....

My mom used to make this taco dip for every single function I ever attended as a child that required her to make a dish to pass. Just mix sour cream and cream cheese with a packet of taco seasoning (Discovery brand is the best I've found in Engerland so far), spread in a dish, and top it with shredded lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, sliced black olives, etc. Not authentically Mexican by any means, but delicious. I can taste it now. Hubs and I are going to visit my parents in Vegas on Monday and I plan on eating Mexican food for two weeks straight.

Try some carne asada, mexican rice, refried beans, tortillas(lucky if you can find proper corn tortillas), and home made salsa.

also I have noticed that the english really like fajitas and chicken quesadillas

look up a good recipe for molay. I think the fact that its cooked with chocolate might be impressive.

huevos rancheros too is nice.