Mexican Mole de Olla Dish

I've been wanting to whip up a rare an unusual Mexican mole dish for a while now, and I found my vice in Mexican mole de olla! This is not your typical mole recipe, but it sure is delicious: it fused the rare and unusual ingredients of epazote together with xoconostles and a beef stew, and it is a treat for the taste buds:

Try out the authentic Mexican recipe for this mole dish above, let me know how it turns out, and good luck!

Provecho! -Carlos Lima

Gorditas Recipe!

Finally, I found a good gorditas recipe to share with you! It's live on the authentic Mexican recipes blog. Go check it out, let me know what you think, and enjoy!

Mexican Tamales Recipe for Sweet Tamales!

I've been wanting to share a Mexican tamales recipe for a very long time now, but only recently did I acquire the necessary gear (namely a tamale steamer). Well I finally got around to testing out one of my friend's great abuelita's recipe for tamales de dulce, and holy crap: it is good! You can find the recipe at that link above, but check them out:

I'm not usually this excited when I share these authentic Mexican recipes, but sweet tamales hold a special place in my heart and it's exciting to finally be able to share this tamale recipe with you. So try it out, I hope you enjoy it, and check back again soon for more traditional Mexican recipes like this! -Carlos

Albondigas Recipe for the Mexican Meatball lovers!

Here's a super tasty albondigas recipe from the heart of La Ciudad de Mexico itself. My chilanga friend tells me her grandmother made these Mexican meatballs for her when she was a kid. I tried them out and these are unreal! Check these bad boys out:

You can find the recipe for the Mexican meatballs here: http://eauthenticmexicanrecipes.com/authentic-mexican-recipes/albondigas-recipe-mexican-meatballs-albondigas-de-carne

Test it out, let me know what you think, and make sure you share the albondigas with your friends! Provecho, my Mexican food loving friend :) -Carlos

Picadillo Recipe Mexican style

I've been eyeballing this picadillo recipe Mexican style for a while now, and I've finally got around to testing it out, enjoying the heck out of it, and sharing on the authentic Mexican recipes blog, there. Picadillo recipes from Mexico are extremely versatile: you can serve this Mexican dish as a main course, a side dish, an appetizer, or as filling for a chile relleno, a quesadilla, and many more Mexican foods:

Try this picadillo recipe out, let me know what you think, and I will back again very soon with more authentic Mexican recipes like this one for you to try out in your kitchen at home! -Carlos Lima

Vegetarian Mexican Recipes

I've added a vegetarian Mexican recipes section to the site, so you can still find some delicious dishes from authentic Mexican cuisine to make at home if you don't eat meat. This first recipe is for delicious authentic Mexican red enchiladas that use spinach and cheese in place of the traditional meat these recipes normally use.

I know it's an unusual combination: vegetarianism and Mexican food, but the mixture does exist inside the Chilango nation, and I've been inundated with so many requests for these Mexican-vegetarian recipes over this past month that I simply can't ignore the demand any more! So I'm looking forward to bringing some vegetarian recipes to the authentic Mexican recipes blog and sharing them with you all. :)

I've been traveling around lately and haven't had much time to post new authentic Mexican recipes on the site, but that's changing as I've settled in to a new home for the next two months and I'm going to bringing you new recipes from the heart of this delicious Mexican cuisine much more frequently!

Speak soon!

-Carlos Lima

Grilled Fish Tacos from Authentic Mexican Cuisine

I've been away for most of these past week, but I can't help but post this delicious authentic Mexican recipe for grilled fish tacos. These suckers are freaking delicious and I think that if you like both Mexican food and fish, you're going to absolutely love this dish. Here's a preview of the dish:

Try it out, drop me some feedback and let me know if you'd like more Mexican food recipes like this one, and I'll chat at you again very soon!

-Carlos Lima

Authentic Mexican Smoked Marlin Burrito Recipe

Here's a tasty treat for those of you who like fish and real Mexican food from south of the border: smoked marlin burritos de machaca.  These babies taste incredible and are a local favorite over here in Puerto Vallarta. Check them out:

I haven't gone into a lot of depth when it comes to burritos on the authentic Mexican recipes site, but perhaps if there's some good feedback, I'll seek out a few more good recipes for authentic burritos down here. Try this one out and let me know what YOU think, and I'll see what I can do.

Speak soon, Mexican foodies :)

-Carlos Lima

Mexican Tostada Recipe from Nayarit!

