1 BÁSICOS

Basics

Many Mexican recipes are made from the same basic building blocks: salsas, rice, beans, and masa. But the recipes taste different depending on how the building blocks are used. You can scramble refried beans into eggs or poach eggs in bean soup. The ingredients are almost the same, but one dish is dense and hearty, the other lighter and more delicate. Salsa verde can be used sparingly as a condiment spooned onto tacos or by the cupful as the simmering base of a stew, or you can swirl crema into it to make the rich and tangy sauce for chilaquiles. One thing is for sure: most Mexican meals require more than one building block to play with. That’s why this chapter contains so many recipes.

Some of these basic recipes, like the ones for soupy beans and white rice, are so simple that you could learn them by heart without trying. You might be wondering why you need recipes for these things at all. Just because a recipe is easy and simple doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pay attention to every step of making it. On the contrary, the fewer ingredients and steps a dish has, the more care you should put into preparing it. For instance, my recipe for soupy beans is fairly long, not because it’s difficult but because a lot of steps ensure that the beans turn out just right. I’m sure you’ve had some bad beans, cooked to a disintegrating mush or crunchy and underdone. If you follow my directions, you’ll end up with beans that are creamy on the inside with their skins still intact.

Having the basic components that you need to make a great Mexican meal can take advance planning. You need an hour or two to cook dried beans (although it’s largely inactive cooking time). Guacamole is quick to prepare but also turns brown quickly, so you need to make it shortly before you sit down to eat. Making your own queso fresco requires that you let the curds drain for several hours so the cheese reaches the right consistency. Crema needs to sour for about 24 hours, but then it keeps for up to 10 days. Salsas also usually keep in the fridge, so if you make those in advance, they’re ready at a moment’s notice, and beans and tortillas also store and reheat well. You can either make your basic building blocks ahead of time to go into a particular dish you have in mind or look at what you have left in the refrigerator and design a meal from that.

If you’re familiar with Mexican food, you’ll probably recognize most of these basics as classics. But everyone does things a little differently, and these are my versions. I’ve tried to share all of the tricks that I’ve learned over my years of cooking. While I respect traditions, I’m not rigid. Sometimes the desire to use sustainable ingredients prompts me to use something not found in Mexico, such as the raw trout that we put on our tostadas at Cala instead of the classic (but overfished) raw tuna. Where produce is concerned, I am always drawn to the most gorgeous in-season fruits and vegetables. In Mexico, the availability of some produce is more consistent, but when I’m in California or elsewhere, the produce I get can change a lot, and I enjoy incorporating the different ingredients into my Mexican food, even if it means deviating from standard recipes.

Pay attention to the steps I outline for making these basic building blocks, but don’t be afraid to improvise, especially if you come across an interesting ingredient you want to substitute. Odds are good that if it’s fresh and in season, it will taste great.

ZANAHORIAS CON LIMÓN Y CHILE PIQUÍN MARINATED CARROTS WITH LIME AND CHILE PIQUÍN

These carrots are the most basic thing, briefly soaked in lime and shaken up with salt and chile piquín. These little nibbles start every meal at Cala, brought to the table in a small wooden bowl for diners to enjoy while studying the menu. The truth is, any kid could throw this together. In fact, when my son, Lucas, learned how to chop, this was the first thing he wanted to make. By the time we return to the table at Cala to take an order, the bowl of carrots is always empty. It’s a nice way to ease into a meal, making you hungry for more substantial food.

We use fresh young carrots—slender ones that snap when you bend them in half, so sweet they don’t need peeling, just a good scrub. Feel free to substitute (or add) other vegetables, such as jicama, daikon or watermelon radish, celery, and cucumber. You can also briefly marinate fruit, such as watermelon or pineapple, in this same bath of lime, salt, and chile piquín. Just make sure any produce you use is as fresh as it can be. This is always true when you’re serving something raw. Because you want the vegetables to be crunchy and still sweet, they are best when marinated for only a couple of hours before you serve them. Softer vegetables or fruit don’t need to marinate at all so you can serve them immediately.

You may not be able to find ground chile piquín, but the dried ones—which are about the size of pencil erasers—are widely available at Mexican markets, and you can throw them into a spice grinder. If you go through this step, grind more than you need, since it’s a great spice to have on hand to garnish bowls of beans or soups: spicy but not overwhelmingly so.

MAKES 4 CUPS / 500G

8 to 10 tender young organic carrots

½ cup / 120ml freshly squeezed lime juice

1 Tbsp sea salt

1 tsp ground chile piquín

Remove the carrot tops and scrub the carrots thoroughly. (If they’re not very young and tender, you should also peel them.) Cut them in half lengthwise, then into 2- to 3-inch / 5 to 7.5cm pieces. (If you’re using other vegetables, just weigh them to be sure that the ratio of vegetables to marinade matches this ratio and slice them in a way that will be attractive on a serving plate.)

Place the carrots in a jar or other container with a lid, add the lime juice, salt, and chile and shake or stir to combine. Place in the refrigerator to chill and absorb the flavors for no less than 15 minutes and up to 2 hours. Serve them cold.

Leftover carrots can be stored in the refrigerator but the lime oxidizes and can take on a metallic taste after a day or two, and the carrots can become rubbery as they lose their crunch, so these are better eaten sooner rather than later.

CEBOLLAS ROJAS ENCURTIDAS PICKLED RED ONIONS

Tangy, pickled red onions add a snap of flavor and a vibrant hit of color to whatever they garnish. They’re especially good as a complement to rich things like carnitas (this page) or cochinita pibil (this page). This recipe calls for vinegar, but you can also pickle onions in lime juice if you’d like, though they won’t last as long. Onions pickled in vinegar can last for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator, but I always finish mine long before that!

MAKES ABOUT 2½ CUPS / 450G

1 Tbsp sea salt

⅔ cup / 160ml white vinegar

2 red onions, thinly sliced

Whisk the salt and vinegar in a jar until the salt dissolves. Place the onions in the vinegar and marinate for 1 hour before serving. These onions can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

SALSAS CLÁSICAS

For the same reasons an Italian cook wouldn’t buy a jar of spaghetti sauce—because making your own is easy and tastes one hundred times better—in Mexico, anyone who likes to cook makes their own salsas, usually without glancing at a recipe. We know our favorites by heart and can improvise as we go, making adjustments depending on what’s at hand and what we plan to eat it with.

Your own salsa will be infinitely better than any salsa you can buy because you choose your ingredients and fix it to your own taste, and it won’t have been sitting in a refrigerator case fading or going fizzy as it nears its expiration date. In Mexico, salads are not a big part of the diet as they are in other cuisines, and I think that’s because salsas (and aguas frescas) provide all the greens and vitamins we need.

There are so many Mexican salsas that you could easily fill a cookbook with nothing else. A salsa can be cooked or raw, blended or chunky, made with fresh chiles or with dried ones that you soak and blend. Some salsas are clearly intended for specific dishes, like Salsa Ahogada (this page), which gets ladled over a torta ahogada (a drowned sandwich). But most are staples that can be mixed and matched with any variety of foods. I like to have at least two salsas in my fridge at all times to use as the mood strikes me, whether poured over eggs, enjoyed with tacos, or spooned into a bowl of beans.

My favorite salsas vary depending on the season, especially in the United States, where produce is so seasonally variable. There is no hiding a mealy pink tomato, and a raw tomato salsa made from out-of-season ingredients always looks a little sad to me. So in the winter, even when I make a cooked tomato salsa, I will sometimes add a spoonful of tomato paste so that the finished product has the dark red color I like. Another of my favorite raw salsas, Salsa Brava (this page), can be enjoyed in any season, since it’s made of just slivered onion and habaneros, marinated in equal parts olive oil and lime juice. It’s a great way to get that nice raw crunch, even in the winter.

While a raw salsa is best eaten on the day it’s made, cooked salsas last for about a week in the refrigerator, so they’re something I like to prepare on a Sunday and then use all week long. Cooked salsas also freeze well, so you can double your recipe and freeze the second half for up to 6 months.

For me, salsa is as much about adding color to food as flavor. Most salsas are either red (tomato-based) or green (tomatillo-based), although I am also so crazy about one yellow salsa, Salsa de Chile Manzano (this page), that I am never without a jar of it. Whether I’m at the market or searching through my refrigerator to figure out what to cook, I let my eyes guide me. I see what’s available, what looks good, or what needs to be used up first, and I build the meal from that. Instead of treating salsa as an afterthought, use it as a starting point.

VERDURAS EN ESCABECHE HOT PICKLED VEGETABLES

Many cultures have their own recipes for pickled vegetables, probably because it’s the best way to preserve vegetables to ensure you can keep enjoying them during the winter. In Mexico, that’s not the issue, but pickling is also a great way to preserve produce when the temperature is hot and you lack refrigeration. But what may have started as a practical thing has persisted because pickled vegetables add a delicious hit of spice, salt, and acid to whatever they accompany. They are great in tacos, with any grilled meat, or on their own. One of my favorite pickled vegetables is the nopal, or cactus paddle, which already has a tart flavor. At Mexican markets in California, you can buy them in the produce section, and often they have already been shorn of their thorns. If you find them with their thorns still on, use a paring knife to carefully nick them off. If you can’t find them at all, just increase the quantity of the other vegetables.

MAKES ABOUT 3 CUPS / 600G

1½ tsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves

2 carrots, cut into slices

3 cactus paddles, dethorned and cut into chunks

5 or 6 jalapeño chiles, halved lengthwise

1 bunch of scallions, crowns discarded, cut into 1-inch / 2.5cm pieces

⅔ cup / 160ml white vinegar

6⅓ oz / 180g cauliflower, cut into chunks

2 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed

2½ oz / 75g zucchini, cut into slices

In a large skillet, warm the oil over medium heat. Once it’s shimmering, add the garlic and fry until golden brown. Then add the carrots, cactus, chiles, and scallions and continue frying while stirring for 10 minutes, until everything softens.

