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Mexican Christmas Traditions

How to make orejas

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Pan dulce was made popular during the French occupation in the mid 1800s, and as Mexican President Porfirio Díaz was considered to be a Francophile, French influence on Mexico’s gastronomy was allowed to grow from the time Díaz first took control as president in 1880 and flourish into the early 1900s.

Instructions how to make orejas, also known as palmiers. This popular Mexican pan dulce has only three ingredients: puff pastry, cinnamon and sugar. Recipe on theothersideofthetortilla.com.

 

In 1911, Díaz left Mexico to live in exile in Paris when Madero became president; he would live there for four years before he died in 1915. And although Díaz died in exile, the French pastries and sweet breads adopted by Mexico morphed into uniquely Mexican creations, with a variety of shapes, textures and creative names that still exist today.

RELATED RECIPE: Cafe de olla

Pan dulce can encompass pastries, sweet breads and even cookies. Other popular kinds of pan dulce include conchas (circular sweet rolls with a sugary, crunchy, crumbly topping made of flour, confectioners’ sugar and butter or vegetable shortening, and shaped to resemble a seashell), sweet empanadas, mantecadas (similar to pound cake, and shaped like muffins or mini loaves), cuernitos (croissants), and puerquitos or marranitos (pig-shaped cookies). Of course, these are only a few of the most popular and common kinds of pan dulce. Some types have a directly translated name from the original French name, but others have more creative names in Spanish.  

Orejas are a staple at my house and I often make a batch to enjoy with a cup of coffee throughout the week, to take to work for a breakfast meeting, or when I need to drop off something easy for a bake sale or party. Some of my other favorite variations include churros, garibaldi, and rieles (mini strudels with a fruit or cheese filling and coarse-grain sanding sugar).

How to make Mexican atole de vainilla. Recipe via @MauraHernandez on The Other Side of The Tortilla.

 RELATED RECIPE: Atole de vainilla

Orejas are made by spreading cinnamon sugar on both sides of a sheet of puff pastry, then rolling the puff pastry with a rolling pin to press the cinnamon sugar into the pastry. Then, the pastry is folded and sliced, and baked at a high temperature so the sugar caramelizes and creates a sort of glassy sugar glaze on the pastry dough.

Although every Mexican panadería is a little different, it’s guaranteed you’ll always find orejas. But you’ll feel like a fancy pastry chef and a little bit like a rock star when you make them on your own—and you’re likely to impress people who have no idea how easy they are to make!

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Instructions how to make orejas, also known as palmiers. This popular Mexican pan dulce has only three ingredients: puff pastry, cinnamon and sugar. Recipe on theothersideofthetortilla.com.

Orejas

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 3 reviews
  • Author: Maura Wall Hernandez
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 9 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hours 4 minutes
  • Yield: 15-16 cookies 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Cuisine: Mexican
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Description

One of Mexico's most popular kinds of pan dulce.

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 sheet Pepperidge Farm puff pastry, defrosted
  • ½ cup Zulka morena granulated cane sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Line a large cutting board with parchment paper and unfold the puff pastry sheet to defrost for about 45 minutes to an hour.
  2. When pastry is defrosted, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
  3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread about ¼ cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture on it, roughly in the shape of the puff pastry.
  4. Transfer the defrosted puff pastry to the baking sheet on top of the cinnamon sugar and peel the parchment paper off the other side. Spread the remaining ¼ cup of cinnamon sugar liberally over the top of the puff pastry.
  5. Use a rolling pin to gently roll out the puff pastry both horizontally and vertically, which will cement the sugar into the pastry.
  6. Fold the puff pastry inward from the edges to meet in the middle. Then fold again, in half. With a sharp knife, cut half-inch slices and transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
  7. Bake at 425 degrees F for 5-7 minutes on one side, remove from oven and flip orejas with a spatula, and bake for another 3-4 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Notes

Recipe prep and cook time does NOT include 45-60 minutes of inactive prep to defrost frozen puff pastry sheets.

RELATED RECIPE: Tequila-infused raspberries with cinnamon sugar crema and orejas

Lasaña Azteca

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Mexican-inspired white lasagna Azteca rolls. Recipe via theothersideofthetortilla.com

This post is part of a compensated campaign in collaboration with Barilla and Latina Bloggers Connect, but the recipe and all opinions here are my own.

Rollitos de lasaña azteca, or Aztec lasagna rolls, are an easy and flavorful dish that you can prepare in advance and pop into the oven to get dinner on the table without much effort.

Several years ago, my Tía Annette gave me a copy of a Mexico City Junior League cookbook from the 1980s. The thing I loved most about the book was that it had expat fusion recipes that were Mexicanized versions of American comfort foods, and it was a window into what the most popular recipes were among these women at the time the book was published.

