Today was May fifth, or El Cinco de Mayo  in Spanish. El Cinco de Mayo is celebrated  in the United States and in Mexico. Contrary to the commom belief however, El cinco de Mayo is not a celebration of the Mexican Independence,  but rather El Día de la Batalla de Puebla (English: The Day of the Battle of Puebla). In the state of Puebla, 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, El Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride, and to commemorate the cause of freedom and democracy during the first years of the American Civil War ( Wikipedia).

Generally on this day, people in the United States party and enjoy Mexican fares. I did not party, I stayed home and enjoyed the beautiful weather next to my pool;-) I did however prepare a Mexican Dinner for all my loved ones.

On the menu, we had ground beef tacos, corn salad or salsa and stuffed sweet peppers. What did you have?

Stuffed Peppers

My husband loves anything with cheese. So when we go out, he will generally order French Onion Soup, Cheese Sticks or stuffed jalapeno peppers. So this evening, I thought that I could try to make stuffed peppers. I did not want to use jalapenos peppers because they are a bit spicy so I used the sweet miniature peppers instead. I prepared a spicy mixture for the stuffing instead:

Ingredients for about 14 peppers or 28 halves: 14 peppers, 5 oz of cream cheese, 2 tbsp of sour cream, 2 tbsp of heavy cream, 1 cup of Mexican Cheese Mix, 1 can of Pickled Sliced Jalapeno peppers, salt and peppers.

First prepare the peppers. Rinse them, cut them in half and remove the seeds from the peppers. Place the halves on the silpat, that you would have previously place on a perforated sheet. In a mixer, place all the ingredients mentioned above except for the cheese. Only use 1/4 cup of cheese. Pulse the mixture so that you will get a paste ( not too liquid, and not too thick). You may need to adjust the ingredients if the stuffing is not the texture that you desire ( add more cream if it is too thick, add more cream cheese if too runny). Season with salt and peppers and mix well. Stuffed the peppers with the mixture, and sprinkle more cheese over the stuffed peppers. Cook in a warm oven at 375 for 15 minutes.

I am not usually fond of spicy food, but I really liked those peppers because even though they were spicy, the sweetness of the peppers counteracted against the “kick) of the jalapeno stuffing. Most of the peppers were gone in no time, that must be a good sign;-)

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!