Add the vinegar to the skillet and bring to a boil. Then add the cauliflower and return to a boil. Season with the salt.

Remove the skillet from the stove and add the zucchini. Let the mixture cool. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Transfer the vegetables to a sealed container with a lid and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Serve cold.

SALSA VERDE CRUDA RAW GREEN SALSA

This raw salsa, made from blended tomatillos and avocado, is a good one to make when you need to use up a ripe avocado, even one that may be slightly past its prime, since you won’t notice the discoloration once it’s whipped with the other ingredients. This is one of the two salsas always available at the communal counter at Tacos Cala, the taco shop adjacent to my sit-down restaurant. I love the contrast of a fresh raw salsa on top of a slow-cooked stew. Don’t use this salsa interchangeably with Salsa Verde (this page). While that one serves as the base for lots of stews, this one shouldn’t be heated up because of the raw ingredients. It’s very Mexican to dollop two (or more) salsas on a taco or a plate of eggs. One salsa alone just won’t do. This green salsa pairs beautifully alongside red Salsa Mexicana (this page) or Salsa de Chile Cascabel (this page).

MAKES 3 CUPS / 720ML

10 tomatillos, papery husks removed and discarded, rinsed, and cut in half

1 large garlic clove

1 shallot, cut into pieces

1 avocado, cut in half, pitted, and peeled

Juice of 1 lime, plus more as needed

3 sprigs cilantro

4 leaves romaine or 1 small head Little Gem lettuce

2 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be)

1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed

Combine the tomatillos, garlic, shallot, avocado, lime juice, cilantro, lettuce, chiles, and salt in a blender. Blend thoroughly until the salsa is creamy. Taste and add more lime or salt if needed.

Serve the salsa cold. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. After 2 days, the raw ingredients can separate and turn brown.

PICO DE GALLO CHOPPED FRESH SALSA

A lot of people who haven’t been exposed to a wide variety of Mexican foods think of pico de gallo when they think of salsa. This is the chunky one made from chopped raw tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and chile (if you want it spicy). A lot of times, in the United States, pico de gallo comes in sealed plastic tubs where all of the ingredients have faded to a uniform and unappealing pink color. Don’t bother. I only make this salsa when there are tomatoes worth eating raw, which in the United States means during the summer. I also only make it on the day I’m going to eat it, as close to the start of that meal as possible. Like a salad, it will wilt by the hour. But also like a salad, the fresher and better the ingredients, the fresher and better it will taste.

You’ll notice that white onions show up all the time in Mexican cooking. Why “white” onions? Because that is the kind of onion commonly found across Mexico. They tend to be sharper than the slightly sweeter yellow onions and are also a bit more tender. Different onions can be substituted without great variation in the result, and you may find that the change actually works to the advantage of a recipe and makes it your own. Just note that if you use red onions, they are likely to change the color of a dish. A salsa brava made with red onions, something I often do on purpose, is lovely. But if I have a white-fleshed fish and want to make a ceviche, I wouldn’t use a red onion and risk dyeing the fish pink (unless I wanted that result).

MAKES 2 CUPS / 480ML

½ avocado, cut in half, pitted, and diced

½ white onion, diced

3 Roma tomatoes, cored and diced

1 Tbsp minced cilantro leaves

1 serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be), and minced, plus more as needed (optional)

Juice of 1 lime

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed

In a bowl, gently stir the avocado, onion, tomatoes, cilantro, chile, lime juice, oil, and salt. Taste and add more chile or salt if needed. Serve immediately.

SALSA BRAVA “FIERCE” SALSA

The abundant habanero chile infusing slivered onion makes this salsa fiercely hot. Soaked in equal parts olive oil and lime juice, with a good amount of salt and oregano, this all-purpose condiment adds a tangy burst of heat to whatever it touches. Recently, I opened a jar of this salsa that had gone fizzy, turning the contents into a fermented salsa brava, which I knew was safe to eat because it had been kept refrigerated. It was delicious, like a Mexican kimchee. Not a morsel went to waste.

Whenever working with chiles, I strongly encourage you to wear rubber gloves. This is particularly important when handling the potent habaneros. You don’t want the oil from the chile to get into cuts on your hands or to accidentally transfer to your eyes when you rub them.

MAKES 3 CUPS / 720ML

2 habanero chiles, stemmed, seeded, veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be), and thinly sliced

1 large white or red onion, thinly sliced

Heaping 1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp sea salt

¼ cup / 60ml freshly squeezed lime juice

¼ cup / 60ml extra-virgin olive oil

Place the chiles and onion in a jar that can hold them with a little extra headroom. Add the oregano, salt, lime juice, and oil. Shake to combine or use a spoon to push the slices down so that everything is submerged in the liquid. Cover with a lid. Let the mixture sit in the refrigerator for no less than 2 hours and preferably for 1 day before using.

This salsa can be stored in the sealed jar in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks. I like it best after about 1 week, when the onions have fully soaked up the juices and the spice from the habaneros but still retain some crunch.

SALSA DE CHILE MANZANO MANZANO CHILE SALSA

Manzano chiles are not widely known in the United States, and yet I’ve seen them for sale at Mexican markets, farmers’ markets, and even at some well-stocked supermarkets in San Francisco. They are yellow or orange, sometimes with a slight green tinge, and about the size and shape of a crabapple. And like the apple for which they’re named, they’re a little sweet and a little sour, in addition to packing a ton of heat that nonetheless manages to please (if you like spicy food).

In Mexico, manzano chiles can be more difficult to come by than they are in the United States, since they grow only after the rainy season. That’s why I stock up on them when I visit Diana Kennedy in Zitácuaro, Michoacán, in the early fall. Needing to use them up before they spoil, I always roast the peppers and blend them with a generous amount of olive oil and salt. The result is this salsa, which is one of my all-time favorites. The roasted manzano chile pulp has the rich yellow color of egg yolks. It emulsifies with olive oil to form a paste that looks like mustard but has the taste and texture of a very (very!) spicy aioli. I love it as a spread on sandwiches, in quesadillas, and dolloped into soup, where it breaks into fiery little beads that skitter across the surface of the broth. Whenever people taste this, they assume it must be full of ingredients, because it has so much flavor. But it’s just the manzano chiles bringing their inherent complexity to this very simple salsa, which also makes a great gift for fellow spicy-food lovers.

If you have heard that you can affect the spiciness of a dish by either keeping or discarding the seeds of a chile, then you have fallen prey to a myth. Lots of us—myself included—grew up hearing that the seeds were the spiciest part of a chile, so leaving out the seeds would result in milder food. The truth, according to pepper researchers, is a bit more complex. It’s actually the chile’s veins (also known as the placenta, which sounds awfully mammalian) that hold the highest concentration of capsaicin, the compound we have to thank (or blame) for a pepper’s heat. That said, two things contribute to the continuance of the myth of the spicy seeds: (1) seeds are often attached to veins, and if you carefully remove the seeds—at the sink, for instance, using your fingernail to scrape them out—then you’ll also be removing the truly spicy part of the chile; and (2) the spiciness of chiles varies enormously, not only from one variety to another but also from one chile to another. You can buy a serrano that is fiery hot and another from the same pile that’s relatively mild. You never know what you’re going to get. So it’s possible to remove just the seeds from a mildish chile and persuade yourself that, yes, removing the seeds made your dish less spicy. So, if you want to try to control the spiciness of a dish, remove not only the seeds but also the veins of your chile, cleaning out its insides thoroughly. But remember that there is capsaicin in every part of the chile and, if you happen to get a particularly spicy one, there’s no way of ensuring that it’s not going to burn at least a little. The safest way to keep your food from being too hot? Leave the chiles out completely. Most of the recipes in this book have enough flavor coming from other ingredients that they will still be delicious without the heat—at least to those who don’t like it hot.

MAKES 1½ CUPS / 360ML

6 to 8 manzano chiles

2 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed

½ cup / 120ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed

Preheat the broiler.

Place the chiles on a baking sheet and broil for 15 to 20 minutes, checking every 5 minutes and rotating the chiles with tongs so they get evenly charred. They should slump, feel completely soft, and be blackened in spots. Alternatively, toast the chiles on a comal or in a skillet on the stove top over medium-high heat, rotating them regularly while keeping watch over them. Both methods produce equally good results, although these chiles are spicy enough that the smoke they produce when charring them on the stove top can make you cough, which is why you might prefer to keep them contained in the oven.

Once roasted, transfer the chiles to a plastic bag or a closed container to “sweat,” so the skins loosen and peel away more easily. Once the chiles are cool enough to handle, put on gloves and use your thumbs to slit the chiles open. Remove and discard the stems and clumps of black seeds. Peel the chiles and discard the charred skins.

Transfer the chiles to the blender and, using the most powerful setting, puree until the mixture is as smooth as possible. Add the salt. With the blender running, drizzle in the oil, the slower the better, since this helps the mixture emulsify. Adding too much oil at a time can cause the mixture to separate. When it emulsifies, the chile and oil should be thoroughly combined and have the look and consistency of mustard. Taste and add more salt if needed.

This salsa can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

SALSA ROJA ASADA CHARRED RED SALSA

All of the ingredients in this salsa are roasted before they’re blended. You want everything to get blackened, since the black flecks will add visual appeal as well as a smoky taste. Use your comal, if you have one, or a skillet to roast your vegetables on the stove top. People in Mexico use comales to cook on the street, as well as in their own kitchens. Traditionally, they were made of clay, but now metal ones have become more common for practical reasons. When cooking vegetables on a comal, you have to stand over them and tend them quite constantly. But it’s pleasing—to me, at least—to stand there, rotating tomatoes, chiles, and onions, watching them turn soft and earn their tasty black skins. I like being able to see (and smell) when they’re done.

