Notes about Recipes in this book

• Sonoran cheese soup (Sopa de queso estilo Sonora)

  • TrishaCP on January 27, 2022

    I thought the flavor of this soup was very tasty. It may have been user error, but the cheese tended to clump rather than emulsify into the soup, so be careful with that part.

  • tarae1204 on February 06, 2023

    Link: https://patijinich.com/sonora-cheese-soup/ This recipe works well as written, and is mild and comforting, although not especially flavorful.

• Tortilla soup (Sopa de tortilla)

  • gamulholland on August 18, 2021

    I think I’m going to try some different tortilla soups to add to the rotation, and this was a winner. :) Gently roasted/smoky flavor from the adobo sauce and the roasted tomatoes and garlic and onion, all of it adding up to a richly flavored soup. We started out cooking them on a skillet but switched to roasting them under the broiler, and rear was a lot more effective. I’ve seen some tortilla soups with tortillas blended into the soup itself, but this was a flavorful roasted tomato soup with chiles, with tortilla strips on top.

  • gamulholland on May 31, 2025

    Follow-up 4 years later: this has indeed become our go-to tortilla soup recipe. Simple, but so flavorful. As with most soups, better the next day.

• Potato and poblano rajas salad (Ensalada de papitas con rajas)

  • deboChicago on July 21, 2019

    This is a nice oily potato salad. Can’t go wrong with potatoes and poblanos. Might try stronger flavorings next time.

• Chicken fajita salad (Ensalada de fajita de pollo)

  • julesamomof2 on May 14, 2022

    This is a really good salad- I like the warm chicken and vegetables atop the cool salad. It is a fair amount of work with marinade and dressing, but worth it.

  • bwhip on March 15, 2025

    This was excellent, we enjoyed it very much. Just the right amount of kick from the spices and adobo sauce. The only odd thing in the instructions was where it said to reserve and then pour a cup of the marinade on the cooking chicken. There was nowhere close to a cup available based on the ingredients. It still turned out great, and we'll have this one again.

• Potato and chorizo tortas with quick pickled onions (Tortas de papas con chorizo con cebollitas encurtidas)

  • Bloominanglophile on December 03, 2018

    My husband and daughter loved these! I thought they were good, but those two really gushed over them (obviously they hit the spot that day). I did prepare it a little differently from the instructions. I cooked the chorizo off first, then removed it to a plate and cooked the onions briefly in the pan with the chorizo oil. Then I added the potatoes (small cube). I added some water to both steam the potatoes (turned the heat down and covered the pan), and to get the delicious fond off the bottom of the pan and into the dish. Once the potatoes were done, I added the chorizo back to the pan to reheat for a few minutes. This does need some additional flavor notes, which the pickled onions and avocado contributed. The second night I also added some cotija, which enhanced the flavors even more--highly recommended.

  • jacqie on August 23, 2020

    Kind of sloppy but tasty.

• Chopped egg and avocado sandwiches (Sandwiches de aguacate con huevo)

  • gamulholland on May 30, 2022

    This was delicious!!! How have I never had egg and avocado before?! So good! And easy to make.

• Shrimp, mango, and avocado rolls (Rollos de camarones al ajillo, mango, y aguacate)

  • jacqie on August 23, 2020

    This would also make a good taco filling.

• Pork and chorizo burgers with avocado crema (Hamburguesas de cerdo y chorizo con crema de aguacate)

  • TrishaCP on May 29, 2017

    We absolutely loved these burgers. I think next time I would add the optional chipotle chile because just adding the one tablespoon of adobo sauce didn't add that much heat or extra flavor. Adding chives to the avocado crema is brilliant. I love the fresh oniony flavor the chives bring to the table. The recipe makes 8 burgers out of about 3 lbs of meat- that is larger than what I would usually make- I could have easily made 12 burgers because these are really rich.

• Quick salsa verde (Salsa verde rápida)

  • TrishaCP on November 25, 2021

    This was easy and simple to pull together. I cooked the tomatillo with a jalapeño, but I added a mix of red and green Hatch chile to add some extra zip (since I used this in the tamal casserole recipe).

• My go-to guacamole (Mi guacamole de cajón)

  • gamulholland on August 18, 2021

    This was a tasty, classic guacamole. My husband could not get enough of it. Absolutely delicious. :)

  • ebalk02 on May 06, 2024

    This was great! Definitely a good option if you find onion a little harsh or don't like the crunch of it. I would make this again for sure.

• Plantain tacos with walnut, pepita, and sunflower seed crunch (Tacos de plátano macho con crujiente de nuez de castilla, pepitas, y semillas de girasol)

  • lean1 on January 26, 2026

    made without the seeds just walnuts and scallions with a tbsp of Jalapeno. Like the taste and consistency of roasted plantains. I like the combinations of textures as well as taste. Will make again.

• Lime-rubbed chicken tacos with rustic corn guacamole (Tacos de pollo al limón con guacamole con elote)

  • TrishaCP on April 30, 2016

    My notes from the on-line version. This is a really great summer meal and a satisfying dinner. The chicken (mine marinated about 3 hours) was well-seasoned- and the lime with the corn, tomato, and avocado salsa was delicious. The salsa uses charred garlic and jalapeño- Pati in the comments to this recipe says she uses the broiler for charring, so that is what I did too. The garlic reminded me of roasted garlic, but sharper, and the jalapeño, which is always just a tad grassy in flavor to me, was rendered more complex in flavor.

