On Food & Culture
I love making this queso soufflé for friends. It’s a special recipe that I feature in my new book, “Don’t Count The Tortillas: The Art of Texas Mexican Cooking” published by Texas Tech University Press. Brush aside any fears about making a soufflé and you’ll …
Gracias, Italy, for inventing this delicious tomato sauce that can be turned into fra diavolo, puttanesca, and any other of the Italian variations. Although It was Mexicanas and Peruanas who first cooked tomato sauces, salsas, Italian tomato sauce is unique because it incorporates olive oil …
I first made these chipotle turkey tostadas one fall, with turkey leftover from a Thanksgiving feast. The combination of tomato, onion, garlic and chipotle is the basic flavor profile that is used in the classic dish known as “Tinga,” and is served in Puebla and …
Enchiladas verdes is a recipe from my just-released book, “Don’t Count The Tortillas: The Art Of Mexican Cooking.” There are over 100 kitchen-tested recipes, including soups, botanas, tacos, cocktails and outdoor grilling. With history and cultural context, my latest book is a collection of both …
You don’t have to be divorced to serve up these huevos divorciados (divorced eggs), a breakfast that’s so scrumptuous, you’ll “chupar los dedos,” voraciously shlurp your fingers. Well, at least that’s what I do. This dish features two of my favorite salsas, Salsa Ranchera and …
Ajoblanco is an ice-cold soup from the Andalusía region of Spain. The English translation of ajoblanco is white garlic, and it’s indeed a beautifully white soup made with only four ingredients: almonds, garlic, olive oil, and hearty bread. It’s humble and so delicious. It predates …
The above photograph of “Quelitre” is by visual artist César Martínez whose work is in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He shared the picture with me, along with this detail of how he reconnected with quelitre. Pulling weeds in his backyard, César …
Here’s one of the salsas I demonstrated on July 9 for chefs of restaurants and hotels in Moscow. Although I make it in a molcajete, this recipe uses a blender for the large volumes in restaurants. The demo was held at Marr Russia, a food …
Chile Dulce, bell pepper, was common at our kitchen table when I was growing up in San Antonio. Caldos and guisados feature chile dulce, and as a stand-alone dish the chile can be stuffed with a meat filling. This bell pepper salsa has lots of …
Chile Petin, Petín, also called piquín and chiltepin, is native to the area around Brownsville, Texas and its border sister, Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Actually it grows wild all over Texas, New Mexico, Southern Arizona, throughout all of Mexico and has for centuries. Its scientific name is …