Ask Zarela: Dried chiles and achiote
February 9, 2010
Achiote paste is used to make the famous cochinita pibil, slow-cooked pork of Yucatan.
Ask Zarela: Lard one more time.
January 19, 2010
Question:
I tried the recipe for Huitlacoche tamales the other day and the turned out great, though I may have steamed then for too long (1st time for me making tamales). My problem is cholesterol. Am on medication and my Dr. and I are working at getting my levels down. Is there ANY acceptable substitute for [...]
Letter to Mom
December 30, 2009
I like to ask people what is the best gift they’ve ever gotten and what is the best gift they’ve ever given. The answers are surprisingly varied. One woman said to me: “I got cancer.” She turned a life frivolity into one of meaning and fulfillment by doing things for others and herself. Another said [...]
Ask Zarela: Where can I get hoja santa?
November 23, 2009
Question: Hi, I love your books! Do you know anywhere to order Hoja Santa online?
Answer:
Generation Farms1109 North McKinney,Rice, Texas 75155
telephone 903-326-4263; fax: 903-326-6511
www.generationfarms.com
I had written the following post on the subject but it bears repeatimg:
Hoja Santa. I have been trying to bring true Mexican flavors to the U.S. for almost fifteen years and have had [...]
Ask Zarela: Netskies Casa del Sol, Juarez, Mexico
November 16, 2009
As soon as I published the recipe for Escabeche Casa del Sol recipe I got the following query. I’ve been trying since then to get the recipe for the Netskies from the now sadly long-departed restaurant and finally succeeded. Here is the conversation:
HI,
My wife’s family, the Wheatleys, frequented the Casa del Sol in Juarez for [...]
What is the best sauce for a barbacoa?
November 4, 2009
A reader asks in Spanish cual es la mejor salsa para una barbacoa casera? (What is the best sauce for a home-made barbacoa (slow-cooked marinated meat usually cooked in a hole in the ground?)
There is not one sauce. In the north, we would use salsa borracha (sauce made with beer, chipotle chile, avocado and sometimes [...]
Altar for the Dead
November 1, 2009
Someone at the restaurant asked me last night how people react to the altars for the dead. Mexicans see death as a natural part of the life cycle and choose to laugh at it rather than cry. That’s easier said than done but one can bridge the gap by celebrating the life of the person [...]
Enchiladas de Chorro -Pancake-like Enchiladas from Sonor
October 28, 2009
A few years ago, we honored Josefina Velasquez de Leon on our Days of the Dead celebrations. It was then that I discovered this recipe from my native state of Sonora. The enchiladas a not only delicious but much easier to make buy lower in calories than traditional enchiladas where the tortillas are first fried, [...]
Ask Zarela: Higado Encebollado- My Mother’s Smothered Liver
October 23, 2009
Aaron said your mom’s Liver and Bacon recipe is yummy – but I still cant find it on your website…
Recipe: Higado Encebollado
Summary: There were many great cooks on both sides of my family. I am lucky enough to have cooked with most of them, even one or two generations removed. This liver recipe was [...]
Gallina Pinta or Pozole de Pobre
September 13, 2009
Pozole is soup-stew traditionally made with a special variety of dried corn called cacahuazintle that is soaked in a solution of calcium hydroxide to remove the outer skin and meat, usually pork and the best includes the pig head, and/or chicken and served with assorted garnishes such as shredded lettuce, radishes, chopped onion, oregano and [...]
