Our Dia de los Muertos Menu

Yesterday, we shared the vibrant Dia de los Muertos bash we threw with Veuve Clicquot, and today I’m dishing up the delicious recipes and sweet treats that we paired with our bubbly. I love any excuse to celebrate, and a Dia de los Muertos party just might become an annual tradition after this sunny afternoon spent with beautiful flowers, great food, and lots of Clicquot in hand to toast it all. Click through for all the delectable details…

photos by Mia Baxter 

For an easy menu that was brimming with flavor and paired perfectly with the Veuve Clicquot, I served a big pot of posole, a traditional Mexican soup made with roasted tomatillos and hominy. Then I set out a smorgasbord of toppings to let guests tailor each bowl of soup to their individual tastebuds.

All those colorful toppings played double duty as decor, echoing the vibrant shades of the beautiful blooms by Sweet Magnolia Floral Studio. I included pico de gallo, cilantro, lime wedges, sliced radishes, corn, tortilla strips and cojita cheese for my toppings — you can choose to include as few or as many toppings as you like!

The soup was even more delicious when paired with sips of Clicquot. Since the champagne has such a balanced flavor, not too strong, not too sweet, it stood up well to the savory and spicy notes of the posole.

Easiest Posole (adapted from It’s All Good) 

Ingredients: 

• 6 tomatillos, papery layers and stems discarded, roughly chopped
• 1 large red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 jalapenos, seeds removed and roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• Coarse sea salt
• 5 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
• 3 large springs of cilantro
• 1 28-ounce cans hominy, drained and rinsed

For the toppings: 

• tortilla strips
• crumbled cojita cheese
• cooked corn
• pico de gallo
• chopped cilantro
• thinly sliced radishes
• lime wedges

Instructions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. On a sheet pan or in a large baking dish, toss the tomatillos, onions and jalapeños with the olive oil to coat, and add a large pinch of salt. Roast for approximately 20 minutes, stirring a few times, until the vegetables are soft and a little browned. Remove pan from the oven and allow vegetables to cool.
3. Once cooled, transfer the vegetables to a blender with 1 cup of the stock and puree until completely smooth.
4. Transfer the pureed mixture to a large pot along with the rest of the stock, cilantro, and hominy. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes to 20 minutes.
5. Remove the cilantro sprigs and season the soup to taste with sea salt.
6. Serve in large bowls and finish with desired toppings.

Jessi enjoys her posole with tortilla strips, crumbled cojita cheese, and cilantro.

As a refreshing and festive side, I made a salad of sliced mango, avocado, jicama and red onion. It couldn’t have been simpler or prettier!

Mango, Jicama, and Avocado Salad

Ingredients: 

• 1 mango
• 1/2 large jicama
• 1 avocado
• 1/2 red onion
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions: 

1. Slice mango, jicama and red onion into long strips. (I made the jicama and mango about the same size, both 1/2″ thick, while I sliced the onion very thinly.)
2. Slice the avocado into wedges.
3. Toss sliced vegetables and fruits with the chopped cilantro.
4. Mix lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl and pour over salad.

Veuve Clicquot’s fresh flavor and subtle notes of fruit was the ideal pairing with this fresh, crunchy salad.

And the Clicquot bottle’s beautiful marigold label just happened to look amazing with the mango shades in the salad (don’t you love it when your food color coordinates?)

The champagne sparkled in these gold-rimmed glasses as we enjoyed the last sunny days of the season. Clicquot‘s perfect balance of flavors makes it ideal with hors d’oeuvres, and equally perfect for enjoying throughout an entire meal.

Chanel decorated these adorable skull macarons that were certainly not too scary to eat.

Skull Macarons 

Supplies: 

• White, oval macarons
• Multi-colored food coloring markers

Instructions: 

1. Start with freshly made macarons. We chose white macarons in a vanilla flavor so that we could brighten them up with many different colors to fit with our theme.
2. With a black food coloring marker, draw the shape of a skull head on one side of the macaron.
3. With the same black food coloring marker, carefully draw the details of the face to include eyes, teeth and a nose inside the outline of the skull.
4. Then use many different colors of food coloring markers to decorate the face and to create fun and festive skulls. Get creative and make them as pretty or as scary as you like!

 

I love that the tradition of Dia de los Muertos provides a yearly opportunity to remember loved ones and celebrate life with family and friends. And I’m a firm believer that nothing’s more suited to a celebration that opening up a bottle of champagne.

On the day of our bash, our beloved production assistant Jessi turned 22! We surprised her with a chocolate cake that the Sweet Magnolia Floral Studio adorned with blooms, and it was an unforgettable and celebratory way to end a perfect afternoon.

Her very own chocolate cake and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot… what else could a 22-year-old wish for?

As our bash came to a close, the Clicquot continued to flow. With the champagne’s essences of rich vanilla and brioche, a glass (or two!) was the perfect complement to a decadent slice of chocolate cake.