MAKES 2 CUPS / 720ML

6 Roma tomatoes, cored and cut in half

1 white onion, quartered

2 to 4 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be)

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed

½ cup / 10g cilantro leaves, minced

Place a comal or large skillet over medium heat. When hot, arrange the tomatoes, onion, and chiles, on the pan. Drizzle the vegetables with the oil and cook for about 15 minutes, using tongs to turn them every couple of minutes, until all sides are blackened. While you don’t want your vegetables to get thoroughly burned, you do want the skins of everything to be blistered and scorched. Alternatively, if you’d prefer not to stand over the stove, preheat a broiler, toss your vegetables with the oil, and blacken them on a baking sheet under the broiler, periodically turning them with tongs. Add the garlic in the last 5 minutes, letting it get lightly toasted and not blackened.

Once the tomatoes, onion, and chiles are charred on the outside and the garlic is toasted, scrape everything into a blender. Add the salt and enough water to fill the blender jar one-third full. Pulse. It’s up to you how chunky you want this salsa. Traditionally, it’s made in a molcajete, a Mexican-style mortar and pestle formed of volcanic black rock, which retains more of the texture of the ingredients than processing them in a blender. If you have a molcajete, by all means use it. Once the salsa reaches the consistency you like, add the cilantro. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Refrigerate to chill and serve cold. This salsa can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

SALSA MEXICANA MEXICAN-STYLE SALSA

Salsa Mexicana is the little black dress of salsas. It’s simple but not boring, goes with just about everything, and can be pulled together with very little effort. Like anything “a la Mexicana,” this salsa earns its name because the red, green, and white of the tomatoes, chiles and onion share the colors of the Mexican flag. You can leave out the tomatoes and make an even simpler salsa of just onions and chiles that tastes great on scrambled eggs or paired with Huevos Libaneses (this page). When you make Salsa Mexicana, be sure to core the tomatoes well—completely removing and discarding the seeds and their surrounding juices—otherwise they’ll make the salsa too watery.

MAKES 2 CUPS / 480ML

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 white onion, chopped

2 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be), and chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

5 Roma tomatoes, cored, seeds and juices discarded, and chopped

¼ cup / 5g cilantro leaves, minced

1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed

Warm the oil in a small heavy-bottom saucepan over medium heat until it’s hot but not smoking. Add the onion and chiles and sauté until the onion is translucent but not browned. Add the garlic and tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables look stewed. Transfer the vegetables to a blender and blend until completely pureed. Return the mixture to the pan and simmer over low heat for another 10 minutes, until the sauce has reduced by about one-third. Add the cilantro and salt. Taste and add more salt if needed.

This salsa is usually served hot. It can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. When I make it without tomatoes, I prefer to eat it when it’s freshly made.

SALSA VERDE GREEN SALSA

Salsa Verde is a workhorse salsa. It serves as the base for so many dishes, such as Chilaquiles (this page), and can also be spooned over just about anything as a tasty condiment. It’s nearly impossible to mess up this salsa, since all of the ingredients are simply boiled and then pureed in their cooking juices.

Choose the smallest tomatillos you can find, tightly encased in their papery skins, since they will be the freshest and least bitter. If they’re available, the tiny purplish tomatillos—although not traditional—are significantly less sour than the green ones, so use those if you want a less acidic salsa. You can, of course, adjust the recipe to use more or less chile. Just remember that the spicier you make this salsa, the more salt you should add to offset the heat. An aggressively spicy (and salty) salsa verde will be better used as a condiment than as the base for a main dish served to people with varying levels of heat tolerance.

MAKES 3 CUPS / 720ML

10 small tomatillos, papery husks removed and discarded, rinsed, and cut in half

2 to 4 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be)

1 small white onion, half left intact and the other half minced

1 large garlic clove

1 Tbsp sea salt, plus more as needed

½ cup / 10g cilantro leaves, finely chopped

Combine the tomatillos, chiles, intact onion half, garlic, and salt in a medium saucepan. Add water just to cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until the tomatillos become more translucent and the chiles have gone from bright green to a faded khaki color. Pour everything into a blender, including the liquid, and puree. Return the puree to the saucepan and simmer gently over low heat until reduced by about one-third, about 10 minutes. Add the minced onion and cilantro to the cooked salsa and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt if needed.

This salsa is excellent served hot or cold. It can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

SALSA DE CHILES SECOS Y TOMATILLOS SALSA WITH DRIED CHILES AND TOMATILLOS

At Tacos Cala, the taco shop adjacent to my sit-down restaurant, I always like to offer both a green salsa and a red one, but in the winter, I’m so uninspired by the mealy pink tomatoes that I can’t bring myself to use them. That’s when I make this red salsa instead. It uses tomatillos as a base, but a combination of chiles de árbol and guajillo chiles gives it a dark red color. This is a very piquant and pungent salsa, but you can cut back on the number of chiles de árbol and garlic cloves if you want it less assertive.

MAKES 3 CUPS / 720ML

10 tomatillos, papery husks removed and discarded, rinsed

10 chiles de árbol, stemmed and seeded (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be)

2 guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be)

4 garlic cloves

1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed

Warm an ungreased comal or large skillet over medium heat. When hot, place the tomatillos on it and cook them for about 10 minutes, using tongs to turn them so they cook evenly. Place the tomatillos in a blender.

Dry off the comal or skillet. Return it to the heat, add all the chiles, and toast them lightly, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes. Don’t let them brown or blister at all and remove them from the heat as soon as they start to smell nutty. Add the chiles to the blender. Drop the garlic cloves onto the comal or skillet and cook, stirring or flipping them so they get lightly browned on all sides, then place them in the blender, too, along with the salt. Puree completely. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Serve this salsa at room temperature. It can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

DRIED CHILES

There’s a dizzying array of chiles used in Mexican cooking. This is part of what makes it such a complex cuisine. Not only do an enormous variety of chiles grow in Mexico, but we like to coax every possible flavor out of each kind by drying, smoking, pickling, or soaking them in adobo sauce as well as enjoying them fresh and raw. Each treatment changes the taste of the chile. The ancho, for instance, is the dried version of a ripe poblano. The chipotle is a dried and smoked jalapeño, sometimes reconstituted in adobo sauce. I’m not going to give you a comprehensive primer on all the kinds of chiles you could use in each and every form. There are books on the matter. But I will not hold back from recommending a wider variety of chiles than you may be used to using, both fresh and dried. If you’ve never cooked with dried chiles before, don’t be daunted. They’re available at Mexican markets as well as at many conventional supermarkets and online. They’re inexpensive and easy to use once you get the hang of following a few steps.

Many recipes will call for dried chiles to be reconstituted in some kind of liquid and then blended. Frequently you will also be asked to toast them first, before soaking them. This is a bit misleading, since “toasting” implies that something is turning brown, and you don’t actually want that to happen to your chiles, especially not with the thin-skinned red ones, because they taste bitter when they get even slightly burnt. With small red chiles, such as the chile de árbol or chile piquín, you should scatter them whole in a small ungreased comal or skillet over medium heat and be sure to turn them constantly with a spatula or spoon, heating them up for just a minute. Err on the side of caution and take them off the stove just as soon as you can smell them. With larger chiles, such as anchos, you should stem them first and discard the seeds, then tear them into strips before placing on an ungreased comal or in a skillet over medium heat. Again, don’t let them brown or blister, and take them off the stove as soon as you smell them. You might wonder if this step is worth the effort when you’re toasting them so lightly, but it definitely is. Heating them up coaxes out even more flavor—a simple way to achieve a complex-tasting result.

SALSA DE CHILE CASCABEL CASCABEL CHILE SALSA

Cascabel means “jingle bell.” This chile gets its name from the rattle of the dried seeds when you shake it. It’s one of my favorites: mild, smoky, and a little sweet. Salsa de Chile Cascabel can be made with tomatillos or Roma tomatoes or a combination of the two. Even when red tomatoes are in season, I like to add a few tomatillos because their acidity complements this chile. This salsa is good with many things, particularly with eggs, grilled cactus, or grilled meat.

MAKES 2 CUPS / 480ML

10 cascabel chiles, stemmed and seeded

2 garlic cloves

4 Roma tomatoes, cored and cut in half

5 tomatillos, papery husks removed and discarded, rinsed

Olive oil (optional)

1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed

Warm an ungreased comal or skillet over medium heat. Tear the chiles in half, add to the comal, and toast for about 2 minutes while turning them constantly. Don’t let the chiles blister or burn, since this will make your salsa bitter. Remove from the heat as soon as they start to smell nutty. Drop the garlic cloves onto the comal or skillet and cook, stirring or flipping them until they get lightly browned on all sides, and remove them from the heat once they smell fragrant.

In a small saucepan over high heat, cover the toasted chiles with water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let them soak and soften in this water for 1 hour, until they’re quite soft.

Place an ungreased comal or large skillet over medium heat. When hot, arrange the tomatoes and tomatillos on the pan. Cook for about 15 minutes, using tongs to turn them every couple of minutes, until all sides are blackened. While you don’t want your vegetables to get thoroughly burned, you do want the skins to be blistered and scorched. (Alternatively, if you’d prefer not to stand over the stove, preheat the broiler, rub the tomatoes and tomatillos with oil and blacken them on a baking sheet under the broiler, periodically turning them with tongs. Remove the pan from the oven when the tomatillos and tomatoes are slumped, blackened, and sizzling, and let them cool while the chiles finish soaking.)

Remove the soaked chiles from the water, and place in a blender with ½ cup / 120ml of their soaking liquid, the tomatillos, tomatoes, garlic, and salt. Blend to a smooth consistency. Pour the sauce into a saucepan and simmer over medium heat until reduced by one-third. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Serve this salsa hot. It can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

SALSA DE CHILE MORITA MORITA CHILE SALSA

A morita chile is a ripe serrano chile that has been dried and lightly smoked. It’s always harvested in “the last picking,” meaning that it’s as ripe as can be. It can easily be confused with the mora chile, which is a dried and smoked ripe jalapeño that’s a bit larger and darker in color although it’s similar in shape and texture. This sauce can be made with either morita or mora chiles, but I prefer to use moritas. But you can feel confident about using either of them, because both make a deliciously complex sauce. You never know exactly how spicy these chiles (or this salsa) will be, but you can be sure it will be delightfully tart, with an attractive orange-brown color. When you smell this salsa, it will remind you of barbecue, and it does, in fact, taste great on grilled meats and onions and also with eggs.

