Shrimp cocktail for a fiesta

Over this past week I had a great opportunity to try out a new restaurant and have a mini-wine tasting with friends. It was a food-filled weekend.

Monday my mom and I were invited to a special pre-opening event at Tombstone Tap and Grill in Genoa. Ron Simek (who owns the restaurant with his wife) is the founder of Tombstone pizzas (yes the frozen pizzas). The Simeks are wonderfully nice people. Tombstone has affordable good food and is in beautiful Genoa. On Genoa Lane. The grand opening is planned for the weekend of August 20.

On Sunday I had some friends over and we had a mini wine-tasting party - with food of course. There was no structure or theme, just a bunch of food that sounded good, which is probably offending all my foodie friends out there. However, it worked out well. We started off with brie and crackers and bread, then a Spanish omelet (this is a really easy and scrumptious appetizer I will be sharing on my blog soon), a beer-can chicken and Mexican shrimp cocktail.

Maybe I should not be sharing this culinary chaos with all of you out there. While it may not have been proper - with each dish complementing the other or even the same theme - for whatever reason, it worked and everyone was very satisfied.

The Mexican-style shrimp cocktail was inspired by a trip to Monterey, Calif., and more specifically eating at the Old Fisherman's Grotto on the Monterey Wharf. For those of you who have ever been to Monterey on the Pier, you know that seafood is thrown at you, shrimp cocktail, fish and chips, and clam chowder galore. Mexican-style shrimp cocktail is what impressed me the most, it is like salsa, avocado and shrimp with some cocktail sauce ... wow! It was so fresh with a hint of spicy chilies and the classic cocktail sauce flavor. It's simple to make and bursting with flavor. I hope you enjoy!

Mexican-style

shrimp cocktail

1 pound cooked peeled shrimp (41-50 count)

2 tomatoes, diced

1⁄2 bunch cilantro coarsely chopped

1 jalapeno finely diced

4 green onions

1-11.5 ounce can tomato juice

1 tablespoon horseradish

1 teaspoon sugar

salt and black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

Sprinkle Old Bay seasoning

1 lime, juiced

1 ripe avocado

Dice the tomatoes, chop the cilantro, finely dice the jalapeno and slice the green onions.

Toss together with the shrimp in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl, mix the tomato sauce, horseradish, sugar, salt and pepper. Add more or less horseradish for more or less heat. Sprinkle the old bay seasoning and mix again.

Pour the cocktail sauce over the shrimp mixture and stir until combined. Leave in the fridge overnight to meld the flavors.

Before serving squeeze the lime over the shrimp cocktail and dice the avocado and stir in.

• Amanda Skiba is a local food blogger who is passionate about food and photography. She posts her personal and favorite recipes at www.stuffurface.

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