Notes about Recipes in this book

• Cactus tacos (Tacos de nopales)

  • mjes on May 10, 2018

    If you like nopales, you will like this recipe. I made the recipe with the chiles de árbol using only 2 chiles. I used queso fresco and fried chile salsa. The salsa was not my first choice but was what I had the ingredients for. This is a great taco for people who like nopales; a good, non-slimy taco for those who've never had nopales; but it's not so special that it will convert nopales haters.

• Taco of poblanos and bacon (Tacos de rajas con tocíno)

  • MmeFleiss on December 29, 2019

    This was delicious and a great variation of a healthier taco filling.

• Fish tacos (Tacos de pescado)

  • Lastliberal on December 17, 2018

    Used fish sticks instead of frying. Worked out great. Spices seemed to overwhelm fish, but it turned out great.

• Chopped fried-fish tacos (Tacos de salpicón de pescado)

  • mduncan on May 08, 2020

    Fantastic. Have subbed green garlic for onions when in season, then topped with mayo-creama-Valentina-hot-sauce blend.

  • ChandraNH on June 25, 2019

    Used pollock. this made the best fish tacos we have ever made. Topped it with a little shredded cabbage and only used half as much Serrano pepper as it called for and it was still pretty spicy. Also use the full amount of frying flour since the wet fish goes directly into the flour and it acts as a batter.

• Duck carnitas tacos (Tacos de carnitas de pato)

  • sarahrainey on January 07, 2016

    easy and delicious

  • lkgrover on April 12, 2019

    Good taco variation. I used leftover roast duck, which made for quick preparation.

• Tacos with tomato-chipotle duck stew (Tacos de tinga de pato)

  • lkgrover on September 14, 2016

    I made this with leftover duck meat & duck fat (from roasting a duck). I enjoyed the mix of flavors; with the thyme, orange, and cinnamon it is different from most taco seasonings. With leftover meat, it is also quick to prepare.

• Potato and chorizo tacos (Tacos de papas con chorizo)

  • TrishaCP on September 07, 2014

    It is hard to go wrong with chorizo and potatoes together, and these tacos were delicious. If you have spicy chorizo you may not need the additional chiles the recipe calls for- just adjust to the spice level that works for you.

  • wcassity on October 26, 2020

    Delicious, basic, quick - my go-to recipe for chorizo/potato tacos.

• Ground beef, olive, and raisin tacos (Tacos de picadillo)

  • TrishaCP on July 13, 2014

    The recipe doesn't specify draining the fat after cooking the beef, but you should- it is way too greasy otherwise. Maybe the fat muted the flavors, but I thought this was kind of bland for a picadillo.

  • Lastliberal on December 02, 2018

    Outstanding! I will go back to this often.

• Bologna torta (Torta de mortadela)

  • Lastliberal on December 17, 2018

    Used ham. Turned out great.

• Tortas with chicken in green mole (Tortas de pollo en pipián)

  • TrishaCP on August 20, 2018

    This was a very flavorful torta. You start by making a green pipian sauce. I used fresh hoja santa (just less than a cup) rather than the specified dried, and I only used two serrano chiles, seeds and all, rather than the four called for in the recipe. I made this the day before (a Sunday) since it was planned for a weeknight, and then just needed to heat it up with already cooked chicken and build the sandwiches. I wasn't a huge fan of the refried beans here (maybe I would feel differently if I had added more chiles?), which are supposedly needed to keep the tortas from becoming soggy. I felt like my sauce was thick enough that the sandwiches would have been fine regardless.

• Pico de gallo with lemon zest (Pico de gallo con limón amarillo)

  • demomcook on August 09, 2019

    Followed the recipe using small early girl tomatoes; substituted sweet yellow for red onion, basil for cilantro. This was very good served with carnitas.

• Fresh green salsa (Salsa verde cruda)

  • TrishaCP on September 07, 2014

    To me, this was all heat with no complexity of flavor. Others seemed to like it, but I would not make this again.

• Tomatillo-chipotle salsa (Salsa de tomatillo y chipotle)

  • sarahrainey on January 07, 2016

    great and easy

• Fried chile salsa (Salsa de chile frito)

  • mjes on May 10, 2018

    This salsa has a wonderful flavor profile but it didn't convince me that I want a smooth salsa on my taco. Give me more texture. Perhaps, I'll be convinced when I try it on a torta.

• Refried pinto beans (Frijoles pintos refritos)

  • lkgrover on November 24, 2019

    Good, thick refried beans; I liked the use of bacon (which I don't think I've had in restaurant versions).

  • wcassity on March 21, 2021

    I made with freshly cooked beans (cooked with some ground pork) and no bacon; mix of dried chile peppers I had on hand. Delicious.

• Refried black beans (Frijoles negros refritos)

  • TrishaCP on February 10, 2015

    Delicious. Used Tajin instead of chile de arbol, and I really liked that seasoning for the beans.

• Coconut rice pudding (Arroz con coco)

  • TrishaCP on April 10, 2015

    I made this using ingredients on hand (so skipped the flaked coconut and used coconut milk and evaporated milk in place of milk and heavy cream). The flavors were great- it is genius to cook the rice initially in water with canela because it really perfumed the whole dish in a beautiful way. I found the cooking times to be way off- perhaps because I am currently cooking at altitude and am unaccustomed to making adjustments, but my rice needed hours more cooking (yes hours) to really soften and thicken the pudding and to set. Also, it seemed to be a lot of liquid going into this recipe-I ended up not using about 1 1/2 cups of the dairy called for because I was worried it wouldn't set, and as a result it wasn't nearly as creamy as I wanted.

• Cajeta-banana bread pudding (Budin de pan con plátano y cajeta)

  • TrishaCP on April 27, 2015

    I don't like bananas, but I made this for my husband's birthday and he enjoyed the combination of cajeta with the bananas. I didn't have vanilla so I subbed an equal amount of rum. This is definitely a cooking for a crowd recipe-it makes a ton.

• Epicurious

  ...Santibañez always aims to teach. He supplies the essential techniques, using the recipes as examples, and then it's up to you to make these dishes your own.

  Full review