Alex Marsalek, Challenge 3
This week I prepared al pastor stuffed mushrooms with elote popcorn. This week overall, was very fun as I enjoy Mexican foods. I like to try dishes from other cultures and have found Mexican to be some of the best.
The al pastor dictated this dish. When I found out al pastor was one of the secret ingredients, I figured I should stay true to the al pastor and stick to Mexican flavors.
When I saw the portobello mushrooms, I knew I was going to stuff them as they are an excellent vessel for stuffing.
The ingredient this week that challenged me the most was the popcorn. At first, I couldn't think of a way to incorporate it into a recipe, but as I began thinking of Mexican food, I thought of a delicious way to pair the popcorn with the Mexican inspired stuffed mushrooms. One of my favorite side dishes is elote, so I wanted to adapt a preparation to use popcorn instead of corn on the cob.
Adapting the elote was a delicate balance between adding regular elote toppings without making the popcorn too heavy or soggy. I was very happy with the result. My mom couldn't get enough of the popcorn. I'm going to have to make that again for sure!