Recipes
Soups, Salads & Starters
Squash Blossom Soup
We came across this soup at Tlamanalli de Abigail Mendoza Ruíz restaurant in Teotitlán del Valle.
Christmas Salad
This sweet, festive salad gives off a lot of juice if it sits for a while, so it's best to assemble it just before serving.
Soupy Black Beans with Dumplings
This dish is made with xonequi, a leafy green grown in Veracruz.
Step-by-Step Guacamole
This recipe is based on one in Rosa's New Mexican Table by Roberto Santibañez—it's the best guacamole we've ever had.
Chile Con Queso
This Tex-Mex favorite is warm, gooey, and totally satisfying.
Shrimp Cocktail Veracruz-Style
This citrusy shrimp appetizer comes from Veracruz, Mexico.
Cactus Paddle Salad
This recipe comes from Mexican Family Cooking by Aída Gabilondo.
Pickled Vegetables
This Mexican favorite is a crunchy, vinegary salad of mixed vegetables.
Shredded-Beef Salad with Chipotle Dressing
A true border-food classic, this spicy Mexican salad expertly combines crisp vegetables, warm chiles, and shredded beef.
Entrees
Shrimp with Tequila and White Cornmeal Sauce
Author Jonathan Kandell sampled this appetizer at Fonda la Medina, a restaurant in Adobe, a now-shuttered Tlaquepaque folklore bazaar.
Chicken with Pumpkin Seed Sauce
Chicken with pumpkin seed sauce is a much loved dish in Mexico's Yucatán.
Salt Cod Vizcaya Style
Salt cod appears on Christmas Eve tables throughout Mexico. The most popular preparation is this version of a classic salt cod dish from the Spanish province of Vizcaya.
Fresh Ham with Red Chile Marinade
A particularly flavorful but under appreciated cut of meat, especially for roasting or braising, fresh ham is simply an un-smoked shank and leg of pork.
Stacked Cheese Enchiladas
In northern Mexico, enchiladas often are made by layering tortillas with cheese and onions.
Beef Burritos
The secret to these delicious burritos is in using the right cut of beef.
Fish Veracruz-Style
The ubiquitous Veracruz sauce in this recipe features olives, jalapeños, and, on special occasions, capers.
Mexican Fish Soup
One of the ingredients in this soup is Chayote, a subtly flavored, pale green fruit, and is available in Hispanic or Caribbean markets and specialty produce stores.
Fish with Acuyo Sauce
The herb acuyo is popular in many dishes from Veracruz, Mexico. Its heart-shaped leaves tastes faintly of anise.
Stuffed Chiles in Walnut Sauce
A tantalizing combination of nuts, fruit, and chiles creates a sweet, hot flavor that's authentically Mexican.
Salsa and Sauces
Little Red Mole Sauce
This popular mole—subtle, spicy, slightly sweet, earthy-red in color—is one of the seven classic moles for which Oaxaca, Mexico, is known.
Yellow Mole Sauce
This mole is particularly versatile—we've tried it over chicken and potatoes, as a sauce for tamales, and thinned into a broth with boiled beef, green beans, and potatoes.
Zapotec Pumpkin Seed Sauce
Pre-Columbian in origin, this sauce is a kind of mole verde.
Salsa Negra
Use this hot smoky salsa to make Chipotle Mayonnaise, or smear a little on Veracruz-Style Empanadas.
Salsa Roja
We like to eat this "roasted" tomato salsa with tortilla chips.
Salsa Verde
The tart green tomatillo that gives this salsa its hue—and its name—is, after the tomato, the most popular salsa ingredient in Mexico.
Black Mole Sauce
Contrary to popular opinion, there’s more to mole than “chicken in chocolate sauce.”
Red Chile Sauce
This spicy sauce is a staple of authentic "border food" cuisine.
Drinks
Ponche
In Mexico, ponche is made with tejocote (Crataegus pubescens), a fruit hard to find fresh in the U.S.
Watermelon Punch
This summery Mexican beverage can be turned into a refreshing cocktail with the addition of cachaca or white rum to taste.
Classic Shaken Margarita
This recipe proves that simple can be delicious. We recommend using Herradura Silver Tequila.
Margarita
Fresh lime juice and good tequila are essential for making an authentic margarita.
Michelada
The michelada might just be the best thing that’s happened to beer since pizza.
Desserts
Melon Sorbet with Lemon Granita
Chef Jair Tellez of Laja restaurant made us this sorbet with charentais melons grown at Mogor-Badan.
Mexican Wedding Cookies
These traditional wedding cookies keep well, though, and can be prepared, calmly, days in advance.
Pineapple Sorbet
After a spicy meal, the bright and simple taste of this sorbet is quite refreshing.
Oranges Stuffed with Coconut
This refreshingly sweet dessert is a variation of a typical Mexican treat.
