Pink Apron’s Charissa Henry-Skyers took charge of the Tacbar kitchen on Tuesday, February 14 for the ‘I Love Tacos’ series. The second of four guest chefs to share tantalizing specials for the month-long Taco series. Henry-Skyers first treated lovers to her delicious Lamb Birria Taco which was perfectly paired with the specialty Matador cocktail.

Second on her Valentine’s menu was an Ahi Watermelon Poké Loaded Nachos coupled with the specialty Margarita cocktail mix. Food is one of the most popular love languages, and the Pink Apron chef’s delectable and savory creations were the perfect way for couples to celebrate together on the day of love. Her tantalizing menu was lauded by the overwhelming turnout of lovers for the evening.

Join Thursday Food and the Tacbar team next Tuesday for another I Love Tacos series “the vegan edition” with featured guest Chefs Lisa and Chris Binns of Stush In The Bush. Until then, get dressed in your very own apron and step into the kitchen to recreate Chef Charissa Henry-Skyers’ offerings.

Lamb Birria Taco

• This dish is my take on the traditional Mexican Birria Stew. The lamb was marinated in a blend of Mexican chili peppers including Guajillo, Arbol and Chipotle, alongside some other spices and fresh herbs.

• We decided to take this dish up a notch by creating a Cilantro Onion Relish to add some freshness to the stew and then topped it with some Gruyere to balance it all out with the creamy sharpness from the cheese.

Ahi Watermelon Poké Loaded Nachos

• I have a special place in my heart for Tuna Poké and of course Loaded Nachos! I however also love providing options for my vegetarians to get a feel for some of my favourites in their world.

• This dish is therefore a fusion between the traditional Hawaiian Poké and of course Mexican Nachos. I got this idea to use Watermelon as the substitute for Tuna from our chef friend Lisa Binns at Stush in the Bush. For the Watermelon, I treated it just as I would when creating my version of Tuna Poké.

• I marinated it in some popular Asian flavours including sesame oil, soy etc, and of course added some fresh herbs and spices. For the base of the dish, we used corn tortillas which we fried fresh for the nachos, then topped the watermelon with an avocado crema, pickled red onions and a sriracha aioli.

Matador Cocktail Mix

Ingredients:

2 oz Tequila

0.25 oz lime juice

0.5 oz simple syrup

1 oz pineapple juice

Topped off with Beer

Margarita Mix

Ingredients:

3 oz Tequila

1.5 oz Triple sec

0.5 oz simple syrup

0.5 oz lime juice