I came across a great Mexican tostada recipe in the Riviera Nayarit for tasty summer shrimp tostadas, here: http://eauthenticmexicanrecipes.com/authentic-mexican-recipes/mexican-tostada-recipe-shrimp-tostadas-from-the-riviera-nayarit

If you've never tried them, tostadas are sort of like tacos, only instead of using a tortilla to wrap around the contents of the taco, they use a hard, flat shell that you simply pile the ingredients on top of! They make for a great little afternoon snack or a quick dinner appetizer you can whip up, or even eat them as a meal if you make enough of them.

Check the recipe out because I think you'll really like it, and I'll speak to you again very soon!

-Carlos Lima

Mexican Rice Recipe Site

It's not often that I cover Mexican rice recipes on my site. Perhaps it's because rice bores me more than perusing an Mexican art gallery run by a foreigner who's idea of Mexico is that it's a 24/7 fiesta with mariachis constantly playing in the background somewhere, with everyone dancing on the streets and partying and shaking maracas non-stop...

I see it all the time, and it bores me.  Thankfully, there's a great site here that covers a pile of different rice recipes from El Gran Tenochtitlan: http://mexicanricerecipe.org/tag/rice/  She's got a video that sort of introduces the site, here:

So if you're making Mexican food and you want a few variations of rice beyond the standard Mexican rice recipe to serve, take a look at her site. It's got some good recipes.

Speak soon,

-Carlos Lima

Authentic Mexican Recipe for Mexican Pinto Beans

Epazote. It's Mexican. It's poisonous in large amounts, delicious in small portions. And it can be damn hard to find if you don't live in Mexico or have a Latin market or Hispanic grocery store nearby. Still, with the prospect of making Mexican pinto beans with the epazote IF you can find some, you're going to want to search for it where you live!

You can find the authentic Mexican recipe for frijoles de la guolla above at that link.

I hope you enjoy this one!

-Carlos

All About Chiles - A Primer On An Essential Component of Authentic Mexican Recipes

Isabel of BellaOnline has outdone herself again and written a fantastic article here on the history of the chile and how it came to where we are today, with it spread (at least partially) across the planet:

The designation bestowed by Columbus, ie pepper, is still used to describe the gently flavoured, temperate members of the family, which we know today as “sweet” or “bell” peppers, but it is the Mexican name which has stuck to those which bear true heat, be it mild or blistering: “chilli”, from the Aztec Náhuatl language. “Chili” and particularly “chile” are often used - and the Mexicans themselves call it “chile”

Interesting of note to me is how chile is spelled in different places: the Yanks seem to prefer calling them "peppers", whereas the Aztecs called and spelled it "chilli", but today both chili and, particularly in Mexico, "chile" has become the norm.

However you spell it, if you like chiles, I think you'll really enjoy this read. Again, you can find it here: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art48043.asp

Check it out!

-Carlos Lima

Authentic Mexican Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce

I just published this authentic chicken enchilada recipe for red sauce enchiladas from Mexico city. These are very popular with Chilangos who love their Mexican chicken recipes and I think you will too because they're damn delicious!

Try them out, try not do die from a pleasure explosion while eating them, and check back again very soon for another incredibly tasty authentic Mexican recipe!

-Carlos Lima

CCGM Working To Preserve Authentic Mexican Cuisine

Isabel Hood of BellaOnline fame has written an interesting and concise piece here about the work CCGM is about to undertake in order to preserve authentic Mexican cuisine as best it can in this rapidly "evolving" age of fast food consumption. Take a look at this quote:

Conservatoire of Mexican Gastronomic Culture, has set itself a challenging task. In a world overrun by fast food, convenience food, processed food, frozen food, tinned food, packaged food, irradiated food, genetically modified food, and “food” which has been bastardized and manipulated until it is no longer recognizable, CCGM’s mission statement strikes one as quite awesome: it is undertaking “the preservation, rescue, safeguarding and promotion of usages, customs, products, cultural practices and knowledge which make up the common core which defines traditional Mexican cuisine.

 

I personally wish CCGM the best of luck. I cannot see this being an easy task--preserving something as intangible and complex as a cuisine--especially today in this hyper-media culture of advertising and fast food promotional marketing. But Isabel seems to have faith in this organization's ability to do so, and that's saying something, so like most things we will have to wait and see. Only time will tell if they succeed...

-Carlos

Mexican Quesadillas

Ahh, authentic Mexican quesadillas, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

You are so simple and easy to make, even a child could cook and make you;

so fast and quick to whip up, so why not make two?

Unburdened by excess ingredients, you are tortillas and cheese in one;

for friends and all manner of dinner guests, you sure are a heck of a lot of fun.

...I would continue the poem, but frankly I'm getting hungry and I can be halfway done cooking up a batch of these quesadillas by the time I could finish writing it, so I'm going to opt for the tastier choice and go and do just that, and I recommend you test them out for yourself!  Enjoy them!

