Notes about Recipes in this book

• Salsa roja with dried chiles (Salsa roja de chiles secos)

  • sometimes on June 09, 2025

    Used a couple less romas than specified because they were quite large. Otherwise made as written. This ended up making about twice the claimed amount. Not sure if the authors expect very small tomatoes or if it’s just a misprint since I haven’t made other recipes from this book yet. Regardless the dried chiles were a prominent flavor. Not a dip or condiment salsa for me but will find many uses as a base for simmered things as alluded to in the opening text for this subsection

• Pumpkin seed salsa (Ha' sikil pa'k}

  • metacritic on June 21, 2021

    Excellent. Well rounded almost nutty flavor from the pumpkin seeds with good heat (but not excessive) from the chilis. The tomatoes and tomatillo don't have an assertive presence, but surely round out the flavor in subtle ways. The chili de arbol is intended to be fresh - which I've never seen to my knowledge - so I used the allowed Thai chili (aka scud/bird's eye, which is what I had in the fridge). As an aside, this book received a lot of undeserved criticism when it came out for being too simple, too oriented to the home cook. What I've made has been delicious.

• Peanut salsa (Salsa con cacahuate)

  • EmilyR on July 06, 2022

    Recipe found here : https://www.wanderlust.co.uk/content/peanut-salsa-recipe/

  • metacritic on August 17, 2025

    Stunning salsa. Deep earthy flavor that was addictive. All oo'ed and ahh'ed.

• Basic beans

  • lorloff on October 25, 2019

    Delicious I made this with Oaxacan black beans and used both dried avocado leaves and dried hoja santa. It was really great will make again. Turned the left overs into the most amazing refried beans using the recipe in “Made in Mexico”. My guests all wanted more.

• White rice (Arroz blanco)

  • jess_na6y7k on February 21, 2026

    Could never make good rice until I found this recipe!

• Red rice (Arroz rojo [Arroz a la Mexicana])

  • doug_j1bmba on April 01, 2026

    This comes out pretty nice with rinsed and drained jasmine. I would def like the carrots to be added to the rice earlier in cooking, as mine were still a little al dente. Frozen peas work great: tossed in right when the lid goes on. The rice could take a little more seasoning too, for me. Thinking about working in some tomato paste or some chicken bouillon powder next time!

• Chia pudding (Chia con coco y nueces)

  • sometimes on February 08, 2026

    Made as written using some mixed nuts I already had on hand. A little heavy on cinnamon, but I ground some fresh from a stick, would cut in half if doing that again. With the small amount of maple syrup specified could also use some salt. Regardless, it’s a chia pudding, mild mannered and basically enjoyable to eat. I did use an actual vanilla bean as specced since it seemed like an opportunity for the flavor to really come through, but not convinced about that, maybe I’ll give it one more go with less cinnamon - for daily driving clearly subbing good quality paste would be the move

• Chicken tinga (Tinga de pollo)

  • Baxter850 on May 03, 2019

    Super easy. Doubled portion. Used canned chipotles and added the extra sauce to make spicier. Great.

• Pistachio green mole (Mole verde de pistache)

  • lorloff on October 25, 2019

    Excellent the sauce is really flavorful. It was a big hit for a dinner party. Will make again.

  • metacritic on July 27, 2021

    Excellent. The pistachios give this dish depth, the chilies a mild heat. The herbs give it a brightness and the roasted zucchini give it an earthiness. It all comes together harmoniously. If you can find purslane it adds a terrific sourness and texture to the finished dish. In any event, I found the sauce addictive. I'd steal a bite whenever I could. I served this as part of a wave of dishes, all excellent, and this one stood out above all others, even dishes that had been the star of dinner parties in the past.

• Herb guacamole (Guacamole con hierbas)

  • jess_na6y7k on February 22, 2026

    Best guac ever

• Broccoli tamales (Tamales de brócoli)

  • JesseMBadger on October 21, 2025

    This recipe calls for fresh masa, not masa harina.

• Stewed pork and purslane (Puerco con verdolagas)

  • Hansyhobs on February 21, 2023

    Picnic ham is not a thing in the UK so I just diced (raw) pork shoulder and it turned out great. Had this with beans and rice. I felt the purslane got lost in the dish, if I did this again I would probably mix the leaves through just before serving instead of letting them simmer in the stew for 10 mins. I used tinned tomatillos for the salsa and it tasted delicious (I used the cooking in water method)