Mexican Christmas Traditions

Wordless Wednesday: Taco de cecina

6 · Jun 22, 2011 · 15 Comments

I ate this incredible taco de cecina last week at La Lagartija Taquería here in Chicago, our favorite changarro. With a homemade tortilla, a light smear of frijoles and a perfectly salted cut of cecina, I was in taco heaven. I topped it with cebolla, cilantro and a drizzle of salsa roja. It's not on the everyday menu (it was off the daily specials list), but it most definitely should be! If you haven't had cecina before, it's a salted and partially dried thin cut of beef (kind of like how some steak houses serve dry-aged steaks).

What's the best taco you've eaten recently? We want details!

Cebollitas asadas

319 · Jun 20, 2011 · 22 Comments

At any parrillada, cebollitas asadas are the one side dish you can count on one s being the same, no matter what kind of meats are chosen for the main dish. These grilled onions are marinated in Maggi and lime juice before being served.

Grilled knob onions with lime and salsa Maggi

I love grilling. The smell of the charcoal, the crackling sound of the fire roasting the food and the anticipation of what’s about to land on my plate. And whenever we grill in Mexico, my suegro (father-in-law) is the king of the barbecue.

Cebollitas asadas are so simple and easy to make (and almost totally impossible to mess up even if you’re not a grilling pro), it’s the single dish that most reminds me of a Sunday parrillada in Mexico.

RELATED RECIPE: Calabacitas con elote

You can add as much or as little lime juice and salsa Maggi, a Worcestershire-style seasoning sauce, or soy sauce as you like – it all depends on your taste buds. The Maggi sold in the U.S. doesn’t taste the same as salsa Maggi sold in Mexico, so I sometimes substitute low sodium soy sauce because we always keep some in the cabinet or the refrigerator.

Not only is this dish often served at barbecues and family gatherings, you can also often find them at little street food stands around Mexico. I especially love to pair this side dish with tacos de rib eye and my Mexican chimichurri-marinated flank steak.

RELATED RECIPE: Calabacitas rellenas

A note for my gluten-free friends: Salsa Maggi contains wheat gluten, wheat and wheat bran among its ingredients. A suitable alternative for you to be able to enjoy this dish is Kikkoman’s gluten-free soy sauce.

Cebollitas

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Author: Maura Wall Hernandez
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 2 servings 1x
Category: Side dishes
Method: Grilling
Cuisine: Mexican

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Description

Cebollitas are a classic side dish staple at any Mexican barbecue.

Ingredients

Scale

1 bunch of large spring onions (the kind with the little bulb on the end); these are sometimes called cebollitas cambray or knob onions
fresh-squeezed juice of ½ to 1 whole lime
Salsa Maggi (jugo sazonador) or soy sauce to taste

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Instructions

Wash and grill the onions until they start to get grill marks and the bulbs look mostly cooked through. Leave the green stem tails on. (Some people don't eat the tails; it's up to you!)
Once you've removed the onions from the grill, put them on a plate or in a bowl and squeeze the desired amount of lime juice over them.
Add desired amount of Maggi or soy sauce over the top and let the onions sit in the juices for a few minutes. Pick up by the stems and eat the bulbs.

We're expanding the Tortilla!

6 · Jun 17, 2011 · 11 Comments

If you're a fan of our Facebook page, then you probably already know from our announcement last week that we've partnered with Kenmore to provide exclusive content on their Genius Blog every Friday for the rest of 2011. I'll be talking about kitchen tips, Mexican ingredients and sharing recipes I've written especially for Kenmore's audience.

You may remember I have done two cooking shows with Kenmore in the last year, first albóndigas at the Ritz-Carlton South Beach at the 2010 Blogalicious Weekend conference, and then chilaquiles at the Kenmore Live Studio in Chicago with Chuy Valencia, the rising star chef and owner of Chilam Balam. I had so much fun with those and I'm excited about this partnership and teaching others about our cuisine and the Latin kitchen in general. I encourage you to visit over there on Fridays to see what else I'm up to when I'm not posting new things here....

Mexican Candy: Moritas

12 · Jun 15, 2011 · 23 Comments

If you haven't noticed, I have a bit of an obsession with Mexican candies. Here's another one of my finds, Moritas. They're soft, sour gomitas that taste like blackberries and strawberries. They're not the same kind of chewy consistency you'd expect from gummy bears, and they have a sort of crunchy, sweet, flavored coating of sugar dots. I haven't had these in Mexico, but I've eaten something similar there and figured I'd like these too. My instincts usually don't steer me wrong, and this was no exception–I'm headed back to the store this week to pick up another little bag.

Can you think of any other sweet and sour candies from Mexico?

Limonada

69 · Jun 13, 2011 · 4 Comments

I love fizzy drinks and my all-time favorite fizzy drink is a Mexican limonada, of course!

Every time we go to Mexico, and particularly when we're visiting the beach, a limonada is always the drink I choose to quench my thirst after getting my fair share of sunshine.

I've also been known to order it everywhere from poolside to fancy restaurants – I just can't get enough.

This drink is so simple to make, yet I get so many emails and phone calls from friends asking how to make it. And with the Wordless Wednesday post last week about limonada y sol, I figured it would be almost cruel to not tell you how to make it. I'm finally sharing a recipe so you can have this sweet fizzy drink at home!

You can also make this drink with still water, but the carbonated water gives it a little something extra to make it different. I typically use lightly carbonated water, but you can use whatever you like depending on your preference for bubbles.

I like to drink limonada when it's hot and sunny, but also when I'm really missing México lindo y querido....