How To Shred Chicken for Mexican Recipes Like Tinga and Chicken Enchiladas

Some Mexican recipes like enchiladas and tinga require shredded chicken if you make their authentic Mexican versions, so I found this great little video on YouTube that shows you exactly how to shred chicken with a fork:

It's simple enough, but until you've seen someone do it, I know it can be a bit of a mystery how you do it. But a mystery it is no more! Hope this helps you out, authentic Mexican food lovers!

Speak soon,

-Carlos

The Julia Child of Mexican Cuisine - This Is Cool!

It's not every day you hear of someone who knows authentic Mexican recipes, and in fact world cuisine, as well as this woman does!

British born Diana Kennedy is the foremost authority of Mexican Cuisine who has been credited with preserving authentic Mexican cuisine through her numerous books and continues to be a staunch conservationist.

It's quite the story she has, and I'm jealous of the experiences she has had! Guess I'd better get going to catch up with her culinary exploration!

-Carlos 

An authentic Mexican breakfast burrito recipe

I've been wanting to share an authentic Mexican breakfast burrito recipe for quite a while now, and I've finally gotten around to it!

What's not to love about Mexican burritos?  They taste amazing, they're fun to eat, and did I mention Mexican breakfast burritos like this taste amazing? Well, it deserves the repetition.

Check the recipe out. You can make 10 of these in about a half hour, so it's a great Mexican breakfast to serve your family if there's a few hungry mouths you know of that need feeding!  

Talk to you again soon with another recipe to share!

-Carlos Lima

Mexican Fish Soup Recipe - Caldo de Pescado

A very popular summer seafood soup in Mexico is Caldo de Pescado, which most gringos will know as Mexican fish soup.  This is an incredibly delicious soup from coastal Mexico that will make your mouth water, so be sure to try this one out on a breezy summer day when you're craving some soup.

Hope you like this recipe, and I hope to be sharing some more authentic Mexican seafood recipes and soups in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. Until next time, keep experimenting en la cocina, mis amigos!

-Carlos Lima

Easy Guacamole: is this the best guacamole recipe in the world?

Some think so! You can check out what some of my Mexican friends are calling the best guacamole recipe in the world (their words!)

Personally, I like a little cilantro in my guacamole, but I still have to concede that this recipe is pretty delicious.  It's also super easy to make, so that's a plus when you're strapped for time like me!

If you like guacamole, drop me a line in the comment section below and I'll see if I can share another easy guacamole recipe like this one in the future.  I hope you like this one because I sure do, and I'll speak to you again soon with another authentic Mexican recipe from the heart of real Mexico!

Hasta la proxima, amigo!

-Carlos

Tostopos: Mexican Chips Recipe For Making Your Own Fried Tortilla Chips Snack

Tostopos are a very easy Mexican recipe to whip up for a quick snack when you're about to sit down for your fav. TV show.  This Mexican chips recipe is perfect for those who like nachos and chips, but don't like the idea of devouring chemically-laden food and polluting their body with all the presevatives: totopos are just like those, but they're natural and lack the preservatives!

Hope you like enjoy these! They're a cinch to whip up, so try them out!

-Carlos

Authentic Tacos al Pastor recipe

If you travel to Mexico and explore the cuisine, you'll notice just how big Mexican pork recipes are to the Chilangos. Whether they're hanging out a the local cantina and munching down some tacos for lunch, or back at home cooking up some pozole at home on the weekend, pork plays an integral role in authentic Mexican recipes.

One of my favorite recipes from Mexico is this authentic Tacos al Pastor recipe from the street vendors of Mexico city, that I've adapted so you can make them at home without a vertical rotisserie or any of the other fancy equipment they use.  Try it out when you have some time on the weekend and let me know what you think.  I think you'll love this one!

-Carlos

Salsa Taquera Recipe for Tacos

When you live in Mexico, you end up eating a lot of tacos.  Be it the street corner at the vendor, your friend's house, or your neighbor who's showing you some love by making you a plate of food along with the rest of the guests he's serving (happens quite often in Mexican culture!) ,what doesn't change is that these tacos are nearly always served with salsa taquera.

This salsa is perhaps the most common salsa served with tacos in this country, and it is legendary among Mexicans for quickly infusing your dish with a punch of delicious flavor.  I've tried a lot of spicy salsas in this country, but few can compare with the quality of a good salsa taquera recipe. Try it out and see how well your tongue interprets Mexican!

-Carlos Lima

Chilaquiles for a Mexican Breakfast

Having lived in Mexico for over three years now, I've been a fan of chilaquiles for a about as long, now.  

