Notes about Recipes in this book

• San Antonio-style breakfast salsa

  • sarahawker on July 27, 2021

    Incredibly easy salsa that is very very addictive.

• Buttermilk syrup

  • sarahawker on November 20, 2023

    Best syrup I've ever had. It's basically caramel and it is AMAZING. Lots of butter, but it does make a lot.

• Mexican rice

  • lhkelsey on February 02, 2026

    Super good. Omitted the corn. Better than most Mexican restaurants.

• Charro beans

  • jimandtammyfaye on January 14, 2023

    Easy dish to prep ahead. Everything goes in the pot at one time, although I reserve salt until the beans have softened. I use Santa Cruz chili powder, and a scant 1/4 cup seasons plenty.

• Standard chile paste

  • sarahawker on July 27, 2021

    This makes a lot but freezes well. Absolutely terrific flavor to add to countless dishes.

  • metacritic on February 09, 2026

    LIves in my freezer and makes it easier to cook various dishes from this cookbook.

  • averythingcooks on February 11, 2026

    I scaled this to 1/3 and used a mix of guajillo & pasilla + only 1 de arbol for the dried chiles...reasoning that it is easier to heat things up if needed compared to cooling them down :) I seeded my chiles (she only mentions stemming) and this will get frozen in tbsp portions for use in lots of dishes. 1st use was for the beef fajita marinade.

• Guacamole

  • sarahawker on July 27, 2021

    Teenage son's favorite way to make guac. I've used both pickled and fresh jalapenos. Cilantro is essential.

  • metacritic on February 09, 2026

    Straightfoward and, like most guac, excellent.

• Braised beef barbacoa

  • averythingcooks on April 04, 2026

    I cut this in 1/2 (ie 8 oz of beef) & that was more than enough for 2 of us. The sauce is full of flavour & it would be easy to scale this up/make ahead for a crowd. I added black beans, spicy corn relish & rst'd red peppers to the finished pot, so all we needed was shredded cheese + a little lime/jalapeno crema to make our tacos. I made her flour tortillas this time & we loved this fun little dinner.

• Pollo con mole

  • sarahawker on July 27, 2021

    Sister brought this to a potluck. Very good. Leftover mole froze well and was used to simmer chicken thighs a couple of months later.

  • lhkelsey on February 02, 2026

    Super recipe. Browned and simmered the chicken and served it with Mexican rice. Delish!

• Mole poblano sauce

  • sarahawker on July 27, 2021

    Freezes well.

  • lhkelsey on February 02, 2026

    This molé is the bomb! I didn’t use the plantain and used a little more brown sugar. It’s incredible.

• Avocado crema

  • jimandtammyfaye on December 04, 2021

    One of my favorite recipes from this book. Definite keeper and repeater!

• Pico de gallo

  • sarahawker on November 30, 2025

    The amount of tomato seems to be an error at 1/5th the quantity of onion. We made them approx equal.

  • metacritic on February 09, 2026

    Surprisingly good. I used the same quantity of tomato as onion.

• Roasted tomato salsa

  • jimandtammyfaye on June 25, 2023

    Straightforward TexMex salsa where summer tomatoes can shine. Delicious served warm, straight from the grill or oven. Double/triple the recipe.

• Salsa verde

  • MOSteen on April 18, 2020

    Made using canned chilies and it tasted great, but not as good as in the restaurant. Recommend trying again when I have access to all ingredients.

  • Shelmar on May 06, 2020

    Best green salsa ever! Put tomatillos in blender first.

• Cheese enchiladas con chili gravy

  • melanie_tszu70 on December 31, 2025

    This was a lot of work but first time I ever had enchiladas hold together and tasted exactly like the tex mex enchiladas I grew up eating in Texas.

• Shredded smoked chicken

  • metacritic on October 15, 2022

    Partner made these for fajitas. Absolutely delicious.

  • hbakke on February 04, 2023

    Easy, grilled chicken recipe I used for the Enchiladas Suizas in this book. This involves a 8 hour marinade, so be sure to start ahead of time.

• Enchiladas Suizas

  • Lsblackburn1 on May 21, 2020

    Delicious! I poached 2 chicken breasts and made 12 enchiladas (the recipe said 8). Also, the recipe just has you broil this, but I made them ahead and then baked for 20, finishing under the broiler.