Many of the recipes in this book instruct you to fry an onion in a bit of lard or oil until it turns translucent but not browned. Once it becomes translucent, it will have lost its crunch and sharpness, but it won’t be cooked to the point of mush or take on the caramelized taste that a browned onion begins to acquire. You can ensure you cook onions just until they become translucent by keeping your cooking temperature at medium instead of high heat, monitoring your onions as they cook, and only cooking them for a few minutes.

MAKES 3 CUPS / 720ML

4 Tbsp / 60ml vegetable oil

6 Roma tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped

10 chiles moritas, stemmed and seeded (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be)

½ large white onion, coarsely chopped

1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped

1 Tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed

¼ cup / 60ml extra-virgin olive oil

Place two skillets over medium heat and put 2 Tbsp of the vegetable oil in each. When the oil is hot but not smoking, place the tomatoes in one of the skillets and let them cook, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, in the other skillet, add the chiles and fry for 1 to 2 minutes. When the chiles have puffed up and browned to a dark chocolate color, add the onion and garlic; they will soak up the chile-infused oil as they sauté. Once the onion is translucent, add the partially cooked tomatoes and let it all cook together for about 15 minutes.

Pour everything into a blender, and add the oregano and salt. Slowly drizzle in the oil while blending to emulsify. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Serve this salsa at room temperature. It can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

SALSA NEGRA BLACK SALSA

This salsa gets its black color (and name) from chiles mecos. The chile meco is a smoked and dried jalapeño. It has a completely desiccated, almost brittle texture, unlike the more leathery, still-red mora. When you fry chiles mecos, they turn from the color of milk chocolate to dark chocolate. After the fried chiles get blended with fried garlic, piloncillo, and toasted walnuts, the resulting salsa is savory with just a hint of sweetness, smoky and spicy in a way that manages to be both intense and mellow. It is oily and thick like a pesto, and a little goes a long way. At Cala, we serve it in a small wooden bowl alongside a whole roasted sweet potato (see this page). It’s also a great rub for Pulpo a las Brasas (this page). You can sauté greens with 1 tsp of Salsa Negra, toss summer squash with it before roasting, or add a spoonful to Picadillo (this page).

Make sure you’re buying dried chipotles, or chiles mecos, not chipotles canned in adobo, the more common form of chipotle chiles. You can order the dried ones online if you don’t have a market nearby with a well-stocked Mexican food section.

Piloncillo is the most minimally processed form of sugar that you can buy: cane juice boiled into a syrup and poured into cone-shaped molds. For small amounts (like this salsa calls for), you can use a grater or a Microplane. For larger quantities, use a butcher knife to cut off chunks that you can weigh. It melts easily and has a subtle caramel taste, with just a hint of smokiness. While you can substitute light brown sugar and this will still taste good, note that piloncillo is naturally brown, unlike American brown sugar, which is just refined white sugar with molasses mixed in. The molasses imparts its own flavor, which isn’t one that’s part of traditional Mexican cooking.

MAKES 2 CUPS / 480ML

2 cups / 480ml rice bran oil, safflower oil, or any vegetable oil with a high smoke point

1½ oz / 40g chiles mecos (about 15 dried smoked chipotle chiles), stemmed and seeded

40 garlic cloves (about 2 heads)

1 Tbsp piloncillo, grated, or firmly packed 1 Tbsp light brown sugar

1 Tbsp sea salt

Heaping 1 cup / 120g walnuts

In a medium heavy-bottom saucepan, heat the oil to 350°F / 180°C. Make sure to use a pan that is big enough to fry your chiles without crowding them. The oil should be 1 to 2 inches / 2.5 to 5cm deep. To test whether the oil is hot enough, place a wooden spoon in the oil and see if tiny bubbles gather around the wood. Once they do, add the dried chiles and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, until they puff up and turn the color of dark chocolate. Once they’re done, turn off the heat under the pan, remove the chiles with a slotted spoon, and place them in the bowl of a food processor or in the jar of a very powerful blender.

Immediately drop all of the garlic cloves into the same hot oil used to fry your chiles. Even though the stove is off, the oil should still be very hot, and you will see a commotion of bubbles as the garlic is submerged in it. The cold garlic will begin to lower the temperature of the oil. Let them simmer in it for about 10 minutes, watching to make sure there are always small bubbles rising in the pot but that it’s not frying at a raucous boil. You may need to turn your stove back on to the lowest possible heat setting if the bubbles come to a stop. You want the garlic to get super-soft and stay fairly light in color, not turn a dark brown so that you get a custardy, roasted garlic texture and a taste that is not bitter but sweet. To test for doneness, use a slotted spoon to remove one of the fried cloves of garlic from the oil. When you press on it with the back of a spoon, it should mash easily. Once the garlic has reached this texture, use the slotted spoon to remove them from the oil (reserving the oil) and place them in the food processor or blender with the chiles. Add the piloncillo or brown sugar and the salt.

Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.

Place the walnuts on a baking sheet, in a single layer, and lightly toast for 5 minutes. You only want to activate the oils, not darken the walnuts, or they will become bitter.

By the time your walnuts have toasted, the reserved oil will have cooled to a temperature where you can handle it. Add the walnuts to the food processor or blender, then puree while slowly adding between ¾ and 1½ cups / 180 and 360ml of the reserved oil in a thin stream. Blend until it seems as if it can’t get any smoother. You want a dark paste that is as uniform as possible. Transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate overnight or for up to 24 hours before using so that any remaining chile bits soften.

Because the garlic has been confited in oil, this salsa will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. You can also freeze it for up to 6 months.

ADOBO DE CHILES ROJOS RED CHILE RUB

This adobo sauce is what flavors the red half of Pescado a la Talla (this page), Contramar’s signature red-and-green fish. It also gives the distinct red color to Pollo o Puerco al Pastor (this page). Adobos tend to be tart—either from vinegar or citrus juice—and this one is no exception, with freshly squeezed orange and lime juices. But it’s got a lot of other flavors, too, with the smoky dried chiles, ample garlic, and spices.

MAKES 2 CUPS / 480ML

4 cascabel chiles, stemmed and seeded

1 ancho chile, stemmed and seeded

1 guajillo chile, stemmed and seeded

1 pasilla chile, stemmed and seeded

2 chiles de árbol, stemmed, seeded, and veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be)

4 Roma tomatoes, cored

¼ white onion

5 garlic cloves

2 cloves

½ cup / 120ml safflower oil

2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

1 tsp ground achiote (annatto) seeds

Pinch of ground cumin

Pinch of dried oregano

1½ Tbsp sea salt, plus more as needed

Place the cascabel, ancho, guajillo, and pasilla chiles in a saucepan and cover with 1 cup / 240ml water over low heat. Bring to a simmer and then remove from the heat, cover the pan, and let the chiles soak and soften for 15 minutes.

In the jar of a blender, blend the chiles with their soaking water, the chiles de árbol, tomatoes, onion, garlic, cloves, oil, orange juice, lime juice, achiote seeds, cumin, oregano, and salt, pureeing until smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed.

This sauce can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 3 months.

AGUACATES

Avocados are native to Mexico, a popular ingredient going back to the Mayans, and they are just as popular today. And it’s no wonder. They are a welcome addition to just about any Mexican dish. You’ll see sliced avocado being recommended as a garnish for a lot of recipes in this book, and it could probably garnish the rest, too. The truth is, it is rare to come across someone who objects to finding a few perfect slices of avocado on their plate.

The best-known and most popular variety of avocado is the Hass, which is consistently creamy and tasty, but there are a lot of other varieties as well, all definitely worth trying. In San Francisco, at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, we buy most of what we use from the Brokaw Ranch Company, which specializes in sustainably farming a wide range of avocados. In addition to Hass, we buy many varieties that are far less common, including Gwen, Gem, and Carmen avocados. Each has a slightly distinctive taste and texture, so if you ever have access to lesser-known avocado varieties, like the ones you can eat with the skin on, sample whatever you can find.

If you are new to avocado buying, here are a few pointers. You want to cut into an avocado when it’s perfectly ripe, not before. When you pinch the fruit, the flesh should indent slightly, the way it would on a perfectly ripe peach. (But as with a ripe peach, it should not be mushy.) If you’re buying avocados to use in a few days, buy them slightly hard. They will continue to ripen on your countertop until they’re ready. If you need to speed up this process, you can wrap them in newspaper, as we do in Mexico. Once you cut into an avocado, make sure to eat it soon (within the day, if not immediately), since the cut surface will turn brown and the taste will deteriorate.

To cut an avocado, use a sharp knife and slice it lengthwise all the way around the pit. Twist the two sides in opposite directions so the avocado separates neatly into halves. To remove the pit, hack into it with your knife and then pivot the knife slightly from side to side until you can free the pit. You can now cut each half of the avocado into quarters that you can neatly peel and cut into thinner slices.

GUACAMOLE MASHED AVOCADO

Some purists insist that guacamole should be just mashed avocado and salt. But the truth is, people across Mexico put all kinds of things in it. When I was young, my friend’s mom served a guacamole that tasted different from anything I’d ever had. I watched while she mashed up the next batch and saw her spoon Knorr seasoning powder from a jar into the molcajete. Loaded with MSG, that bouillon was giving the guacamole an artificial injection of umami, which is why it was so tasty. However, you can get a complex and addictive flavor naturally from a blend of salt, lime, onion, tomato, chile, cilantro, and oil, which is how I make mine.

