Tostadas are one of our pantry staples, and so are marinated artichoke hearts. Vegetarians can leave out the chicken and substitute firm tofu. Canned and bottled artichoke hearts are found in most large Mexican supermarkets, and in those shops called tiendas de ultramarinos, which are usually grocery stores carrying food items imported from Spain, as well […]
Continue Reading
Traveling through the Sierra Mixteca, which we have done many times on our drives from Puebla to Oaxaca, I am always reminded of the story of “stone soup:” a meal is prepared starting with just a stone in a pot of water, which becomes a tasty supper after all the people of a village have […]
Continue ReadingPipian, made with ground chiles and seeds, is usually served with chicken. Duck makes it an elegant dish to serve dinner guests and is especially suitable in the cooler months. This column has featured recipes for green pipian and this month presents a red pipian sauce that can be used with duck, chicken, or pork. Ingredients For the […]
Continue ReadingWe first saw this in a restaurant in Chipilo. If you like lasagna with white sauces, this one is a delicious change from the usual. The filling is the very Pueblan rajas con crema, poblano chile strips in cream, in this case thickened to form a béchamel sauce. If you use the no-boil lasagna noodles, a good […]
Continue ReadingWhile the large, thin fritters served with syrup are called buñuelos, others, made with apples, corn, bananas or other fruit are called frituras. The apples can be chopped and incorporated into the batter or sliced and dipped in batter, but in either case, heat the oil to 370º to produce crisp, non-greasy fritters. Ingredients 1 cup flour ¼ cup […]
Continue ReadingIn a previous column, I gave a recipe for the standard nopales salad that the market ladies all over the country seem to sell, but when my husband overdid it on the grilled nopales (his favorite grilled vegetable) at one of our parilladas (Mexican version of an outdoor barbeque) I made a salad with the leftovers. In my opinion, the grilled nopales, with […]
Continue ReadingThis delicious dessert is a perfect example of the Afro-Cuban influence on Gulf coast cooking, combining pineapple, a plantation crop, with yams or sweet potatoes, a West African staple. Ingredients: 2 pounds orange yams, washed, peeled and finely chopped 1 1/2 cups sugar 4 slices fresh pineapple (about 1 1/2″ thick apiece), cored and finely […]
Continue ReadingThis dessert uses the pungent limes that are indispensible to so many Mexican meals. Piled high in markets all over the country, they are often squeezed onto food at the table in place of salt. The Florida native known in the U.S. as Key lime is perfect for use in this dessert, which is a […]
Continue ReadingThe combination of the battering technique and the Baja Style Cabbage Slaw makes a copycat Mexican fish taco. Be sure to drizzle the roasted cauliflower tacos with the avocado sauce. Ingredients 1 2-pound head cauliflower 2 eggs ½ cup flour Salt to taste Light olive oil or vegetable oil for frying 12 corn tortillas Baja Style Cabbage Slaw […]
Continue ReadingMention vanilla, and people are apt to think of the ice-cream flavor they select when confronted with a mind-boggling choice involving everything from chirimoya to cheesecake: “just plain vanilla.” What started out as one of the most exotic flavors to be introduced to the European palate has come to be equated with blandness. Even more […]
Continue Reading