  • jimandtammyfaye on January 14, 2023

    Phenomenal. Sauce easily covers 10 tortillas in a 13x9" dish, but increase chicken to 2 cups.

  • hbakke on February 04, 2023

    Delicious! We loved these with the chimichurri accompaniment. I couldnt find Chihuahua cheese so subbed Oaxaca cheese which I think turned out well. I would make this easy recipe again.

  • averythingcooks on January 29, 2026

    I riffed a bit as I have 1/2 pint jars of a home canned tomatillo salsa verde (made with garden tomatillos, jalapenos, onions & garlic). I used leftover rst'd chicken & tossed it with a mix of rst'd poblanos & anaheims + some other diced hot peppers (all from the freezer). We like corn in our filling so in went a big spoonful of a spicy corn relish. I also opted to bake mine 1st until bubbly hot & then added the cheese before a quick run under the broiler. Delicious.

• Cilantro chimichurri

  • hbakke on February 04, 2023

    Maybe a bit too oily for me, but a nice flavor overall. I added a bit more garlic which I thought went well with the Enchiladas Suizas recipe in this book.

• West Texas-styled stacked shrimp enchiladas

  • Lsblackburn1 on September 11, 2023

    As always with enchiladas, these require lots of steps, but are pretty easy to make. I made the chili paste earlier in the day; wasn’t sure how hot it’d be (I don’t do spicy!), so tried to shake out most of the seeds from the chiles. The result was perfect for me. To assemble, I used blue corn tortillas and did 4 layers. Baked for about 15 minutes at 350. End result was delicious.

• Beef fajitas

  • katiesue28 on May 26, 2020

    Delicious! The marinade left the steak with so much delicious flavor. Next time I would not go through the trouble of making the homemade flour tortillas, though.

  • jimandtammyfaye on January 14, 2023

    Fabulous marinade for steak. Sub 1 TBS chipotles in adobo sauce for Standard Chile Paste. Have subbed flank steak, but skirt steak is best. For veggies, I roast in 450 degree oven for 30 minutes. Haven't used the foamy butter yet. Serve with avocado creme p111.

  • metacritic on February 09, 2026

    Fantastic. Plenty of labor to pull the whole thing together but a feast for a crowd (or, in our case, a surplus for a family of four). The marinade was terrific. I wish I were able to grill the dish but zero degree weather makes that impossible. Served with all the complementary dishes (guacamole, salsa, shredded cabbage, foamy butter, etc that are suggested).

  • averythingcooks on February 11, 2026

    We loved the steak marinade (for a flank steak) made with her "standard chile paste", pineapple juice etc. For our fajitas, I offered roasted poblanos & Anaheims (both from the freezer), grated cheese (cheddar & Monterey jack), shredded lettuce, sour cream, hot sauce and I raided the canning cupboard for pickled hot peppers, pickled red onions and a spicy corn salsa. We had a great dinner.

• Foamy butter

  • metacritic on February 09, 2026

    A flavor bomb to go with fajitas.

• Carne asada

  • jimandtammyfaye on February 23, 2025

    Absolutely delicious! I used high quality ribeye steaks and topped with Pico de gallo (Tyler Florence's is always my go-to, but I imagine there is a good pico recipe in this book too)

• Chicken fajitas

  • metacritic on February 09, 2026

    Absolutely excellent. As good as the steak fajitas. A feast.

• Al pastor

  • Lsblackburn1 on June 23, 2025

    Delicious! I made the marinade in the morning and grilled 8 hours later. Put the pork on skewers so the pieces would not fall through the grill. They needed 20 - 30 minutes.

• Classic margarita on the rocks

  • Lsblackburn1 on August 13, 2020

    Scaled this up by10 to make a pitcherful. Shaken over ice... killer!

• Flour tortillas

  • averythingcooks on April 04, 2026

    I used vegetable shortening & these came out of the pan with a lovely soft texture. As my only local source for tortillas = basic grocery brands, homemade are such a huge treat (begging the question why I don't make them EVERY time :) I did a quick read re: what is actually meant by "warm water" for homemade tortillas & settled on 110 F.