I've been browsing around for a good recipe for them and I finally found one here: http://shaheentv.com/view/44z8n383j/chilaquiles-green-chilaquiles-mexican-breakfast/

I just made these and they turned out delicious!

-Carlos

Tacos al Pastor on the mind...

I've been craving tacos al pastor lately and I think I'm finally going to have to figure out a way of making my own at home...

http://www.detroitdrinks.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=569&g2_serialNumber=1

It's not exactly going to be easy because the pork is usually cooked on a spit with a HUGE mass of pork meat, but my body is asking for these delicious tacos and I cannot wait any longer...

Tonight, I'm making tacos al pator and I'm going to share the recipe with you tomorrow if it turns out well...  I'll let you know!

-Carlos

Authentic Mexican Salad Recipes: Northern Mexican Salad

It's not often you hear of authentic Mexican salad recipes, and that's because Mexico is known for its meat dishes like tacos de pastor, cane asada, and pescado frito.  Even just writing about authentic Mexican salads makes me feel like I'm wandering through a dream in the twilight zone or something, but I really shouldn't be surprised because the world of authentic Mexican recipes is incredibly varied.  

This Mexican salad comes from northern Mexico and makes for a perfect Sunday afternoon snack or a precursor Mexican appetizer to serve your guests to tide them over until the main course.  It's easy to make, it's delicious, and it's a healthy fresh salad from real Mexico:

The full recipe is here:  http://eauthenticmexicanrecipes.com/authentic-mexican-recipes/authentic-mexican-salad-recipes-fresh-northern-mexico-salad

Keep experimenting in that kitchen of yours, and I'll speak to you again soon!

-Carlos Lima

Drug Violence In Mexico?--Yes. Dangerous For Tourists?--No.

This is out of the way of what I normally talk about here, but I was just reading this article by Reuters and I want to tell you what I see down here, as someone who has been traveling through Mexico for the past three years, seeing the sights and exploring the vast, delicious authentic Mexican foodscape, and who's tired of hearing about all the fear mongering that goes on in American news media:  the only violence I have witnessed down here in Mexico, in all of the different places I have lived and visited in the past three years of traveling around has been between drunk, angry, poorly behaving tourists on vacation.  That's it.

I have yet to witness or come into contact with anybody who has witnessed any drug related violence.  We hear there's a lot of it, but we don't get to see any of it because it's happening between those involved in the drug trade.  These drug cartels aren't going to roll up on you, Ms. Jane Innocent Bystander, and gun you down while you're enjoying your tacos at the corner stand on the street.  It just isn't happening.  

The above article states:

the drug violence is occurring far from the most popular resorts such as Cancun, Huatulco, Ixtapa, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos, the Mexican official said, urging U.S. authorities to be more specific in their alerts.
In March, the Texas Department of Public Safety warned college revellers not to travel to Mexico for spring break with the message: "Stay alive."

Having personally lived in Los Cabos, Cancun, and currently to Puerto Vallarta area, I can tell you this is consistent with my experience.  There is no drug violence in the tourist places, outside a few very, very rare exceptions.  It's happening mostly along the border between the cartels. 

So if you're thinking of flying down to Mexico for a vacation and enjoying the sun and the beautiful beaches down here, you can be 99.999% certain that you're not going to have a single problem with violence down here.  Of course I can't guarantee it, but I'd be willing to bet a great deal with you!  The bad press this country gets in the US almost astounds me when I forget about how entertainment-centric the media is up there.  Don't listen to the stupid, fear-injecting news reports you hear when you tune into CNN or MSNBC.

The violence exists, but it's irrelevant.  This from the mouth of someone who actually lives here.  

-Carlos Lima

Tacos de Arrachera - an authentic Mexican steak taco recipe

Tacos de arrachera is a popular taco recipe in northern Mexico, originating from the Monterrey area.  For most foreigners, arrachera tacos is an unusual change from the usual barrage of pork and shrimp tacos, but a very welcome one once you try them: the arrachera steak taco recipe makes for a juicy flavor you can savor over a beer or a nice glass of wine, and it can be a pleasant change from other types of tacos that are usually dry.

Here is the recipe for arrachera tacos.  Enjoy!

Huevos a la Mexicana - Mexican Breakfast recipe

If you're still hung over from 5 de Mayo, this will be a good Mexican breakfast for you: Huevos a la Mexicana

Served with beans and rice, this is a full meal unto itself. I think you'll like it.  It's a very popular breakfast dish over here, with almost all the restaurants serving some variation of this basic Mexican breakfast recipe.  Provecho, amigos.

