In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I thought I share some dishes inspired by flavors from south of the border.

Growing up in Texas, I enjoyed plenty of Mexican food. But, a lot of it was influenced by the Texas culture. So here are a few Tex-Mex dishes I think you'll like.

If you have any comments, please drop me a line at WaynesWeekend. Enjoy!

Salsa

Ingredients:

3 - 4 medium tomatoes

3 - 4 tomatillos

6-8 cloves garlic

4 jalapenos

1 medium white onion

1 bunch cilantro, cut away most of the stems

1 tsp. kosher salt

½ tsp. cumin

Juice of 2 limes

Method:

Place tomatoes, tomatillos, garlic, jalapenos and onion in a roasting pan and place under broiler until charred. Some elements might char sooner than others so watch the process and remove items individually with tongs.

Once you've removed all ingredients, allow them to cool.

Peel tomatoes and garlic. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and the outer skin from the onion. Cut the tops from the jalapenos and seed half of them. Place garlic, cilantro and juice of one lime in a food process and pulse until a paste forms. Add jalapenos and tomatillos and continue pulsing until thoroughly mixed. Add tomatoes and just pulse until tomatoes are roughly chopped. Pour mixture into a bowl.

Chop onion and add to salsa. Add cumin. Season with salt. Add additional lime juice to taste.

Guacamole

Ingredients:

2 avocados, peeled, pitted and roughly chopped

1 small white onion, roughly chopped

2 medium tomatoes, seeded and roughly chopped

1 lime

½ lemon

1 tsp. chili powder

½ tsp. cumin

Method:

Sprinkle lemon and lime juice over chopped avocadoes and mix. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Garnish with additional limes and server with tortilla chips.

Carne Asada Tortilla Cups

Ingredients:

4 - 8 inch flour tortillas

1 3/4 lb. flank steak

3 cloves garlic, peeled

½ papaya, peeled and cut into small pieces

3 limes

1 lg. onion, chopped

4 tbsp. sour cream

1 c. lettuce, shredded

½ each red, yellow, green peppers, seeded and thinly sliced lengthwise

1 tsp. cumin

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. white pepper

1 tsp. olive oil

1 can black beans, heated

½ c. salsa

¼ c. guacamole

1 avocado, sliced

Method:

If your cut of flank steak isn’t already thin, butterfly the cut so that all of it is uniform in thickness.

Rub steak with garlic and place in a sealable container. Squeeze the juice of all three limes on steak and add garlic, papaya and onions. Seal and marinate for 2 hours.

Make tortilla cups: preheat oven to 375 F. Microwave each tortilla for about 12 seconds. Wrap tortilla tightly around an inverted small ramekin that you’ve lightly sprayed with cooking spray. You might want to cover the tortilla with a paper towel if tortilla is too hot to handle. Squeeze the tortilla tightly so that it molds to the ramekin. Place ramekins on a cookie sheet and bake for about 15 minutes until tortillas are golden brown. Remove from oven. Allow to cool and separate tortilla cups from ramekins.

Remove steak from marinade and broil or grill for 1½ to 2 minutes per side. Remove from heat and slice at an angle against the grain.

Toss peppers with cumin, salt and pepper. Just before ready to serve, heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add, olive oil. Add peppers and toss briefly until vegetables brighten in color. Don’t overcook. Remove from skillet and drain on paper towels.

Assemble each plate: Place a tortilla cup on each of 4 plates. Fill with lettuce, guacamole, and black beans. Layer steak slices inside of cups and add peppers. Top with a dollop of sour cream. Spread salsa on the plate and fan avocado slices next to tortilla cups. Serve with rice (optional) and additional salsa.

Flan

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c. whipping cream

1 c. whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. cinnamon

1 c. sugar

1/3 c. water

3 lg. eggs

2 lg. egg yolks

7 tbsp. sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Put milk, vanilla and cinnamon in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from range and let mixture cool for 20 minutes.

In a small saucepan, mix sugar and water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Raise heat so that mixture starts to boil. Be careful with hot mixture. Continue to boil, stirring only occasionally, until mixture turns a rich caramel color, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour into six 6 oz. ramekins. Rotate each ramekin so that mixture coats the sides. Work quickly because mixture will immediately begin to harden.

Drain milk mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a large measuring cup. Pour mixture into the six ramekins. Place ramekins in a rectangular baking dish. Pour enough hot water into the pan to reach halfway up to the sides of the ramekins. Place ramekins on the center rack of the oven and bake until custard is just set, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool in water bath. Transfer to refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours. To serve, run a sharp knife around the sides of the ramekin and invert flan onto individual serving plates. Garnish with fresh mint.