• robm on February 28, 2015

  You may also want to consider Elisabeth Lambert de Ortiz's "Complete Book of Mexican Cooking," which is an excellent and quite comprehensive introduction to Mexican cooking. Her recipes are authentic and geared to the home cook, so they avoid many complications or difficult-to-find ingredients. The author also has a "Complete Book of Latin American Cooking" that thoroughly surveys the cooking of the rest of Latin America beyond Mexico (including Brazilians dishes) and a "Complete Book of Caribbean Cooking." If you love this kind of cooking, you'll find that these become "go-to" cookbooks for being practical, useful and authentic!

• nicolepellegrini on December 12, 2010

  Basic but good Mexican recipes. A good introductory cookbook for anyone looking to prepare Mexican food at home.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Mexican-style rice

  • nicolepellegrini on September 07, 2018

    I've made this a few times and keep forgetting to leave myself a note that while the flavors are good, the cooking time for the rice ends up being way too long (with the soaking, then sauteing, then simmering in stock.) Ends up being mush if it sits around at all before serving. Next time (if I make again) I will skip the soaking and reduce the overall cooking time.

• Chopped courgettes

  • nicolepellegrini on March 04, 2015

    This is a tasty, easy zucchini dish to make, best with tender young squash. I like it for a fast vegetarian lunch or a hearty side dish. Leftovers are great the next day as a pasta sauce.

• Green bean and sweet red pepper salad

  • nicolepellegrini on October 06, 2019

    A nice partly-cooked, partly-raw salad. Makes a lot so I cut the recipe in half, though the leftovers tasted even better the next day as the pickled flavor developed. I used cabbage instead of iceberg lettuce and a little more vinegar than recommended. Would make again.

• Red snapper with coriander

  • nicolepellegrini on March 04, 2015

    Good, fast "after-work" dinner when served with some rice. Uses a lot of coriander, though, so be sure you have it on hand and that it's really good and fresh. Actually find I prefer using sea bass or orange roughy fillets over red snapper for this recipe.

• Prawns in sauce

  • nicolepellegrini on August 25, 2019

    A simple, fine dish for a night you don't want to fuss too much. I did like the sweetness added by the bell peppers in the sauce.

• Fish in parsley sauce

  • nicolepellegrini on February 29, 2020

    This was okay, but a little flat. I added some lime juice to the sauce and that did perk it up a little, but I think it could use something else to give it more dimension. Maybe a quick marinade for the fish.

• Red snapper Veracruz-style

  • nicolepellegrini on March 13, 2015

    This is pretty much my "go to" recipe for Veracruz fish; I'm not sure if that's because it's the first recipe I learned or the one I like the best. It's not too difficult to prepare yet has a lot of rich flavor that appeals to many different taste buds (it's one of the first meals I prepared for my S.O. when we were dating and he still likes it). I usually serve it with some rice and/or fresh tortilla chips.

• Chicken in green almond sauce

  • trentendnz on February 27, 2022

    Amazing dish. Don't add all stock at end, just enough for thick sauce.

• Pork with pineapple

  • nicolepellegrini on May 17, 2019

    I thought this was just ok, although my S.O. liked it quite a bit. For me it was a bit bland, but the pork did come out very tender. Recipe never specified when to add the stock, so I did just before beginning the long simmering time.