Authentic Mexican Chicken Enchiladas for Cinco de Mayo

I wanted to share something special for Cinco de Mayo today, and I've reached into the bag of authentic Mexican chicken recipes from the streets of Mexico city to bring this one to you today: green chicken enchiladas recipe.  It's freaking delicious, so enjoy it!

The full enchilada recipe is here:  http://eauthenticmexicanrecipes.com/mexican-chicken-recipes-2/mexican-chicken-recipes-green-authentic-chicken-enchiladas-enchiladas-verdes

Speak soon amigos, and try not to drink too much tequila this evening :)

-Carlos Lima

Mexican Cinco de Mayo tomorrow: a day for partying

Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) is tomorrow and the (mostly American) party people are lining up at the liquor stores down here in Mexico.  No doubt there will be a lot of authentic Mexican recipes prepared and beer bought to celebrate this country, but Mexicans actually don't seem to care that much about Cinco de Mayo.  Maybe it's because there are already so many other holidays throughout the year, many of them bigger and more significant, like the Holy Week that just ended a few days.  And maybe because it's more of an American party excuse than a Mexican celebration: check this out:

That is from 2005 obviously, but I see advertisements like this all over town, mostly in the gringo hot spots, for foreigners looking to get their fiesta-freak on! haha.  Now I'm all for a good party, but before you go to a 5 de Mayo party, at least get the facts straight: it is not Mexico's independence day!  Cinco de Mayo in was the day in 1862 when the Mexico defeated the French and ended the short-lived French occupation of the country and ended the last remaining French presence in North America, at the Battle of Puebla.  It isn't really a big deal to people living in Mexico, but it's celebrated abroad as a type of Mexican pride day and a good reason to drink tequila.  

To that end, I will be joining my fellow foreign compatriots and I wish you all a happy Cinco de Mayo, mañana.

Cheers,

Carlos Lima

Probably The Easiest Mexican Beans Recipe You Can Make: Black Bean Soup

It's very common to be served beans as a side dish when you go out for lunch in Mexico.  Whether you're stopping into a little street stall for lunch or you're going to a friend of a friend's house for comida, Mexican beans recipes like this recipe for black bean soup are very often made and served as a 1st course for the meal, to tide you over until the main course arrives.

If you like beans and you like authentic Mexican food, try the recipe out, let me know if you like it, and leave me a comment to let me know if you'd like to see more authentic Mexican bean recipes like this in the future.  This is a very easy recipe to try out, so it's a good one to experiment if you're new to authentic Mexican cuisine and you'd like to test the waters first (and wet your appetite!) before diving head first into a word of chiles, tortillas, and--yes--beans.  Speak to you again soon, -Carlos

Easy-to-make Mexican appetizers: Sincronizadas

Sincronizadas are essentially quesadillas' dressed up older sister: they look and taste almost identical, but the older sister has a bit more meat on her (ham, in this case, and get your head out of the gutter, hahaha.)

Authentic Mexican appetizers like this are very easy to make and are perfect for learning on a Sunday afternoon, great for warming up your taste buds for the oncoming Cinco de Mayo in just four more days!  It turns out sincronizadas are so popular in Mexico that they even have their own Facebook page with over 300 likes!--for a little Mexican appetizer like this!

If you make these delicious Mexican appetizer sincronizada snacks, this is how you finish them of with your garnish:

The full recipe is here:  http://eauthenticmexicanrecipes.com/mexican-appetizers/mexican-appetizers-sincronizadas-recipe

making your own Flour Tortillas!

Mexican cooking diva Zarela has a great writeup on how you can make your own flour tortillas, here.  Mexican cuisine is known to be chalk full of tortillas, and it's more than just a cheap stereotype: having lived with Mexicans for the past three years, I solemnly swear to tell you the whole truth, nothing but the truth--so help me Santa Maria--when I tell you that Mexicans do eat tortillas with everything.  If there's food being served, you can almost be certain that tortillas are involved.  It's just a given.

With that out of the way, why then would you wish to make your own tortillas?  If they're everywhere, why bother?  It's simple: freshly handmade tortillas taste better than older, packed and shipped ones that you pick up at the store.  So if you're serving an authentic Mexican recipe that features tortillas in some prominent way, I recommend making (or having someone make) tortillas from scratch for the recipe.  It will taste so much better!  

You may want to experiment with flours from small mills in this country that supply amateur bread bakers. For tortillas, however, you want all-purpose flour rather than the hard-wheat flours usually sold for bread-making. I get good results with Hecker’s or Pillsbury all-purpose unbleached flour.

Zarela's full recipe for making your own flour tortillas is here. 

