This spicy-sweet, meatless main dish is traditional Oaxacan Lenten fare. The combination of spices with fruit is characteristic of southern Mexican cooking. Lentils are one of the fastest-cooking legumes and do not require soaking in advance. Ingredients 1 pound lentils 8 cups water 10 large cloves garlic, peeled and chopped 2 medium white onion, peeled […]
Continue ReadingThe ubiquitous fish taco of Baja California is often served with a smooth, loose avocado sauce and shredded cabbage. Many come with a cabbage slaw containing mayonnaise, which I find to have too creamy a texture when paired with the already-creamy avocado sauce. This version of Baja style cabbage slaw is brighter, crisper, and adds a few […]
Continue ReadingMixiotes de carnero are a specialty of the central Mexican states of Puebla, Tlaxcala and Hidalgo. They are flavored with two of the most distinctively Mexican of leaves: avocado leaves, which are enclosed with the meat, and pencas de maguey – the inner layer of maguey leaves – used to wrap the meat. Mixiote wrappers- papel para mixiotes – may be used to wrap […]
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These potatoes in vinaigrette are a very common bar snack all over México, brought to the table with toothpicks for spearing as an accompaniment to drinks. This version, with carrots and jalapeños, seems to be the most common, although the fiery habaneros are added in the Yucatan and pasilla oaxaqueña (a smoky chile much hotter than regular pasilla mexicana) is […]
Continue ReadingWhile hierbabuena is primarily used for tea, it is perfectly delicious in chicken soup. The first time I tried it this way I was very skeptical indeed. A friend who grew up here in Puebla ran out to my kitchen garden, plucked a sprig, and popped it into the caldo de pollo we were preparing before I could open […]
Continue ReadingIn her introduction to this Mexican blessed beet salad recipe, Chef Susana Trilling explains that it got its name from that fact that she got the beets from a religious festival float that was decorated with a tower of the village’s largest fruits and vegetables, on Palm Sunday in San Antonio Castillo Velasco, near the important market […]
Continue ReadingApple pie, move over. Mexican guava pie, or pay de guayaba, was made to be eaten with either vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Thawed frozen guavas can be used for this delicious pie. Ingredients pastry for a two-crust, 9 inch pie 4 cups peeled, seeded and sliced guava 3 tablespoons flour 2/3 cup sugar 1 teaspoon […]
Continue ReadingThese delicious antojitos, sold in markets in Merida and other peninsula towns, are small, thick tortillas with a variety of toppings, including the local versions of moles, made with ground spice mixtures called called recados. The most popular topping of all is shredded, cooked turkey or chicken, a pure white, heat-resistant breed of which the yucatecos eat in abundance. Salbutes, like just about any other […]
Continue ReadingThis tasty, bracing concoction, one of the signature dishes of Veracruz, is served all over the country. One of the classic Mexican hangover cures, vuelve a la vida seafood cocktail brings back memories of many years ago, when we would take off from Puebla and head for Veracruz on at least three or four long weekends a […]
Continue ReadingThis recipe comes from Seasons of My Heart by the gracious and accomplished Susana Trilling, who gives Oaxacan cooking classes and serves refreshing fruit aguas to students as they prepare to unload their market purchases and start cooking. Ingredients: 2 cups chunked pineapple 1 cup peeled and chunked cucumber 1 cup diced celery 2 tablespoons lime juice ¾ cup […]
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