Mexican Oaxaca-style lentils: Lentejas oaxaqueñas
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 legum...
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Refreshing squash drink: Agua de chilacayote
The bottle gourd, cucurbita Ficifolia, a rather bland member of the squash family, is common in Oaxacan cuisine, either cooked in stews, used to make a dulce something like candied pumpkin, or in this ...
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Cheesecake with Mexican blueberry maguey jam: Pay de queso con mermelada de maguey
In Mexico, the cheesecake is more like pie, baked in a pie pan with a crust of crackers called galletas marías. In the U.S., the sweet tea crackers called Social Teas are a good substitute.
Ingredien...
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Mexican cheese and guava flan: Flan de queso y guayaba
Guavas, being so plentiful in Aguascalientes, are used in several desserts. A common combination in Mexico is ate, a paste made with guava, quince, pears or other fruit, and cream cheese, served toge...
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Mexican strawberry flan: Flan de fresas
Spring and summer mean berry season, and this Mexican strawberry flan, made in individual custard cups, look festive garnished with a few slices of strawberry and sprigs of fresh mint.
Ingredients
...
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Mexican mango flan: Flan de mango
Here Mexico's favorite fruit combines with its favorite dessert. Sliced mango, shaved chocolate, and shredded coconut are all attractive options for garnishing this dessert. Make the mango puree by put...
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Baked coconut shrimp with mango sauce: Camarones con coco y mango al horno
This is a tasty, low fat way of making coconut shrimp. Mango puree is used instead of batter, and baking instead of frying. Mango puree can be made in a blender with fresh mangoes or found in the froze...
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Coconut cream tart: Tartaleta de coco
This dessert has coconut in the cream filling and on top — a double dose for coconut lovers.
Ingredients
¾ cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup coconut cream (...
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Mexican Chupacabra Martini
Mexican holiday punch: Ponche navideño
In addition to being served in Mexican homes during the Christmas and New Year holiday season, hot ponche is sold at night by street vendors who ladle it out from steaming cylindrical vats.
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Jicama and mandarin orange salad: Ensalada xec
This refreshing Yucatecan-style salad uses winter fruit in season. It comes to us courtesy of Chef David Sterling of Merida's Los Dos cooking school.
Ingredients
1 ½ pounds jicama,...
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Christmas Eve salad: Ensalada de noche buena
This salad is open to individual interpretation, with the only constants being the beets and the lettuce. Pineapple and bananas are frequently added in tropical climates, apples and jicama in cooler regions. The ingredients should be artfully arranged on a large platter and tossed after it has reached the table.
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Pomegranate champagne cocktail: Coctel de champaña y granada
When we lived in Oaxaca, we had neighbors with a pomegranate tree that seemed to bear fruit much longer than in other places. In Puebla, the pomegranate season is late summer, after which pomegranates ...
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Peach and chayote salsa: Salsa de durazno y chayote
This recipe is adapted from Nueva Salsa Recipes to Spice It Up by Rafael Palomino and Arlen Gargagliano. The original calls for ají amarillo, but serrano chile is a good substitute. If you like it rea...
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Tamarind candy: Dulce de tamarindo
This homemade candy is the kind sold at regional fairs in Mexico. Although in some places it is sold in miniature clay cazuelas, it is better cut up and individually wrapped in cellophane, since it is ...
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Macadamia peach salsa: Salsa de macadamia y durazno
Right now we are getting the Tlaxcala peaches, sweet and golden, that pair well with macadamias to make a fruit and nut salsa to serve with grilled fish or chicken, or with cream cheese and crackers. T...
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Refreshing Mexican lime water or limonada: Agua de limon
This beats any lemon or lime ade I've ever tried. Its sweet-and-tart zing makes it a good substitute for margaritas if you want to serve appetizers without alcoholic beverages. The recipe comes from my...
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Tequila lime pie: Pay de limon con tequila
This 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 Flo...
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Refreshing Mexican lime leaf drink: Agua con hojas de limon
Since lime trees are so abundant in central and southern México, it's no surprise that good use is made of the leaves as well as the fruit. The following agua, or fruit drink, is probably one of ...
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Mexican beer cocktail: Michelada
The michelada is a beer cocktail whose name is condensed from mi chela helada, "my iced beer." Every region, and even everyone who makes it, seems to have a different version of this popular cooler, but two ingredients that are included everywhere are lime and salt. I've been served micheladas both with and without ice, but even without ice, the idea is to start with ice cold beer.
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Cold watermelon and tomato soup: Sopa fria de sandia y jitomate
Tomatoes and watermelon are an unexpected combination here, and one that does not require you to go anywhere near the stove. A sprig of fresh mint (hierba buena) is a nice garnish.
Ingredients
...
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Strawberry margarita sorbet: Sorbet de coctel margarita con fresas
A drink and dessert in one, this is perfect for informal summer entertaining. It is attractive scooped into margarita glasses and garnished with sprigs of mint or paper thin slices of lime.
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Apple and blueberry marmalade: Mermelada de manzana y mora azul
Duck in blackberry sauce: Pato a la zarzamora
This recipe is adapted from the Hacienda de los Morales, one of Mexico City's oldest and most beloved restaurants. Use thawed frozen berries if fresh ones are unavailable.
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Raspberry chipotle sauce: Salsa de frambuesas y chipotle
This can be used as a glaze or a barbeque sauce. Try serving it spooned over cream cheese as a dip or spread for crackers, or with small meatballs for hors d'oeuvres. It can be strained for use as a glaze, but for a dip with cream cheese it is better with some texture.
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