Mexican lentil soup with chorizo: Sopa de lentejas con chorizo

This was the first lentil soup I tasted in Mexico many years ago, and it seems to be the most popular version in the central region, where chorizo is used in everything from eggs to tacos. The addition of chipotle chile is also characteristic of this area. Ingredients ½ pound chorizo, crumbled 3 tomatoes, chopped […]

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Colonial Mexican baked rice and picadillo: Torta de arroz

In Mexico, the word torta most often means a sandwich on a bolillo, or French roll. However, as in this case, it can also take on its original Spanish meaning of a flat, round cake or, figuratively, food shaped like that. Friar Geronimo most probably used a round cazuela to make this layered rice dish, thus calling it a torta. The original recipe […]

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Northern Mexican “Drunken” Salsa: Salsa Borracha Nortena

This goes particularly well with the hearty grilled beef dishes of northern Mexico. If there is no tequila on hand, substitute with an extra ¼ cup of beer. Ingredients: 1 mulato chile, seeded and deveined, soaked in hot water until soft, drained 3 pasilla chiles, seeded and deveined, soaked in hot water until soft, drained 3 large […]

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Mexican enchiladas in peanut sauce from Xico, Veracruz © Karen Hursh Graber, 2014

Mexican enchiladas with peanut sauce: Dobladas de cacahuate

Dobladas means “folded,” and these tortillas can be filled or not before folding into quarters, bathed in peanut sauce, and sprinkled with cheese. Ingredients For the dobladas: Vegetable oil for soft frying tortillas 12 six- to eight-inch corn tortillas ½ pound of chicken or pork, cooked and shredded or an equal amount of shredded cheese, if […]

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Chihuahua-style roast turkey: Pavo al horno estilo Chihuahua

Northern Mexico is the home of a large turkey industry. Recent years have seen the increase in birds known as doble pechuga – literally “double-breasted” – because of their high proportion of white meat. Both this recipe and the following one are from the state of Chihuahua, where turkey, venison and other game were the traditional mainstay […]

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