Herbs & Spices

The smoked salmon gives this sauce great texture and is also a wonderful flavor complement to the smokiness of the chile mulato. Try the sauce on pasta or with a char-grilled chicken breast.

A fresh salsa verde, or green sauce, made with tomatillos is a perfect condiment for almost any meal (I like it on grilled chicken tacos), and just as good as a dip for tortilla chips.

Sweet potatoes cooked in piloncillo (unrefined solid cane sugar, usually found in the shape of small truncated cones) are sold as candy at Mexican mercados. They are way too sweet for me, but there’s no denying the spud’s versatility. Here I highlight their savory flavor by mashing sweet potatoes with a little butter and sage in a great fall dish that works well with roasted turkey. Feel free to use skim milk instead of whole milk, if you must, but keep that stick of butter!

Melted and slightly browned Oaxaca cheese mellows out bitter cabbage for this wonderful side dish. My son loves this with a little bit of lime juice sprinkled over it, and I like the edges, where the cheese is crisp and almost charred. When cutting the cabbage, cut on an angle so that there is a piece of the core on each wedge; it will hold the individual leaves together. For an impressive presentation, create a lattice with the strings of cheese.

Making your own gnocchi is not as difficult or as time-consuming as you may think. Don’t be afraid to try it! Sweet potatoes, a favorite Mexican ingredient, give the dough for these gnocchi a subtle sweetness and added nutrients (sweet potatoes are rich in fiber and vitamins A, B, and C). A simple butter-sage sauce is all you need to finish off this satisfying dish.

My dad, Antonio (a.k.a. Tony), inspired this dish. Like a painter’s body of work, his culinary life is marked by distinct periods. When he went through an osso buco period, I decided that if I was going to be making a lot of osso buco, it was going to be a Mexican osso buco, spiked with lime, chiles, cilantro, and garlic.

This shredded beef salad is perfect for a crowd or for a leftover-friendly family. It actually tastes better a day or two after you make it, when the flavors have had more time to combine. Although capers aren’t traditionally found in salpicón, I think they make perfect sense in this summer dish, adding just a touch of salt.

I love tandoori-style cooking, derived from India’s clay tandoor oven, because the chicken stays unbelievably moist and juicy, even after grilling. To give new life to the traditional yogurt-based marinade, I add flavors more indigenous to Mexico and pair this dish with a pineapple and serrano salsa.

Even though saffron is a Spanish spice (and the world’s most expensive one), it is often used in Mexican cuisine. I use it in this cream sauce for a richer, more flavorful alternative to the very popular mussels marinara. You can find bagged mussels, already scrubbed and debearded, at most markets. Be sure to discard any mussels with broken and open shells before you cook them, and any that don’t open after they’ve been cooked.

The idea for this dish comes from a chef at culinary school who liked to bread salmon with shredded russet potatoes. Sweet potatoes add a whole new dimension to this delicate crust—a perfect counterpoint for the smoky sauce.

This is one of my favorite salads—it is a perfect accompaniment to most traditional Mexican dishes. Serve it with Cochinita Pibil (page 126) or a carne asada. In Mexico the chicharrones (crackling pork rinds) are sold packaged like potato chips, or in larger pieces at street stands, and are eaten as a snack—on their own or sprinkled with lime juice and bottled hot sauce. Here they provide a nice crunch. Make sure to add them at the end because they will get soggy if they sit too long in the dressing. If you want to keep the salad light and healthy, leave the chicharrones out altogether.

Avocado gives this dairy-free soup its creamy texture. For a super-sophisticated presentation, serve it in chilled martini glasses and garnish each one with a drizzle of Mexican crema or crème fraîche. If you prefer a soup with a thinner consistency, add water until it’s exactly the way you like it.

These guys are spicy! If you’re afraid of the heat, you can use güero chiles, but jalapeños are exactly the right size for an appetizer. Oaxaca cheese, like mozzarella, is a mild-flavored white cheese that is excellent for melting. It’s popular for quesadillas in Mexico.

There are several varieties of avocado, each with a slightly different flavor. For this recipe, I use Hass, the most common type sold in supermarkets in the U.S. Choose ripe avocados (slightly firm but yielding to gentle pressure), and be sure to remove any brown spots before you start. If you don’t have time to prepare the garlic-oregano crostini, this creamy and luxurious spread is great on any savory cracker.

Taquitos, also known as flautas where I grew up, are corn tortillas that are stuffed, rolled, and fried. Shredded chicken or beef is the traditional filling, but here I use mushrooms and pair them with a tart tomatillo salsa for a great vegetarian dish.

This blend of two classic flavors, combined with a hint of chipotle, makes for a fast and easy party favorite. You can make these 3 days ahead and store them in an airtight container.

Deviled eggs might not be the first thing you think of when planning an appetizer menu. But when sprinkled with smoky ancho chile and bright cilantro, these retro bites are always the most talked-about dish at any gathering at my house. I use a spice grinder to pulverize the dried chile, but you can find already ground ancho chile in many supermarkets and in Latin markets; you’ll need 1 teaspoon.

Crab cakes get a festive kick when coated in crunchy panko bread crumbs mixed with cilantro and then topped with a simple guacamole. This is the guacamole that was made on a regular basis at my house when I was growing up. I don’t like fussy guacamoles that mask the fresh flavor of a perfectly ripe avocado. This crab cake mixture is eggless and is baked rather than fried, yielding a lighter dish with more crab flavor.

For many years a professional cook who specialized in seafood dishes prepared the meals at my parents’ house. Pedro Rocha would go to the fish market with my dad, bring home whatever had been caught that day, and turn it into an incredible meal for the family or for my father’s friends (who often came just for the food). Many of my seafood dishes are inspired by or derived from dishes Pedro taught me to make. This is one of them, and it’s always a favorite with my friends. As soon as we figure out how to get Pedro a passport, we’re opening a fish restaurant in the United States!

Fresh rosemary grows rampant in my backyard, which is only part of the reason these skewers top my list of favorite appetizers. Rosemary adds smoky flavor and a decorative flourish to a simple shrimp starter. Check the USDA plant hardiness zones to see which herbs thrive in your area. Fresh herbs make a huge difference in any dish, and you’ll save money by growing them at home instead of buying them. The Mediterranean rosemary pairs nicely with the smoky chipotle and fresh cilantro.