Mushroom and Pumpkin Empanadas: Empanadas de Champinones y Calabazas
Empanadas are variously filled with meat, cheese, vegetables or fruit, and served as hors d'ouevres, main courses or desserts. These vegetable empanadas are filled with a combination of mushrooms and W...
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Beef short ribs with pumpkin: Costilla de res con calabaza
The combination of meat and squash is typically West African, combined here with tomatoes, an indigenous Mexican ingredient, and spices introduced by the Spaniards.
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Puebla style sandwiches: Cemitas:
A few years ago, I had a call from Rachel Wharton, a writer for the New York Daily News food section. She was writing an article on cemitas, the latest sandwich craze to hit New York at the time, thank...
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Fried cutlet torta: Torta de milanesa
While a torta can be filled with any kind of savory sandwich filling, the beans, avocado and tomato are always present. Leave out the onion if you are not a fan, or substitute mayonnaise for the crema; some torterías use melted butter instead of crema.
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Mashed plantains with pork rinds: Machuca de platano con chicharrones
This variation on traditional machuca uses crispy chicharrones (pork cracklings), which give a good texture to the dish and impart the taste of pork without having to use the traditional lard.
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Plantain empanadas with picadillo: Empanadas de platano
This recipe is adapted from Alquímias y Atmósferas del Sabor, by Doña Carmen Titita Ramírez, proprietress of Mexico City's famed El Bajío restaurant. The plantains should be cooked a day in advanc...
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Chiles stuffed with vegetables: Chiles rellenos de verduras
This is a very versatile recipe, since any number of vegetables, such as chayote, potato, carrots and mushrooms can be substituted for the zucchini and corn. A cooked red salsa is a good accompaniment.
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Grilled Tamarind Shrimp: Camarones al Tamarindo a la Parilla
Fish and seafood get a wonderful flavor boost from tamarind. The addition of chipotle chiles and honey make this a good marinade for chicken and pork, too. When using wooden skewers to grill food, reme...
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Pork Chops with Tamarind Orange Glaze: Chuletas de Puerco con Tamarindo y Naranja
This recipe is reminiscent of the classic Mexican pork loin roasted with orange juice. Here, the tamarind and brown sugar give the pork a sweet-and-sour taste, and the meat is grilled and glazed rather...
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Tamarind Chicken: Pollo al Tamarindo
Tamarind chicken has become a Mexican restaurant standard in the past few years. This can also be made with duck breasts.
Ingredients
4 chicken breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
2 tables...
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Pork loin cooked in orange juice: Lomo en jugo de naranja
This recipe, taught to me many years ago by Isabel Hoyos Gomez, is standard Central Mexican "company" fare. I especially like to make this in the winter, when small trucks drive around the neighborhood...
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Pork with apricot-chile sauce: Puerco con salsa de chabacanos y chile
This dish uses the Mexican stewing technique of cooking the meat separately, then using its broth in making a sauce in which the meat is cooked further. Pork is a natural with fruit sauces, and the sho...
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Grilled Chihuahua style leg of lamb: Pierna de cordero a la parilla
This northern Mexican recipe, which typifies the outdoor cooking characteristic of the region, is adapted from Larousse de la Cocina Mexicana by Alicia Gironelli. One end of a leg of lamb is thicker th...
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Garbanzo soup with saffron: Garbanzos en amarillo
Garbanzos en amarillo, with chickpeas, orange sweet potatoes and saffron, is evocative of the hearty peasant dishes of central Spain. It is a traditional food for the Día de La Santa Cruz, celebrated throughout Mexico, and with particular fervor in Queretaro, on May 3.
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Shrimp and nopal tacos: Tacos de camaron y nopalitos
The chunky salsa recipe that goes with these tacos makes more than necessary for the tacos, and is a delicious dip for totopos (fried tortilla triangles). I get asked for the recipe every time I serve ...
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Enchiladas with buttermilk sauce: Enchiladas de jocoque
Enchiladas with cream sauces are popular in Querétaro, and these use the thick Mexican buttermilk called jocoque, introduced by Mexico's many Lebanese immigrants. A mixture of regular buttermilk (whic...
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Roast pork loin stuffed with apples: Lomo de puerco con manzanas
This is a beautiful fall entrée, and goes well with a simple side dish like puree de papas or white rice.
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Sauteed apples and eggs: Huevos zacatlantecos
After the Virgen de la Asuncion has been raised up from her bed of apples, a little bit every hour throughout the night, the faithful make their way home in the wee hours with bags of apples from her bed. This apple and egg dish is a traditional breakfast at this time of year.
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