This recipe is my modern spin on a fusion of two recipes that were particularly popular at the time that edition of the Mexico City Junior League cookbook was written: A white lasagna made with Mexican cheeses, and a dish known as budín Azteca or pastel Azteca, which is basically a lasagna dish that uses tortillas in place of lasagna noodles, and has a cheesy, spicy chile and vegetable filling.

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Chicken Tinga

57 · · 5 Comments

Chicken tinga, also known as tinga poblana or tinga de pollo, is a flavorful, authentic Mexican dish that you can get on the dinner table in less than an hour.

There are a few key ingredients to this chicken tinga recipe that help you get it on the table quickly: Store-bought rotisserie chicken, tomato sauce and canned diced tomatoes. Like many traditional Mexican dishes, tomatoes are an important flavor as the base of this recipe. And if you shred the chicken in advance or have some help shredding it, you'll really have dinner ready in no time!

How to make tinga poblana, a Mexican dish with a tomato base and shredded chicken. Great for tostadas, tacos, served with rice, or as a quesadilla! This dish is also sometimes known as tinga de pollo or chicken tinga. Recipe via theothersideofthetortilla.com

This tangy, slightly spicy, stewed dish originally comes from the state of Puebla and is sometimes also made with shredded beef or pork instead of chicken. Ingredients in this dish can sometimes vary slightly from family to family, but most recipes have a tomato base, call for chorizo and fresh tomatillos—all of which, when combined, lend a little umami flavor and texture to this popular dish.

Ingredients

Though chicken tinga has a lot of ingredients, I promise it comes together quickly, and most of them are things you should have in your pantry aside from the fresh ingredients.

  • Shredded chicken
  • Mexican chorizo
  • White onion
  • Garlic
  • Canned tomato sauce
  • Chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
  • Canned diced tomatoes
  • Tomatillos
  • Dried Mexican oregano
  • Dried thyme
  • Dried marjoram
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Bay leaves
How to make tinga de pollo, a Mexican dish with a tomato base and shredded chicken. Great for tostadas, tacos, served with rice, or as a quesadilla! This dish is also sometimes known as tinga poblana or chicken tinga. Recipe via @MauraHernandez on The Other Side of The Tortilla.

I’ve used Hunt’s tomato sauce and canned petite diced tomatoes in my kitchen for several years because they’re grown in California, canned within hours of being picked, have no artificial preservatives and are 100 percent natural, so I feel good about feeding my family dishes that call for tomatoes when they're out of season or I don't have time to make tomato sauce from scratch.

Paired with chipotles in adobo sauce and fresh onion, garlic, and spices you surely already keep in your pantry, chicken tinga is sure to become a family favorite if it isn’t already a dish you eat regularly. And the bonus? You really only need to dirty one pan to make it! 

How to serve tinga

Chicken tinga is commonly served on top of tostadas with garnishes such as crema mexicana, avocado, shredded lettuce and queso fresco. It can also be served on its own with a side of rice, as tacos or inside of a quesadilla (sometimes known as tingadillas).

 

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How to make tinga de pollo, a Mexican dish with a tomato base and shredded chicken. Great for tostadas, tacos, served with rice, or as a quesadilla! This dish is also sometimes known as tinga poblana or chicken tinga. Recipe via @MauraHernandez on The Other Side of The Tortilla.

Chicken tinga

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
  • Category: Lunch/Dinner
  • Cuisine: Mexican
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Description

Tinga de pollo is a Mexican dish from Puebla with a tomato base and shredded chicken, along with chorizo, tomatillos and spices. This dish is also commonly known as tinga poblana or chicken tinga.

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
  • ½ cup cooked chorizo (about 6-7 ounces uncooked depending on the brand)
  • ¾ cup white onion, diced (about half of a large onion)
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 ¼ cups Hunt’s tomato sauce
  • 2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
  • 6 tablespoons adobo sauce (from canned chipotles in adobo)
  • 1 cup Hunt’s petite diced tomatoes
  • 3 ½ ounces fresh tomatillos (about 4 small-to-medium sized tomatillos)
  • ¾ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • ¼ teaspoon dried marjoram
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 bay leaves

Instructions

  1. Cook 6-7 ounces of chorizo in a frying pan. Drain grease from cooked chorizo on
  2. While the chorizo is cooking, hand-shred rotisserie chicken until you have four cups and set aside.
  3. In a large skillet over medium heat, combine cooked chorizo, diced white onion and garlic. Sautee until the onion starts to turn transparent, about 5-7 minutes.
  4. In a blender or a small food processor, add 1 ¼ cups Hunt’s tomato sauce, 2 chipotle chiles and 6 tablespoons of adobo sauce from the canned chipotles in adobo. Puree until completely smooth.
  5. Pour the tomato sauce mixture into the skillet and reduce the heat to low. Add 1 cup of Hunt’s petite diced tomatoes, Mexican oregano, thyme, marjoram, freshly ground pepper and tuck two bay leaves into the skillet so they’re submerged in the sauce. Stir to incorporate all ingredients.
  6. Add shredded chicken and fresh tomatillo wedges and stir to coat. Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until chicken is completely heated through and the sauce has reduced slightly.
  7. Remove from heat and serve.