• "Wired" flat-iron steak tacos (Tacos de alambre de carne)

  • julesamomof2 on December 31, 2018

    Simple and perfect; just like a trip to our local, family owned Mexican restaurant. A definite keeper.

• Asparagus, mushroom, and goat cheese enchiladas with pine nut mole sauce (Enchiladas de espárragos, champiñones y queso de cabra con mole de piñon)

  • bwhip on May 19, 2025

    This was good, not too difficult. Only thing I found puzzling was that the recipe seemed to make way more mole sauce than was needed. Half would have been plenty, and with pine nuts being fairly expensive, I sure hate to waste them!

• Sanborns' famous Swiss chicken enchiladas (Las super-famosas enchiladas de pollo Suizas estilo Sanborns)

  • NJChicaa on January 18, 2018

    We liked this dish. I used 1.5 seeded jalapenos in the sauce and it wasn't hot at all. I added some of the sauce to the shredded chicken filling to give it some flavor--otherwise it would have been just plain chicken and very boring. I will probably add something more to it next time like sauteed onions and maybe some other seasonings. Still, we enjoyed our dinner.

• Creamy mac 'n' cheese Mexicano (Mac 'n' cheese estilo Mexicano)

  • gamulholland on July 03, 2022

    This was delicious. Changed nothing, made it all as directed— wait, no, I cooked the bacon separately (in the oven, 375 F, about 25 minutes) so we could sprinkle it on part but not all of the dish for the veggies in the family. Anyway, so good, worth all the work, definitely will make again.

• Tamal casserole with chicken and salsa verde (Cazuela de tamal de pollo en salsa verde)

  • TrishaCP on November 25, 2021

    This recipe tasted great. I had problems with the masa. It did not gain the light and fluffy texture to float in water. (I was using the seasoned vegetable oil and masa for tortillas, which is not the preferred kind.) To compensate, I added more stock but I should have left it alone. It was all fine in the end with the other ingredients in the casserole though.

• Deep-dish tuna minilla pie (Cazuela de hojaldre de minilla de atún)

  • Bloominanglophile on January 05, 2019

    This was really nice. The bottom crust (puff pastry) does get a bit soggy from the pie juices. I would like to make empanadillas some day with this filling--might like it better than my usual recipe.

• Rice casserole with poblano rajas, corn, and tomatoes (Cazuela de arroz con rajas, elote, y jitomate)

  • TrishaCP on July 12, 2016

    This made a fantastic side for grilled chicken. I chose to use brown rice, and I really liked the nuttiness and the texture it provided. As Pati says, the topping for the rice is really saucy, but I think I took that to mean it could be wetter than maybe intended, as I needed to bake the rice significantly longer than specified.

• Meatballs in guajillo sauce with zucchini (Albóndigas con salsa de tomate verde y chile guajillo con calabacitas)

  • NJChicaa on January 15, 2018

    A lot of work for boring meatballs and a plain sauce. I wouldn't make this again without seriously jazzing up the meatballs and adding some seasonings to the sauce.

  • TrishaCP on July 28, 2020

    This is a good recipe to put a dent in your zucchini supply. I think the meatballs could use additional seasoning (garlic! and Mexican oregano), but I didn’t think the sauce was plain (though it was better the second day). I used ground turkey, since that is the meat that Pati used when making this recipe on her show. The first night I had this with rice, but the second night I cooked fideos right in the sauce and I think that was more successful.

• Spicy sweet-and-sour chipotle and tomatillo chicken (Pollo con tomate verde, chipotle, y piloncillo)

  • TrishaCP on July 30, 2018

    We loved this dish. It is everything Pati claims in the head notes- sour, sweet, and spicy, but also with a nice savory finish. It needs to be served with something to soak up the delicious sauce.

  • jacqie on August 23, 2020

    Good taco filling

  • chawkins on January 21, 2022

    This was delicious and quite easy. I served it with rice to soak up that lovely sauce.

• Basic black beans (Frijoles negros)

  • contrarywise on January 21, 2025

    Needed a basic black bean recipe as a base for burritos. Cooked in the instant pot for 28 minutes on high pressure, natural pressure release with 1.5 tsp salt. Came out great!

• Simmered shaved corn with chiles and epazote (Esquites)

  • TrishaCP on August 09, 2019

    I doubled up on serrano chiles but otherwise made the recipe as specified, including using the epazote. You can't really go wrong here, unless you are too shy with toppings. (Pati says the toppings are optional in her recipe - they absolutely are not.) We like lots and lots of lime, and we used queso fresco as the cheese.

• Mango mousse (Gelatina espumosa de mango)

  • jacqie on August 23, 2020

    I just can't do gelatin.

• Chocolate and cajeta milkshake (Malteada de chocolate con dulce de leche)

  • TrishaCP on September 02, 2018

    The flavor of this is outstanding-very indulgent. However, it is not a thick shake, if that is what your family prefers.