I'll speak to you again soon. -Carlos Lima

 

Pescado Frito recipe - The Authentic Mexican version

I found a good pescado frito recipe from authentic Mexican cuisine on the coast over here and I've written it up to share with you.  Here's a little video to wet your appetite, first:

You can find the full authentic Mexican pescado frito recipe here.  I hope you enjoy the dish as I did.  I'm not the best a photographing food so please excuse the few photos I've taken--I know they're not the best, but don't let my lack of culinary photography prowess deter you from trying this great dish if you have some fish you want to cook and you're enjoy authentic Mexican food!

Until next time, keep experimenting in the kitchen! -Carlos L

Easter Sunday in Roman Catholic Mexico

The end to Semana Santa is here, and some families will be enjoying this day together.  I figure what better way to bond with your family than to work together in the kitchen and whip up a delicious authentic Mexican dessert recipe for one of the most delicious things you will ever taste in your life: flan!

The End of Semana Santa (Holy Week) Tomorrow: Thank God

Domingo de Gloria (Easter Sunday) is upon us tomorrow and will mark the end of Semana Santa (Holy week), by far the biggest holiday in Mexico.

"It should come as no surprise that in Mexico, a predominantly Roman Catholic country, Easter — Pascua — is the most widely celebrated and important religious holiday of the year."

I highly recommend reading the above article if you're interested in Mexican stories.  If you're interested what Mexico is actually like, I suggest reading this post.

I was going to post an authentic Mexican recipe for holy week, but it would be a hypocritical farce--a complete joke.  The official "recipe" of Semana Santa in modern Mexico is cheap beer, chips, and more cheap beer.  

Let me be fair: for some, holy week is a time of reflection.  Some of these souls do exist.  

But for many others, this holiday a time to party, get wasted, and act like an obnoxious dipshit.  I'm not angry or bitter here: I'm just being honest.  I'm not religious, I couldn't care about what Jesus may or may not have done, but I'm a person with eyes and ears who observes what goes on around him.

Right now, I live on the coast in Mexico and I have never seen so many ill behaved people crowding the beaches and treating each other so poorly in my life.  The significance of this holiday is lost on these people.  I understand that, living on the coast, I'm living in a place where the party people are going to pour out to when the holiday gates open and it's time to take a break and go to the beach!  But there are a lot of these people everywhere, and they're polluting, thieving, and getting in fights left, right, and center, here.  It's a fu*#ing mess.

I'll have a Mexican recipe for you next time: I'm a little too exhausted to post one at the moment.  I hope you enjoy a more peaceful Easter Sunday than it seems I will. ;)

Mexican Breakfast recipe for Huevos Rancheros

Authentic Huevos Rancheros can be hard to come by if you live outside Mexico and you're mostly confined to a selection of Tex-Mex restaurants, so I've written down a good recipe for them so you can make your own at home.  It's a very easy Mexican recipe that takes 20 minutes to whip up, so even cooking newbies can pull this one off I think:

The full recipe for huevos rancheros is here.

I'll be back here again with some new authentic Mexican food recipes in the coming days and weeks, and it looks like I'm going to be delivering them to you more frequently from now on. I'm living with a few Mexicanas right now who really know their food, and I feel like a kid in a candy store, or a man in king Midas' castle in my case! haha!  Anyway, I'll be sure to share the recipes I gleam from these authentic Mexican master chefs in the coming weeks!  Stay tuned!..

Baja style shrimp tacos recipe

Have you ever tried these?  I've been living in Mexico for over three years now and I have eaten a LOT of tacos.  Among all of those different taco recipes, Baja's recipe for shrimp tacos stands up there with the best in my and many others' opinion.  If you're looking for something different to cook for dinner that is downright delicious and taken straight out of authentic Mexican cuisine, then look no further and try these out!  Your taste buds will thank you.

Cancun's Regional Mexican Cuisine

If you've ever been to Cancun, you can't help but notice that it is very touristy: the beaches are beautiful, they're lined with huge hotels and party people, and it's a fun place to crash for a weekend.  It can be hard to find anything authentically Mexican in this place, but if you look, you can find some great dishes endemic to to the Cancun area.  I like this article by KC Kudra that touches on this:

...tacos filled with pork skin in green sauce, beef, potato or Mexican sausage, cheese and potato quesadillas served with salsa or Tik-in-xic fish which is fish marinated in a sour orange juice and achiote marinade and baked in banana leaves. Tamales in Cancun are great and these are steamed cornmeal stuffed with pork, chicken, or beef.

You can read the full article here. 

