and pan-frying makes a huge mess. I’m in the South, so I can get my hands on excellent fried chicken pretty easily. French fries. (Can you tell that I hate frying stuff at home?) Conversely, biscuits are almost always better...

County where most of the Mexican places are family owned, very regional, with typically the Abuela in back, possibly hand making tortillas, tamales, asada or mole, this simple test ferrets out the dives from the stars. Not to...

I didn’t see this until now, but back in February I happened to go to Marshall’s in Woodside to look for some nice pots and pan. I got out at the Northern Blvd stop of the R Train, and these ladies were right up the...

by your mention of the French element to this town. I was always curious if Maximilian and his french regime’s near decade effect on Mexico left other influences culinarily beyond the realm of pan dulce. A roux even –...

- cheesecake place on 2nd Ave. near 88th St. Try their bread pudding too. Abuela's Cuchifrito, on 1st Ave. near 91st. Little tiny family owned and run hole in the wall – good empanadas, stewed meats, potato balls. My...

Pollo al Jerez, page 74 A Very simple recipe this. Easy and quick. Because the whole chicken is chopped into small-ish pieces, it really does cook in about 30 minutes. I was skeptical at first but then the pan is covered...

For some reason Bruni seems to have it in for Zarela. Anyway, on recent visits the snapper hash, cochinita de pibil & lamb barbacoa were all great, as was the pan de arroz.

vendors. Even the pan fried Mahi tacos (which were very good) failed. I still don’t understand why... I would think they would be good cross over dishes. Their military customer base seems to order mostly burritos. The...

it in the open pan, on the spot). We ordered one Tamal de Puerco Rojo (Steamed Corn Dough with Pork in Red Sauce) to sample. It arrived wrapped in Banana Leaf, and I eagerly took a bite: The Masa (Cornmeal Dough) was nice and...

the pork the day before after it had marinated in orange mojo. I assembled the sandwiches, and the only way I could think of to press them was two at a time in a large saute pan with a second, extremely hot, pan on top (bottom...

My favorite, easy dinner last night. Grilled skirt steak (on a grill pan, not outdoors) with Trader Joe’s corn salsa. My favorite meal to get on the table in less than ten minutes, and my fiance loves it.

smoked filet. Instead, it was a massive platter of cold smoked and shaved salmon with chopped egg and onion. Very buttery and tasty, but kind of like eating 8 ounces of foie gras. Caracoles a la abuela were also huge potion,...

of many a gastronomic pilgrimage. Important fact number two is: a paella isn’t a paella, it’s the classic, shallow, thin-bottom pan that the dish is cooked in and the dish is properly called arròs (arroz in Spanish) en...

and it came out great. My wife would have killed me if I dug a big whole in her garden, so I used a roasting pan and placed it in my smoker. I didn’t add any aromatic wood, just lump charcoal. An eight lb. pork butt took...

Aztec / Totonac Hot Chocolate For my lazy version I put 3 Cups of water in a sauce pan, along with 4 generous tablespoons of Vahlrona 100% Ground Cacao & 2 tablespoons of Mexican Vanilla. I brought to an almost boil then let it...