The real secret to guacamole is using perfectly ripe avocados. But sometimes, when you cut into what seems like the perfect avocado, the flesh beneath the skin can be disappointing—rotten in spots, stringy, or unevenly ripe. If only some parts of your avocados are good, don’t despair. Just cut out and discard the rotten bits and then add a teaspoon of olive oil to the mixing bowl. This will enhance the naturally silky texture of the avocado. Make sure to prepare guacamole right before serving it, if possible. Adding a bit of lime will also help stop it from turning brown.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS AS A STARTER OR MORE AS A CONDIMENT

4 avocados, cut in half and pitted

1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed

Juice of 1 or 2 limes, plus more as needed

½ white onion, minced

1 Roma tomato, cored and finely chopped

1 serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be), and minced, plus more if desired

¼ cup / 5g cilantro leaves, minced

1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed (optional)

Spoon the avocado flesh into a medium bowl. With a fork, mash the avocado to the texture you prefer. (I like my guacamole a little lumpy.) Add the salt, lime juice, onion, tomato, chile, and cilantro. Drizzle in the oil and mix well. Then taste and add, just before serving, more lime juice, salt, chile, and oil if needed.

MAYONESA CON CHIPOTLE CHIPOTLE MAYONNAISE

Canned chipotles in adobo have been popular in the United States for quite some time, and I often hear people refer to chipotle aioli, which often means store-bought mayo blended with a canned chipotle. But by definition, a true aioli includes garlic and olive oil, whereas a mayonnaise excludes the garlic and uses a neutral-flavored oil as I do here. While you can make a cheater version of this by blending store-bought mayonnaise with chipotles, making your own mayonnaise is nearly as simple, requiring only the blender and a couple of extra minutes, and it’s much tastier.

Many mayonnaise recipes will tell you to use two egg yolks, but I prefer to use one whole egg, because I hate to have to waste half the egg, and mayonnaise still emulsifies when you include the white, although it may be a bit thinner, which is fine. Be sure to remove the seeds from the chipotle before blending it, since you want the finished mayonnaise to be silky. If you forget, you can also strain your finished mayonnaise.

MAKES 1 CUP / 240G

1 egg

1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

½ tsp sea salt

1 canned chipotle chile in adobo, seeds removed

¾ cup / 180ml safflower oil

In a food processor or a blender, pulse the egg, lime juice, salt, and chipotle until well combined. With the motor running, add the oil in a slow drizzle, processing until the mayonnaise emulsifies and turns creamy. Partway through, be sure to turn off the processor, scrape the sides, and process again so as not to waste anything. Alternatively, you can do all of this by hand, using a whisk and beating vigorously for about 8 minutes. (In the blender, it should take 4 to 5 minutes.)

This mayonnaise is best used on the day you make it, although it can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. For a spicier mayonnaise, leave in the chipotle seeds and then press the finished mayonnaise through a fine-mesh strainer using a silicone spatula.

MAYONESA CON LIMÓN / LIME MAYONNAISE VARIATION

Follow the main recipe but omit the chipotle chile.

QUESOS Y CREMA ÁCIDA

The commercial Mexican cheeses and other dairy products sold in the United States are problematic for me. In Mexico, we can seek out organic, additive-free queso fresco (our version of ricotta) and crema ácida (our version of sour cream). I love a good queso Chihuahua, which we use in quesadillas because it melts so well, or a dry and salty aged queso cotija, grated over a stew, or a freshly made queso fresco. Just like the cheeses from any other culture, great Mexican cheeses are best made by people who take pride in seeking the truest flavor they can get from every small batch.

In the United States, most Mexican cheeses and creams at Mexican markets are largely uninspiring, highly processed foods, shrink-wrapped in heavy plastic and with about as much flavor as you’d imagine they would have based on how they look. I don’t think there is much point in seeking them out on some quest for authenticity. They simply won’t taste that good, even if they have Spanish names. If you have a market where they are selling locally made or interesting-looking Mexican cheeses, then by all means try them. I am sure that cheese makers will catch up with the trend for increasingly high-end Mexican food. But if you can’t find what looks like good Mexican cheese, then I recommend substituting a great-quality cheese that is not typically Mexican, and I will make suggestions for what I would use.

For instance, if you’re looking for a mild cheese that melts well, then instead of Chihuahua cheese, you might swap a really good whole-milk mozzarella. For something grated and sharp, I usually opt for a ricotta salata. I don’t use American sour cream. Like most Mexicans, I find its taste too sour, and I don’t like its consistency. Instead, I either make crema ácida ahead of time to use in recipes, or if I need it right away, I buy crème fraîche, which is closer in flavor to Mexican crema and has a lovely richness. I like to make queso fresco, but again—if I don’t have the time, I’ll substitute a good ricotta. I have no problem cooking Mexican food with these non-Mexican cheeses. While it’s easy to find amazing-tasting Mexican cheeses in Mexico, that’s not yet the case elsewhere, and since the goal is for these dishes to taste terrific, I’m more than willing to make this concession.

QUESO FRESCO STRAINED FRESH CHEESE

This recipe involves cooking a combination of milk, buttermilk, and cream on the stove until curds form, then straining them for a period of time that will vary depending on how dense you want the resulting cheese to be. The buttermilk is the agent that curdles the cream and the milk. (Some people will use a bit of vinegar to the same end.) The result is a bright and clean-tasting cheese that works well in a lot of the recipes on this book, both savory and sweet. If you feel like experimenting, you can swap goat’s milk for cow’s milk, and the result will taste fabulous.

MAKES 2 CUPS / 480G

2 cups / 480ml whole milk

½ cup / 120ml buttermilk

½ cup / 120ml cream

¾ tsp sea salt

Line your colander with cheesecloth. You want the cheesecloth to drape over the lip of the colander, giving you enough excess to tie up the suspended cheese curds as they drain. Set the colander in the sink.

Combine the milk, buttermilk, cream, and salt in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottom stockpot. Place over medium-high heat and stir as the liquid heats up, using a spatula or whisk to keep the forming curds from settling at the bottom of the pot, where they could scorch. As the liquid reaches about 175°F / 80°C, the curds (which look like clumps) and whey will separate, and the curds will rise to the top.

Turn off the heat and pour the contents of the pot into the prepared colander. Use a rubber spatula to ease the curds down onto the cheesecloth. You can gently press out the moisture, but don’t press hard, since you don’t want to mash the curds into the cloth. Tie the four corners of the cloth and suspend the curds over a bowl (I hang the cheesecloth from my sink faucet) to let them drain for at least 30 minutes, or longer, depending on how thick you want the resulting cheese to be. It will have the texture of ricotta after 30 minutes, and if you wait 6 to 8 hours, it will have the consistency of cream cheese.

Queso fresco can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

CREMA ÁCIDA MEXICAN SOUR CREAM

Plan ahead because you need a couple of days for the cream to sour. You just have to stir cream and buttermilk in a jar and let it sit for a couple of days, and it’s ready to go. Be sure to use cultured buttermilk, or else nothing will happen. And, if you can find it, use pasteurized organic cream instead of ultra-pasteurized. It should still work with the more common ultra-pasteurized, but you might want to add an extra tablespoon of buttermilk. Another option is to use Greek yogurt in place of the buttermilk as a culturing agent, which leads to a slightly more sour flavor but can also result in a thicker cream. If you don’t have the time to make this or haven’t planned ahead, then use crème fraîche in any recipe calling for crema ácida.

MAKES 2 CUPS / 480G

2 cups / 480ml cream

¼ cup / 60ml cultured buttermilk

In a glass jar, combine the cream and buttermilk. Cover the mouth of the jar with several layers of cheesecloth or a dish towel and let it sit for 24 hours at room temperature (between 70° and 75°F / 20° and 25°C). If your home is chilly (as mine often is in San Francisco), you can set your jar on top of your refrigerator, which tends to be warmer, or in the oven with the oven light on. After 24 hours, screw on the lid of the jar, and refrigerate for 24 hours before using.

Crema ácida can be stored in the sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

CHILES ASADOS ROASTED PEPPERS

All kinds of Mexican recipes call for roasted peppers. We love to stuff them, fry them, and cover them in sauce, but also to slice them into strips and cook them in stews. The most common pepper for stuffing is the poblano, due to its size and sturdiness. But we roast all sorts of peppers, big and small, mild and spicy, fresh and dried. I’m giving you the template for poblanos, but feel free to use these directions no matter what kind of pepper you want to roast. One of my favorite stuffed chiles is the chile manzano, but it’s seriously spicy (and can be hard to find), so don’t lie about loving heat if you make that one.

Keep the size of the chiles in mind. People can typically eat one large stuffed poblano, or two if the chiles are smaller.

MAKES ABOUT 7 OZ / 200G

4 to 6 large poblano chiles, or as many as you want to roast

On an ungreased comal or in a cast-iron skillet over high heat, roast the chiles, turning them over every couple of minutes using tongs or your hands (carefully, so you don’t get burned). You’re looking for uniform blistering, but you don’t want them to become too soggy in the process, especially if you intend to stuff them, since they need to hold their shape. The process will probably take 10 to 15 minutes. Once they are well blistered and before the flesh is completely charred through in any spots, place the peppers in a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid or in a bowl that you can cover with a plate (not a towel or anything porous) and set aside to “sweat” for about 10 minutes, or until they are cool enough to handle.

Remove the charred skin from the whole chiles, trying your best not to puncture them if you intend to stuff them. If you intend to use your roasted chiles for rajas, or strips, then it obviously matters less if the chile tears. If you are careful, you should be able to remove just the thin skin and none of the flesh of the chile. Begin by using the back of a chef’s knife to rub away the large pieces. Then use your fingers to pick off the smaller bits. Be thorough, since the lingering bits of blackened skin taste bitter and have a reputation for causing indigestion. Once the chile is thoroughly peeled, use a sharp knife to make a slit from the stem to the tip. Reach inside and, using either your fingers or a knife, remove the veins connecting the seeds to the chile, as well as the seeds. (I don’t like to rinse my chiles under water because it removes some of their great flavor.)

Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

TORTILLAS

Tortillas play a starring role in every section of this book. They are served fresh at the table, wrapped in a cloth in a basket or in a wooden box with a lid to hold their warmth. They’re a key ingredient in so many of my favorite dishes, from chilaquiles to enchiladas. And, of course, they can get folded around just about anything—to serve as the base for a taco—or fried to make a tostada. If you’ve ever tasted a fresh, hot corn tortilla, I don’t have to tell you how much better they are than the commercially produced kind with preservatives and stabilizers to ensure that they stay “fresh” for weeks, sealed in plastic bags. So if you have the time, it’s definitely worth making your own.

Corn tortillas are composed of three ingredients: corn, water, and powdered lime (calcium hydroxide, not the citrus). In Mesoamerica, corn was one of the main crops, a staple of the diet. Ancient Mesoamericans discovered that soaking dried corn in a mixture of water and lime (the mineral found in limestone) breaks down the kernels until they’re soft enough to mill. It also releases amino acids that turn the corn into a complete protein and allow our bodies to digest the nutrients more easily than they would if the tortillas were made with regular cornmeal. This process, called nixtamalization, produces the raw product used to make fresh masa, a grainy, wet dough that can be yellow or white, depending on the variety of corn (although in Mexico, corn is almost always white). To make a tortilla, you roll the masa into a ball, press it flat, and cook it on a comal.

Just as a pancake tastes best when transferred directly from the pan to your plate, a tortilla tastes best when it’s hot from the comal. A fresh tortilla should be soft and pliable. When folded, it shouldn’t break or snap back open. As they cool, tortillas stiffen. You can reheat them, but they’re never as tender and irresistible as when they’re first made. If you do reheat them, warm them on an ungreased comal or in a skillet and not a microwave. Microwaves heat the water in the tortillas, causing them to quickly dry out after the water evaporates as the tortillas cool down. In general, you can reheat tortillas once and seldom more than that.

That said, like my mother, you may not want to slave at the stove flipping tortilla after tortilla while your family and friends feast. Even when you get the hang of making tortillas, it still takes time. If you want to throw together a Mexican meal quickly, you can’t make tortillas from scratch. In Mexico, we eat tortillas all day long, and most of us aren’t making them before every meal. I usually keep a bag of good tortillas in the fridge and more in the freezer, and heat them up as needed.

I’m giving you some options for how to get the best tortillas you can, depending on how much time you have. I’ll start with the “purest” option, teaching you how to make your own tortillas, and then I’ll share some ideas for how to get decent tortillas on those occasions when you don’t have the time to cook them from scratch.

Make tortillas from fresh masa

If you live in a community with a tortillería or a Mexican restaurant where they make fresh tortillas, they probably have fresh masa that they will sell to you. In San Francisco’s Mission District, a tortillería called La Palma sells fresh masa, which they scoop into a plastic bag, for about a dollar per pound. I usually buy 2 to 3 pounds at a time. You want to use up fresh masa within a day of buying it, or it will begin to ferment and will make your tortillas taste sour. Some people suggest freezing fresh masa, but I don’t generally advise doing that because the tortillas made from thawed masa can be heavy. However, if you have extra masa, a solution is simply to make more tortillas than you need and freeze the ones you don’t eat. Stack the cool tortillas, loosely wrap them in plastic, and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. As soon as the tortillas have begun to freeze, pry them apart, restack them in a sealed container, and store in the freezer for up to 1 month. When you are ready to use them, thaw each tortilla slightly before reheating it on a comal or in a skillet. These reheated tortillas will taste remarkably close to fresh ones because the iciness they assume from being frozen helps offset the moisture that’s lost as they cool down after reheating.

Make tortillas from masa harina

If you don’t have access to a tortillería or any place selling fresh masa, you can still make good tortillas by hand using masa harina. Sold in bags or in bulk, masa harina looks like cornmeal but is actually dried-out masa, which you reconstitute by adding water until it has the consistency of Play-Doh. Maseca used to be the go-to brand, and it’s still for sale at most conventional grocery stores. But it’s a big company that doesn’t use exclusively organic corn, and these days it’s easy to find superior-quality, non-GMO, organic masa harina that tastes much better. (Bob’s Red Mill makes one.) While tortillas made from masa harina won’t be quite as tender and delectable as ones made from fresh masa, any fresh hot tortilla is going to taste amazing, especially to people who aren’t used to this luxury. I encourage everyone to make their own tortillas from scratch, even if it is from masa harina.

Buy fresh tortillas from a tortillería or Mexican market

If your town has a tortillería or well-stocked Mexican market where they make fresh corn tortillas, buy bags to keep in the refrigerator (if you plan to eat them soon) or in the freezer. While these are never quite as good as homemade, they are often good nonetheless, and certainly better than the supermarket kind. If the plastic bag has an ingredient list, check to make sure that there aren’t added preservatives. In San Francisco, the tortillerías make a variety of corn tortillas—some with blue corn, others flavored with nopales, or cactus. They also make thicker “artisanal” tortillas that might look tempting but won’t work for a lot of the dishes in this book, including tacos and enchiladas, because they’re too fat to fold and will flop back open. Buy the thinner ones if you’re going to use them for recipes. Before freezing tortillas, take them out of the bag, pry them apart, then gently restack them before putting them back in the bag. If they are stuck together when they go into the freezer, they will freeze into a clump and you won’t be able to thaw and use them one at a time later.

Buy organic tortillas from the grocery store

When purchasing supermarket tortillas, make sure to seek out organic corn tortillas labeled non-GMO. They might be in the freezer section, which is fine. They need to be frozen because they lack any preservatives. Fresh food is alive. I sometimes also buy organic tortillas made from a blend of 50 percent corn and 50 percent flour. While this blend isn’t typical in most parts of Mexico, the wheat flour lends softness to the tortilla, making it suitably chewy and pliable—a decent ready-made vehicle for tacos.

TORTILLAS DE MAIZ CORN TORTILLAS

If you double this recipe and freeze half, you’ll be glad later. To press and cook the tortillas, you will need a tortilla press; a large resealable bag or a plastic produce bag, cut into two equal sheets a little larger than the plates of the tortilla press; and an oblong comal that fits over two burners at once or two skillets or frying pans.

MAKES 12 (6-INCH / 15CM) TORTILLAS

2 cups / 520g fresh masa

Water, as needed

or

2 cups / 260g masa harina

1 to 1¼ cups / 240 to 300ml water

If using fresh masa, make sure that it has the consistency of stiff cookie batter. If it doesn’t, add water, 1 tsp at a time, until it does.

If using masa harina, in a medium bowl, combine the masa harina and 1 cup / 240ml water and mix well. Continue adding water 1 Tbsp at a time until you have formed a smooth and thick dough that has the consistency of stiff cookie dough.

Form 12 golf ball–size balls and lay a moist dish towel over them so they don’t dry out.

Warm an ungreased comal or two skillets over medium heat.

Lay a precut sheet of plastic on the bottom of a tortilla press and place a ball of masa on top of the plastic. Place a second sheet of plastic on top of the ball and then squeeze the press firmly so that the dough is sandwiched between the two plates. You want the tortilla to be about ⅛ inch / 3mm thick. Open the press and remove the flattened masa, which will be stuck between the two sheets of plastic. Place it on your left palm (if you’re right-handed) and use your right hand to peel off the top sheet of plastic. Then flip it over and transfer it to your right hand, so that it rests in your right palm. Carefully peel off the other sheet of plastic, freeing the raw tortilla.

Gently deposit the raw tortilla onto the preheated comal or skillet. You should hear a faint sizzle as it hits the metal. Watch for the edge of the tortilla to begin turning opaque, a signal that it is cooking. When this happens (after 30 to 45 seconds), flip it to the other side and let it cook for 30 to 45 seconds, until the whole thing starts to turn opaque. Now flip it back to the first side and let it cook for a final 30 seconds. After the second flip, it should start to puff up a little, a sign that all of the water in the masa has evaporated and the tortilla is done.

Getting your technique down takes some fiddling. If the edges of your tortilla look grainy and dry, add 1 Tbsp water to your dough, massaging it in thoroughly. But don’t add too much water, or the masa will stick to the plastic and to the bottom of your pan. Make sure that your tortillas aren’t too thinly pressed and that the thickness is uniform, which makes it easier to flip them. You may also need to adjust the heat of your stove if you feel they’re cooking too quickly or too slowly. Once you get the moisture and temperature right, each tortilla should take a total of about 2 minutes to cook through. At this point, you should be able to press and cook two tortillas at a time, one on each side of the comal (or in each hot skillet). As each tortilla is finished cooking, set it in a basket or a deep bowl and cover the growing stack with a dish towel to keep them warm as you add to it. Wrapped up well, in a basket or a box with a lid, they should stay warm for about 1 hour.

You can reheat a tortilla on a hot comal or in a skillet, flipping it a few times until it’s completely heated through. It’s okay if your tortilla gets a little charred. The black flecks add flavor. You can also reheat them in a stack. Begin by heating one tortilla. After you flip it, add another on top of the already hot side of the first one. After 30 seconds, flip them both together so that the cold side of the second one is now on the hot surface of the pan, and add a third tortilla to the top of the pile. Keep flipping and adding until you have as many warm tortillas as you need. There’s really no limit. Once they’re stacked, they will all keep each other warm.

TORTILLAS DE HARINA FLOUR TORTILLAS

While I eat corn tortillas much more often than flour tortillas, I like the latter very much, too. Instead of pressing masa, you knead white flour with water and a bit of lard, then roll this dough out. While most of the recipes in this book call for corn tortillas, you can always substitute flour ones. Children in particular tend to love quesadillas made from flour tortillas (and it’s fun to roll them out together). Flour tortillas are typically larger than corn ones—partly because you aren’t limited by the size of the tortilla press. They’re popular in the north of Mexico, where the people have been more nomadic and have needed to eat on the road. These big, soft but sturdy tortillas did the job as edible containers. The biggest flour tortilla is called a sobaquera, which comes from the word sobaco, or “armpit,” because these were rolled around food and carried in the armpit (which was believed to add extra flavor).