Speak soon,

-Carlos Lima

Carne Asada Tacos - A Super Popular Taco Inside Mexico

Carne asada (grilled beef) tacos are very popular in Mexico at many of the street stall vendors and restaurants that line the streets in this country, and I just found this simple recipe for them that About.com recently published.  I would definitely try these tacos out if you have a craving for either meat or tacos AND you're interested in learning more about authentic Mexican food!

Here's what someone commented about this recipe:

These are delicious, easy, and taste like the ones in good mexican restaurants!

 

Try this taco recipe out and let me know how it goes--I've got my hands full with some other taco recipes I'm working on right now, but I may have to make these in the near future if they're as good as they sound!  Talk soon, -Carlos

Tex-Mex food vs Authentic Mexican Cuisine: A Classic Battle

I hear this asked all the time: why is there such a difference between what many call "Tex-Mex" cuisine and authentic Mexican food?  While I'm sure the reasons are many, my opinion is that, aside from cost reasons, restaurant owners abroad find it more marketable to latch onto the bright, colorful and flashing cultural stereotypes that people identify Mexico with than it is profitable to invest promoting the real Mexican cuisine and having to educate the public to a large extent on what that even means and why they should get excited about trying it. I wrote a good article about it here your can check out:   Tex-Mex cuisine vs Authentic Mexican food - why the difference?

I'll speak to you again soon! -Carlos Lima

Mexican Lent Recipes: I Found Some Popular Ones For You Guys

As it happens, we're currently in the middle of Mexican lent.  Lent of course is the period following the lustful, primal, animal, and favorite-time-of-year-for-many carnival, and is seen as a period of repentance: a period of time where we're supposed to reflect on all the bad shit we've done over the past while and feel bad and make cheap resolves to be "better" en el futuro.  My mockery aside, there are certain changes some people make to their diet during lent: in Mexico, a Catholic country (at least on its face), you are supposed to go without eating meat on each of Friday during lent.  For those wondering why, this is to pay homage to all the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, without the comforts or spoils of the city life in Jerusalem.  Whether it does him justice, I'll leave that to you to decide, but in all seriousness I recently came across an article by the venerated about.com, that details some popular dishes for Mexican lent, where non-meat dishes like the famous chilaquiles (picture below) enjoy their moment (or Fridays) of fame...

 

Some foods are traditionally associated with Lent in Mexico. It is very common to eat seafood on Fridays - fish and shrimp are both very popular. Another food commonly eaten during Lent isempanadas de vigilia. These empanadas are made with a flour pastry shell and stuffed with vegetables or seafood.

 

Read the full article here:  http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/toppicks/tp/Mexican-Recipes-For-Lent.htm

Tasty Mexican Chicken Soup Recipe: Caldo de Pollo!

If you've ever wondered what Mexican comfort food is, you're in for a treat today.  I just finished writing up the latest of my traditional Mexican recipes: Caldo de Pollo.

Caldo de Pollo For The Mexican Soul would ring true for a lot of Chilangos, and it’s no wonder: traditional Mexican recipes like this are found everywhere in this country. 

 

Mexican chicken soup is a great meal for a cold day, when you just want to stay in and eat something tasty and yummy and savor all that flavor right there in the bowl, and it's also a great dish if you're sick and you need something simple and easy for your stomach to digest, so be sure to check it out.  The full recipe is here:  Caldo de Pollo recipe.

Until next time, keep cooking new recipes and pushing your culinary boundary!  -Carlos Lima

Oaxaca salad on the list today

When searching around for new authentic Mexican recipes to test out, I'm often inundated with elaborate taco recipes, meat dishes, and other heavy meals that take longer to make and are more suited for a night of dinner with friends.  But what about if you want something quick to make, something lighter, like a salad?  I've been searching around for Mexican salad recipes lately and I've arrived at my first selection, which I'll be testing out later today.  It's featured by Mexconnect.com, and comes from the kitchen of Chef Pilar Cabrera: Oaxaca salad by Pilar Cabrera

A Prominent Herb in Mexican Cuisine: the delicious Epazote

With spring around the corner, some of you chefs and foodies out there may also be gardeners and wondering about something new to plant in your garden this season.  An herb you may want to consider is epazote.  Many authentic Mexican recipes, especially the salads down here, make use of this strong herb, and it's quite tasty when used properly!  Anyone serious about learning Mexican cuisine will get to the herb eventually, as it's becoming one of the signature tastes in Mexican food these days.  You can learn more about it from about.com, here:  http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/spanishterms/g/Epazote.htm

Making one of the many authentic Mexican recipes for Mole is usually like pulling teeth, but this particular mole recipe doesn't seem so bad...