Notes

Serve on top of tostadas with crema mexicana and avocado (as pictured in this recipe); or with a side of rice, as tacos or inside of a quesadilla (known as tingadillas).

Slow-cooker carnitas

21 · · 4 Comments

How to make Mexican carnitas with a slow-cooker. Recipe on theothersideofthetortilla.com.

This post is part of a compensated campaign with the National Pork Board, but all opinions and the recipe here are my own.

Slow-cooker carnitas are great for an easy weeknight family dinner or for a weekend gathering. This is a super simple meal with only four ingredients that you can also prepare in advance and reheat.

Carnitas are typically a true nose-to-tail kind of dish where almost the entire pig is used. My husband loves this recipe and says that it’s similar to ordering maciza, which is mostly lean and white meat. If you’re used to eating carnitas and order “surtido” (which includes a little bit of everything), you can simulate that by buying a pork shoulder that has a cap of fat on one side. The fat will partially cook down and melt in the slow-cooker, and the soft remains left over at the end can be chopped up and mixed in with the shredded meat. (And you can use some of the liquid fats to moisten the meat before storing, so it doesn’t dry out when reheated, too.) 

RELATED RECIPE: Slow-cooker cochinita pibil

This recipe is made with pork shoulder which can also be called Boston butt roast or pork butt, depending on the region of the U.S. where you live. In Mexico, this area of the pig is often called espaldilla or cabeza de lomo, which are adjacent cuts that come from the top of the front legs of the pig and just above. These cuts are typically well-marbled and are very versatile, but the best way to use them, in my opinion, is to cook them low and slow (at a low temperature over a long period of time) so that the meat becomes fork-tender. 

If you’re not very familiar with pork shoulder, you may have already eaten it before without even realizing it; when you buy ground pork from the grocery store, it’s oven made from pork shoulder. And it makes great chorizo!

RELATED RECIPE: Homemade pork chorizo

If you can’t find a boneless roast, you can buy a little larger piece to account for the weight of the bone. You can cook it the same way, just leaving the bone in, and then remove the bone before serving. A bonus to cooking this cut low and slow: you can also render your own pork fat—the same way you would with bacon—and transfer to a jar and store in the refrigerator.

This recipe serves four people for a light meal (about three tacos each), or two people for a larger meal. If you wish to serve more people, or simply have more leftovers, you can double the size of the pork roast to 4 pounds, add three slices of thick-cut bacon and two more dried bay leaves.

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Slow-cooker carnitas

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours, 10 minutes

Yield: 2-4 servings

Slow-cooker carnitas

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds boneless Boston butt roast (pork shoulder)
  • 5 slices thick-cut smoked bacon
  • 1.5 to 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 2 dried bay leaves

Instructions

  1. Line the bottom of your slow-cooker with three pieces of bacon and put the bay leaves on top of the bacon.
  2. Sprinkle about half of the sea salt on one side of the pork roast, and the remaining salt on the other side. Place the pork roast over the bacon and bay leaves.
  3. Place the remaining two slices of bacon over the top of the pork roast and put the lid on the slow-cooker. Turn the slow-cooker to low and let it cook for 8 hours.
  4. After 8 hours, remove the meat from the slow-cooker with a slotted spoon to a large bowl and shred well with a fork.
  5. Serve with warm corn tortillas and garnishes such as diced white onion, chopped cilantro and salsa of your choice.

https://theothersideofthetortilla.com/2014/10/slow-cooker-carnitas-recipe/

For more information and recipe ideas visit porkbeinspired.com or The National Pork Board’s Spanish-language website, porkteinspira.com.

 

Baked panela cheese and membrillo 'pan de muerto' for Day of the Dead

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Baked panela and membrillo in puff pastry to look like pan de muerto for a fun Day of the Dead appetizer. Recipe via @MauraHernandez on The Other Side of The Tortilla.

This post is part of a compensated campaign in collaboration with Cacique and Latina Bloggers Connect. All opinions and the recipe are my own.

This recipe is a fun spin on pan de muerto, a sweet bread typically served during Day of the Dead celebrations.

Traditionally, pan de muerto is perfumed with orange blossom water, has dough adornments on top that represent bones, and then is baked and dusted in sugar. Similar to a baked brie, this dish envelopes panela cheese and something sweet into a flaky puff pastry crust that, when finished, resembles pan de muerto but has a tasty, sweet and savory surprise inside!

I’ve used quince paste in this recipe, known as membrillo in Spanish; you can also substitute guava paste if you prefer....

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