The Other Side of the Tortilla

Mexican recipes, culture and travel destinations

How To

7 Guides

How to choose a ripe avocado

If you’ve ever struggled with finding a ripe avocado in the grocery store, here are my foolproof tips to make sure you never buy unripe avocados by mistake again.

A guide on how to choose ripe avocados

Avocado is a very versatile ingredient in Mexican cuisine. And although most people think of avocado just as a savory ingredient, you can use it for sweet recipes, too. Aside from typical recipes like guacamole and salsa verde with avocado, this fruit is also great for making avocado paletas, avocado fudge pops, and avocado chocolate pudding.

With so many potential uses, you’ll want to ensure you always have avocados on hand. But when it comes to choosing a ripe Haas avocado, there are a few cardinal rules to follow.

DO

  • Evaluate the avocado’s skin color and texture, and remove the stem to determine ripeness.

DON’T

  • Squeeze the avocado. There’s a difference between using your fingers to gently feel if the skin gives—indicating softness—and squeezing it, which can damage the flesh inside, and in some cases, break the outer skin.
  • Put avocado in the refrigerator before they’re ripened.

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6 How To

HOW TO: Make molletes

Great for a quick, easy meal or a snack made from leftovers, molletes are very popular in Mexico. You can typically find them at any coffee shop and in many casual restaurants around the country as well. They can be eaten for any meal and you probably have all of the ingredients without knowing it!

A few notes: Day old bread is best, but you can use fresh bread just fine if you toast it well. There aren’t really exact proportions here in this guide. I typically make refried beans at the beginning of each week and just use them until they’re gone. If you don’t do the same, a small can of refried beans will do just fine here, and you’ll still have some left over. Here, I’ve used pinto beans. You can also use frijoles bayos refritos (a cousin in taste and texture to the pinto bean) or refried black beans. You can also add as much or as little cheese as you’d like; the point is that you cover the beans.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

  • For each serving  of two molletes, you’ll need one bolillo roll. If you don’t have those, you can substitute with a loaf of soft French bread cut into sections.
  • A little bit of butter or margarine
  • A few tablespoons of refried beans (frijoles refritos) for each piece of bread
  • Shredded cheese (I recommend: Chihuahua, Oaxaca, Monterrey Jack. Note: In Mexico, I prefer what they call manchego, which is not the same as Spanish manchego, but they don’t sell Mexican manchego in the U.S. to my knowledge.)
  • Salsa mexicana (here’s my recipe for 2 servings, which can be doubled or tripled for however many you’re feeding)

Keep reading for step-by-step photos to help you assemble your molletes.…

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237 How To

How to keep your guacamole fresh and green

There’s an easy way to keep guacamole fresh and green—without using the pit, adding too much salt, covering it with water, milk or any of the other “tricks” you might find with a quick Google search. If you’ve ever woofed down a whole bowl of guacamole just to keep it from going brown in the refrigerator, your life is about to be changed. I promise this tip is the green-guacamole-for-days jackpot!

My family is always asking me to make guacamole. Always. I make it for parties and barbecues, when people casually drop by and even when somebody calls and asks, “if I drop off the ingredients, will you make it for me?” My dad is by far the biggest culprit of the weekend phone call requesting a drive-by guacamole drop-off. I used to tease him that if it weren’t for the guacamole, he wouldn’t stop by as often.

But with a jam-packed schedule and some travel time occasionally involved on one or both ends to get the ingredients and then deliver the goods to their final destination, it’s not always easy to make the guacamole and deliver and serve it right away. Yet, nobody would ever know that it’s usually been in the refrigerator for a full day beforehand because my guacamole always arrives perfectly green and fresh as if I just made it.

I’m going to reveal a method and kitchen tip that is going to turn you into a guacamole hero. But be warned; I can’t be held responsible if friends and family start calling to drop off ingredients because you earn a reputation for having the greenest guacamole they’ve ever seen!

Need a basic guacamole recipe? I’ve got you covered. Also check out my fruity guacamole recipe with pineapple and pomegranate seeds. You might also like my mango guacamole recipe.

The BEST way to keep guacamole fresh and green for days via theothersideofthetortilla.com

HOW TO KEEP YOUR GUACAMOLE FRESH AND GREEN

STEP 1: Choose avocados that are barely ripe. They should give only very slightly when you press the skin. Prep all the ingredients (onion, chile, lime, tomato, cilantro, etc.) before you cut the avocados open. The flesh should not be too creamy/soft when you open them and you shouldn’t find brown or dark spots on the flesh at all.