MAKES 12 LARGE (10-INCH / 25CM) OR 24 SMALL (6-INCH / 15CM) TORTILLAS

4 cups / 500g all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sea salt

½ cup / 110g lard

1½ cups / 360ml hot water

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the lard, then remove it from the heat.

Make a well in the center of your flour mixture and pour the melted lard into it, stirring to incorporate until the mixture has a pebbly texture. Then add the hot water, little by little, stirring and integrating it into the dough, kneading with your hands until it’s smooth and stretchy.

On a floured countertop, form the dough into a long rope that you can cut into the number of tortillas you want. Depending on the desired size, you should make between 12 and 24 balls. Roll each piece into a ball, then roll them into very thin disks.

Line a basket with a dish towel and preheat the oven on the lowest setting (or turn on the oven light).

Preheat a large comal or skillet over medium-high heat. You don’t need to grease it, since the lard in the dough will keep your tortillas from sticking. Add a tortilla and cook for 30 to 45 seconds, flip it with a metal spatula and cook the other side for another 30 to 45 seconds, until the whole thing starts to turn opaque. Now flip it back to the first side and let it cook for a final 30 seconds. After the second flip, the tortilla should be golden on both sides and starting to puff up a little, a sign that all of the water in the masa has evaporated and the tortilla is done.

Put each tortilla in the basket and place in the warm oven until ready to serve.

ARROZ RICE

Every morning at Tacos Cala, the taqueria adjacent to my sit-down restaurant, we make a large pot of white rice, which goes on the fresh corn tortillas as the base for every taco de guisado. We use long-grain white rice from Rue & Forsman Ranch. As is usually the case with careful and conscientious farming, their rice tastes better than most supermarket brands. If you cook it carefully, as outlined in this recipe, you’ll end up with distinct grains that are soft but not at all mushy.

In Mexico, we call rice a guarnición, which translates to “a garnish” or “an accompaniment.” Although these two words mean different things in English—a garnish adds color and a bit of flavor, and an accompaniment tends to mean the starchy base that soaks up a saucy dish—Mexican rice often does both at once, because it’s typically cooked in water in which vegetables have been pureed, so it brings more color to the plate. I love red rice (which is cooked in pureed tomatoes) and green rice (which is cooked with blended poblano chiles and cilantro), but on my tacos de guisado (see this page), I usually prefer an unflavored cooked rice blend because it doesn’t compete with the flavors of the stews. We begin by frying the uncooked rice in a bit of oil, until each grain is opaque, before adding the cooking water. Then we don’t touch it at all while it cooks. This leads to fluffy cooked rice, every grain distinct.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove

2 cups / 400g long-grain white rice

2 cups / 480ml water

1 sprig cilantro

1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed

Add the oil to a medium heavy-bottom saucepan. Add the garlic and rice and turn the heat to medium-high. Fry, stirring constantly, until each grain of rice is opaque.

Add the water, cilantro, and salt and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to maintain a simmer, cover the pot with a lid, and cook for 15 minutes without stirring. Check the rice for doneness by tasting a few grains. They should be tender but not mushy, separate and distinct. If needed, cook for 3 to 5 minutes longer. Taste and add more salt if needed. Remove the garlic and cilantro before serving.

While cooked rice can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and reheated, I suggest making it just before you intend to eat it, because it tastes better when freshly cooked.

ARROZ ROJO RED RICE

Red rice—rice flavored (and colored) with pureed tomatoes—is a staple dish in Mexico. For the tastiest results, choose the ripest, reddest tomatoes you can find. Typically we use peas and carrots as I call for here, but feel free to use other similar vegetables—just chop them into small, even cubes and try to keep the amounts roughly the same, preserving the vegetable to rice ratio.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

½ cup / 120ml water, plus more as needed

4 Roma tomatoes, cored

½ white onion, cut into chunks

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove

1 sprig cilantro

1 cup / 200g long-grain white rice

1 tsp sea salt

½ cup / 50g fresh or frozen (unthawed) peas (optional)

½ cup / 60g minced carrots (optional)

In a blender, combine the water, tomatoes, and onion. Blend completely. You need 2 cups / 480ml of liquid to cook the rice, so top off the tomato mixture with more water, as needed.

Add the oil to a heavy-bottom saucepan over medium heat until it’s hot but not smoking. Add the garlic, cilantro, and rice and fry, stirring constantly, until each grain of rice is opaque.

Add the pureed tomato mixture and the salt to the pan. Add the peas and carrots. Bring the mixture to a boil, then decrease the heat to low, return to a simmer, and cover the pot with a lid. Let the rice simmer undisturbed for 15 minutes. Check the rice for doneness by tasting a few grains. They should be tender but not mushy, separate and distinct. If needed, cook for 3 to 5 minutes longer. Remove the garlic and cilantro before serving.

While I recommend making this rice right before serving, if you make it ahead of time, empty the cooked rice onto a baking sheet and spread it out until it has cooled; this will keep the rice on the bottom of the pot from overcooking and becoming mushy. Transfer the rice to a sealed container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. You can reheat the rice by steaming it. To do so, place a steamer basket in a pot over gently boiling water, spoon the rice into the basket, place the lid on the pan, and steam for 2 to 3 minutes.

ARROZ VERDE GREEN RICE

Colored green by a blend of poblano chile and cilantro, this is one of my favorite rice recipes. For variety, you could also toss in a handful of minced fresh spinach leaves, kale, or a spicier green pepper.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

2 cups / 480ml water or chicken stock, plus more as needed

1 poblano chile, cut in half lengthwise, stemmed, seeded, and veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be)

½ cup / 10g cilantro leaves, minced

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove

½ white onion, minced

1 cup / 200g long-grain white rice

1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed

In a small saucepan over high heat, bring the water or chicken stock to a boil, then add the chile and decrease the heat. Let the chile simmer for about 10 minutes until soft. Pour the cooking liquid and the chile into a blender. For a uniformly green rice, add the cilantro and liquefy. For more flecked rice, liquefy only the chile and the liquid and wait to add the cilantro to the cooking pan. You need 2 cups / 240ml of the liquid to cook the rice, but you can top off the green liquid with more water, as needed.

Add the oil to a medium heavy-bottom saucepan and warm over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the garlic, onion, and rice and fry, stirring constantly, until each grain of rice is opaque.

Add the poblano liquid, salt, and the cilantro if not added earlier to the cooking liquid. Bring the mixture to a boil, then decrease the heat to low; return to a simmer and cover the pot with a lid. Let the rice simmer undisturbed for 15 minutes. Check the rice for doneness by tasting a few grains. They should be tender but not mushy, separate and distinct. If needed, cook for 3 to 5 minutes longer. Taste and add more salt if needed. Remove the garlic before serving.

While I recommend making this rice right before serving, if you make it ahead of time, empty the cooked rice onto a baking sheet and spread it out until it has cooled; this will keep the rice on the bottom of the pot from overcooking and becoming mushy. Transfer the rice to a sealed container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. You can reheat the rice by steaming it. To do so, place a steamer basket in a pot over gently boiling water, spoon the rice into the basket, place the lid on the pan, and steam for 2 to 3 minutes.

DRIED BEANS

Different varietals of heirloom black beans can be smaller than jelly beans or as big as the largest favas, with glossy skins that shimmer like beetle shells. But you’d never know it if your only exposure to beans has been in canned form, where the beans are cooked to a paste, and jammed into a can, and taste of tin. If this is the case, I wouldn’t be surprised if beans didn’t particularly excite you.

Beans excite me. At Contramar, just as in my own home, a meal isn’t complete without a large bowl of soupy beans, which make the perfect side dish to just about anything else within these pages. Since all they need is to cook in water and salt, maybe with an aromatic or two, you’d think it would be hard to ruin them. But I’ve had enough badly cooked beans to know that this is not the case.

To start, buy the best dried beans you can. Lots of shops now carry heirloom dried beans, so look for ones that may have been grown near you. But no matter where you live, you can order phenomenal heirloom beans online, thanks to Steve Sando of Rancho Gordo, who has done so much in the United States to elevate Mexican produce by making previously hard-to-find Mexican ingredients accessible. Rancho Gordo beans come in so many enticing varieties, and when buying from a company like it, you can be sure that the beans aren’t stale, like the ones in the packages on supermarket shelves that have been sitting there for who knows how long. A package of dried heirloom beans costs just a few dollars more than a bag of conventional dried beans, but a little goes a long way and they’re gorgeous—a pleasure to look at as well as to eat.

My way of cooking beans is mostly characterized by what I don’t do. I don’t presoak dried beans because this can make the skins blister. We don’t salt the cooking water because it prolongs the cooking time; it’s better to add salt once the beans have cooked enough so that you can taste them, so that you don’t add too much. I don’t let the water boil too hard because that breaks their skins. I let them simmer gently, stirring occasionally to make sure they all get evenly cooked. I do add garlic to the cooking water, as well as a sprig of epazote, an avocado leaf, or a healthy pinch of oregano or marjoram. Epazote has a pleasant petrol taste, while the avocado leaf lends a hint of anise. Both are available at Mexican markets and impart a nice aromatic touch to the beans as they cook.

For the first 45 minutes or so of the cooking time, you can neglect your beans. But in the last 15 to 20 minutes, you need to pay closer attention. In order to be sure the beans are completely cooked but not falling apart, you must take them off the stove at the right moment. Dried beans tend to take about an hour to cook, although it’s impossible to generalize because the size and freshness of the beans affect the cooking time. The only way to know when they’re getting close to ready is to start tasting them. But you should know that when you first taste a hot bean that has just come out of the pot, it will be deceptively soft. They firm up quite a bit as they cool down. You want your cooked beans to taste custardy, not to resist your teeth in the slightest. If you feel any kind of a crunch, let the beans cook for another 5 minutes and then test again. Once you’re satisfied with their doneness, add the salt, ½ tsp at a time, tasting between additions, and then let the beans cool in their cooking water (which makes a tasty broth in its own right).