Mole, Mexico's delicious chocolate and cinnamon delicacy sauce, is usually an absolute bitch to make: a lot of the recipes for traditional mole contain over 100 ingredients in total, which makes for a excruciatingly long preparation.  Well I recently came across a recipe by one of my favorite fellow chefs and writers, KC Kudra, where much to my relief, I finally found a simpler mole that contains just 17 ingredients.  KC doesn't seem to share my enthusiasm about the simplicity of this recipe, but I'm going to be cooking this one up on the weekend if I can find the ingredients...

"Anyone who has ever attempted to make a mole sauce probably gave it up as a bad idea. An authentic mole has around 17 ingredients, and is a long, drawn our process. That explains why it is rarely offered on restaurant menus."

Cook it with me and try it out for yourself.  The recipe is here:  http://ezinearticles.com/?An-Authentic-Mexican-Recipe---Mole-Sauce-Recreated&id=6097664

Mexican Turkey In Mole Poblano recipe from Rick...

Gringo master of Mexican cuisine, Rick Bayless posted his recipe for an amazing turkey in mole poblano a while back, and I have to say: this dish looks f#*!ing delicious!  It's definitely on the bigger, more complex, longer-to-cook end of the spectrum of authentic Mexican recipes, but if you have a big event you're going to cook for this weekend or in the future and you want to serve Mexican, give some thought to this recipe!  I'm going to be trying this one myself in a few days, and if you do too, make sure and let me know how it turns out for you!  Provecho!

New and Supremely Tasty Mexican Appetizer Recipe: Shrimp Ceviche

I've just posted a new recipe for my latest endeavor in my Mexican kitchen: shrimp ceviche recipe.  I hope you guys like it, and if you try it and you like it, leave me some feedback on that page at the bottom; I'm always curious about what you like in particular about these authentic Mexican recipes, and what you'd like me to make in the future and share the recipes for, with you.  Let me know!

Ever wanted to make Chiles Rellenos? Here's how:

Ever since I first arrived and Mexico and tried Chiles Rellenos, I've been hooked for this authentic Mexican dish.  There's something about the taste of the stuffed poblano peppers that never seems to get old to my taste buds, and I order it again and again at my favourite little street corner restaurant in the small town I live in.  Well I finally manage to beat the recipe out of a good chef friend of mine, and she's agreed to let me share this authentic Mexican recipe for chiles rellenos with cheese with you today.  Check it out for yourself, try it, and see for yourself why this dish is one of the most popular in the cuisine.

Alright, I'll speak to you soon ;)

-Carlos

New recipe for you to try: Shrimp a La Diablo

Among Mexican food, this is a queen of the cuisine: Shrimp a La Diabla authentic Mexican recipe.  So there it is, as promised.  I apologise for the huge delay in getting this recipe to you; I've been packed with work lately and just got to scribing this one down for you, so I hope you enjoy it!  And leave me some feedback on here after you try it out--I like hearing about what you like!

Provecho!  And stay tuned for next week's recipe: I'm going to be doing one of the most famous authentic Mexican recipes I've covered so far: chile rellenos!  

-Carlos Lima

I'm Seeing A LOT of spam Abound In The Authentic Mexican Recipes World

I don't know if it's just me, but this Mexican food lover is getting swamped with spam from all sorts of auto-article generating gobledy gook content on the net.  I'm trying to find some different tasty authentic Mexican recipes to try out in my cocina, but I'm finding a lot of garbage content out there right now!  What's up authors?!--Are you so lazy that you can't bother to write your articles yourself and actually put something useful out there? /rant.  Sorry.  I get a little annoyed by this.  Alas, I've decided to whip up a delicious dish from a recipe I came across on the streets of Mexico city for Shrimp of The Devil, aka "camarones a la diabla", and if it turns out well, I'll share the recipe with you in a day or two.  And yes, it will actually be written by a human being--me, in fact!  Check back in a few days for the recipe!!

(image courtesy of http://www.chefdelujo.com)

How To Make Flour Tortillas From Scratch For Authentic Mexican Recipes

If you really want to make 100% authentic Mexican recipes and you're serving something like tacos, if you have the energy and the time, I really recommend making your own tortillas for them.  I recently came across this great recipe from Zarela for doing just that--for making your own flour tortillas:

Super Tasty Authentic Mexican Side Dish: Nopales and Cambray Onion Recipe

Happy new year everyone!  Continuing in the tradition of sharing my favorite authentic Mexican recipes with you all, here's an awesome side dish to heat up a plate of tacos or enchiladas on a cool January day.  Enjoy!

Authentic Mexican Side Dish: Nopales and Cambray Onions Recipe