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181 How To

Chicharrones de harina

Have you ever wondered how to make your own chicharrones de harina? You know, the crunchy, salty and mysteriously orange-colored street food snack eaten with lime juice and drizzles of salsa?

Learn how to make your own chicharrones de harina at home! Via theothersideofthetortilla.com

Us too. So we decided to learn and make a video to show you so you can make them at home too.

Learn how to make your own chicharrones de harina at home! Via theothersideofthetortilla.com
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Chicharrones de harina

Prep

Cook

Total

How to make the popular Mexican street food snack known as chicharrones de harina (fried, puffed wheat snacks).

Ingredients

  • One 8 or 10-ounce bag of uncooked chicharrones de harina
  • 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
  • 2 medium limes, sliced in wedges
  • Your choice of salsa botanera (Victoria, Búfalo, chamoy, etc.)

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a pan or pot over medium-high heat until hot.
  2. Place two chicharrones into the hot oil with a slotted spoon to see if it's hot enough, and how long they take to puff up completely. Adjust the heat if necessary.
  3. Using the slotted spoon, add several more chicharrones at a time to the pot, turning with the spoon to help them puff evenly.
  4. When they're ready to be removed from the hot oil, transfer them with the slotted spoon to a paper-towel lined plate. Pat dry if necessary.
  5. To serve: squeeze lime juice over the top of the chicharrones, then add your favorite salsa botanera (I like Búfalo clasica the best.)

Notes

Store any leftover chicharrones that have not been covered in lime and salsa in an airtight container or zip top bag. They'll last a few days before they start to go stale.

Courses Snack

Cuisine Mexican

Head on over to my post on the Kenmore Genius blog for more about chicharrones de harina.

And don’t forget: you can also have a similar snack on the go with potato chips! Check out my easy instructions on how to make your own papitas con limón y salsa.

  • Have you ever made your own chicharrones de harina before? Do you do anything differently?

0 Chiles

Salsa de tres chiles

In case you missed it last week… check out our salsa de tres chiles on the Kenmore Genius Blog – the ultimate fresh, homemade dip for your tortilla chip! Warning: you may never be able to eat crappy restaurant “salsa” ever again after tasting this stuff. You know what I’m talking about – that runny, watery, often bland mess of tomatoes, onion and jalapeños they serve at chain restaurants. You’ll have to visit the Genius Blog for the full recipe with instructions, but here’s a sneak peek of the video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjYHU9woZ1s[/youtube]

  • Give this post a Facebook “Like” or a +1 on Google+ if you pledge to never eat bad salsa again!
Disclosure: I am compensated for my posts on the Genius Blog and provided with Kenmore small appliances to test but all my recipes and opinions, about the appliances and otherwise, are my own.

2 Algo dulce

Paletas de mango con chile

I wrote about my love for paletas and shared a recipe for paletas de mango con chile on the Kenmore Genius Blog recently. These are similar to mangonadas, but those usually include chamoy as an ingredient, and this recipe doesn’t.

Hop over there to check out the post with some additional notes on the ingredients. Enjoy the yummy video!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MdGPkxkE2Y[/youtube]

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Paletas de mango con chile

Paletas de mango con chile

Ingredients

  • 4 manila mangoes
  • juice of 4 limes
  • 4 tsp chile powder (or more to taste)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup granulated cane sugar (I like Zulka brand)
  • zest of 2 limes

Instructions

  1. In a sauce pan, bring the water, sugar and lime zest to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Simmer for about 5 minutes to infuse the flavor of the lime zest and then remove from heat and let come to room temperature.
  2. Peel the mangoes and remove all the flesh. When you get close to the pit, you can just scrape it in a downward motion away from you to get the last bits off.
  3. Put the mango flesh (which should be about 2.5 cups) into the blender with the lime juice, sugar syrup and chile powder.
  4. Pulse on low for 10-15 seconds so that you get a puree that has some small mango chunks in it.
  5. Pour evenly into popsicle molds, making sure not to fill them all the way to the top; the popsicles will expand a little when they freeze, so leave a little room so they don't spill. Place them on an even surface in the freezer for at least 12 hours (or longer if you use bigger molds).
  6. Once they’re frozen through, run the bottom of the mold under warm water just long enough to loosen them from the mold.
https://theothersideofthetortilla.com/2011/06/paletas-de-mango-con-chile/

Disclosure: I am compensated for my posts on the Genius Blog and provided with Kenmore small appliances to test but all my recipes and opinions, about the appliances and otherwise, are my own.