FRIJOLES AGUADOS SOUPY BEANS

In Mexico, black beans are pretty ubiquitous. But we also love to eat red and pinto beans, and all of the recipes I am giving you for beans can be made with other colored beans. There is no standard cooking time for dried beans. It varies based on their size and freshness. (The older the bean, the longer it will take to cook.) You need to pay attention and use your senses to guide you when you’re cooking dried beans, because the secret to making really good beans is finding that elusive sweet spot between over- and under-cooking them. A few minutes too long and their skins will split, and they will fall apart. But if you take them off the stove prematurely, they will taste chalky and bland. I’m against the current trend of undercooking beans. The better a bean is cooked, the more complex the flavor. When testing a cooked bean for doneness, bite it and make sure there is no resistance. Once they’re custardy, turn off the heat and let them cool in their broth.

A top-quality bean produces a rich and savory broth. We call it caldo de frijoles (soup of beans), and it’s often on our lunch menu at Tacos Cala. It’s delicate but nourishing. Don’t let it go to waste! You can also use this broth to poach eggs.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

2 cups / 360g dried beans

1 garlic clove

1 sprig epazote, 1 avocado leaf, or 1 Tbsp dried oregano or marjoram

Sea salt

Rinse the beans thoroughly, removing any debris, then place them in a medium pot and cover with about 4 inches / 10cm of water. In Mexico, we traditionally use a tall clay pot, but any pot will do as long as there’s room for the beans to expand as they absorb the cooking water. Add the garlic and the epazote, avocado leaf, oregano, or marjoram.

Bring the water to a boil, then immediately decrease the heat to maintain a low simmer and cover the pot with a lid. After 30 minutes, stir the beans, because the ones at the bottom of the pot will cook faster and you want them all done at the same time. Add more water if needed to maintain 2 to 3 inches / 5 to 7.5cm over the top of the beans. Cover and let simmer for another 15 minutes, then taste a bean for doneness. The beans probably will not be finished yet, but at this point, you should start checking them every 10 minutes, stirring gently each time and adding more water if needed. Let the beans cook until they are just a bit softer than you think they should be but still whole, with their skins intact. When you’re satisfied that they’re well cooked, season with salt.

I bring these beans to the table warm, in a bowl of their broth, for people to serve themselves. The beans can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week and gently reheated over low heat, as needed. They can also be frozen for up to 6 months, thawed, and reheated over low heat.

FRIJOLES REFRITOS REFRIED BEANS

At my restaurants in Mexico City and San Francisco, I refry beans in vegetable oil because I want the menu to have as many vegetarian options as possible, especially in the basic dishes. To enhance the flavor of these beans, I fry minced onion in oil; olive oil and safflower oil work equally well.

Some purists argue that olive oil doesn’t belong in Mexican food, since olives aren’t native to central America. Well, neither are the pigs from which we get lard. It’s true that olive oil isn’t the most commonly used oil in Mexico, but my Italian maternal grandmother, Nonna, lived with us for part of every year, and she always cooked with it as matter of course, so I grew used to the taste of a mildly fruity olive oil in my Mexican food. When deep-frying, I use safflower oil, or another oil with a high smoke point. But there are dishes in which I enjoy the additional flavor imparted by olive oil, so that’s what I suggest when it’s what I would personally use.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

2 cups / 120g drained Frijoles Aguados (this page)

1 cup / 240ml reserved bean cooking liquid (this page)

¼ cup / 60ml safflower or olive oil

½ white onion, minced

½ tsp salt

In a bowl, mash the beans to a coarse paste with a potato masher or fork, gradually adding a few tablespoons of the reserved bean cooking liquid periodically as you mash, until you achieve the consistency you want. You don’t want any beans left whole, but it’s okay if some texture remains. If you prefer very smooth refried beans, you could use a blender or an immersion blender, but I like mine a bit chunky, so I mash by hand.

Warm the oil in a skillet over medium heat until it’s hot but not smoking. Add the onion and cook, stirring until translucent but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add the mashed beans and the salt and then stir constantly for about 5 minutes. Drizzle in more of the remaining bean cooking liquid if needed to maintain the desired consistency. The beans should form a thick but creamy paste. Taste and add more salt if needed.

The beans can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. They can also be frozen for up to 6 months, thawed, and reheated in a skillet over low heat.

FRIJOLES REFRITOS EN MANTECA BEANS REFRIED IN LARD

As you flip through this cookbook, you’ll notice that I use lard as an ingredient in some dishes. Is this “modern”? Maybe. While I’ve used it in my cooking forever, lard seems to be making a comeback. Like other animal fats, it doesn’t deserve the bad reputation it got during the days of the fat-free craze. We now know that lard is lower in saturated fat than butter, and since it’s less likely to burn at high heat, you need less of it to cook with. Also, just as you can buy organic meat that is pasture-raised and antibiotic-free, you can buy lard from these same animals. Lard does not result in “heavier beans.” On the contrary, beans cooked in lard are more unctuous and silkier than their oil-cooked counterparts. As is so often the case, there’s a reason a tradition lasts: because the food tastes better.

At home, I refry beans in lard if I have any, or in reserved bacon fat, which is basically the same thing, except it’s smoked. I hate to waste, and I enjoy the smoky taste this imparts upon the beans.

Again, feel free to use any color of bean. I’ve made excellent refried beans with everything from black to pinto to cannellini beans. The method and ratios remain the same.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

2 cups / 120g drained Frijoles Aguados (this page)

1 cup / 240ml reserved bean cooking liquid (this page)

¼ cup / 50g lard

½ tsp sea salt

In a bowl, mash the beans to a coarse paste with a potato masher or fork, gradually adding a few tablespoons of the reserved bean cooking liquid periodically as you mash, until you achieve the consistency you want. You don’t want any beans left whole, but it’s okay if some texture remains. If you prefer very smooth refried beans, you could use a blender or an immersion blender, but I like mine a bit chunky, so I mash mine by hand.

Warm the lard in a skillet over medium heat, until it’s melted. When you put the tip of a wooden spoon in the hot lard, the wood should sizzle. Add the mashed beans and the salt and then cook, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes. Drizzle in more of the remaining bean cooking liquid if needed to maintain the desired consistency. They should form a thick but creamy paste.

The beans can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. They can also be frozen for up to 6 months, thawed, and reheated in a skillet over low heat.

CALDO DE POLLO CHICKEN STOCK

I am giving you a two-for-one recipe here, for poaching chicken breasts in what becomes a light chicken stock to be used in any number of recipes. I like the dark meat of chicken, too, but it doesn’t shred as well as the breast, so when recipes call for poached and shredded chicken, I usually prepare it this way, using just the breast and reserving the broth. I encourage you to play with what you put in the pot with your chicken. I am very free about what I put in mine. It’s a great way to use up tired vegetables and any aromatic herbs. If I have parsley, I will throw some in, as well as a few sprigs of cilantro. I don’t add much salt to this stock, since I use it in recipes that will have more salt in them. If you have the carcass of a whole chicken left over, you should definitely use that to make a stock. (But you won’t end up with poached chicken to use in other recipes.)

MAKES ABOUT 1 QT / 960ML

1 white onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves

1 fennel bulb, cut in half, or 2 stalks celery

2 carrots

2 bay leaves (preferably fresh)

2 lb / 910g bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts

About 5 cups / 1.2L water

1 tsp sea salt

In a large stockpot combine the onion, garlic, fennel, carrots, bay leaves, chicken, water, and salt to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the chicken and let it cool. Once you can handle it, tear the meat off the bones and reserve it to use in another dish. Return the bones to the pot and let the stock simmer for an additional 40 minutes.

Line a colander with several layers of cheesecloth and set the colander over a bowl. Strain the stock through the colander. Chill the stock if you don’t need to use it immediately. Chicken stock will last in a sealed container in the refrigerator for about 5 days, but I use what I need immediately and freeze the rest in containers so that I always have some available.

CALDO DE PESCADO FISH STOCK

Because my cuisine is so seafood focused, a good fish or shrimp stock is one of my staples. I use it as the base for a lot of other dishes, since it adds a complexity of flavor that water does not as it reduces and combines with other ingredients. As is the case with a chicken stock, it’s a great way to get a second use from the fish or seafood that you were already planning to cook and eat. You only need a bit to make your stock. The collar, bones, and head of a fish all work well—or the heads and shells of shrimp—as well as a few vegetables cut into smaller pieces than you would use in a chicken stock, since seafood stock isn’t cooked for as long and the smaller pieces release their flavor faster. I don’t salt my seafood stocks because I want to be able to salt the dish that it goes into later.

It’s nice to make a shrimp stock if you’re going to be using it for a shrimp dish and a fish stock for a fish dish, although that’s not strictly necessary. You probably wouldn’t be able to taste the difference. However, it can also be a practical and economical way to use up the whole animal. If you’re going to make a shrimp stock, buy shrimp with their heads and shells on and then use those for your stock. If you’re cooking fish, you could ask at the market for the head and bones (which they will often give you very inexpensively, if not for free) to use for your stock.

MAKES ABOUT 1 QT / 960ML

Collars of 2 fish, or the head, bones, and fins of one large fish, or the heads and shells of 1 lb / 455g shrimp

3 carrots, cut into small (about 1-inch / 2.5cm) chunks

4 stalks celery, cut into chunks

½ white onion, cut into chunks

1 Roma tomato, cored

2 garlic cloves

4 bay leaves (preferably fresh)

10 black peppercorns

2 allspice berries

1 chile piquín

5 cups / 1.2L water

In a large stockpot over high heat, bring the fish bones or shrimp shells, carrots, celery, onion, tomato, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, allspice, chile, and water to a boil. Then, decrease the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

Line a colander with several layers of cheesecloth and set the colander over a bowl. Strain the stock through the colander. Chill the stock if you don’t need to use it immediately. A seafood stock will last in a sealed container in the refrigerator for about 2 days, but I use what I need immediately and freeze the rest in a container so that I always have some available.