by: Mely Martinez

“In The Mexican Home Kitchen, you will find homestyle meals that are cooked in everyday life in Mexico, dishes that people are making today in their kitchens for their families,” Mely Martinez.

I love Mexican food. My family used to go out for Mexican food once a week when I was growing up. I remember having so many meals full of conversation and laughter over a plate of enchiladas and a bowl of salsa. The Mexican Home Kitchen is a well written cookbook with traditional recipes that we may not always think of here in the U.S. My hope is that you will enjoy these as much as I do.

Enchiladas Verdes (Green Enchiladas)

I love a good enchilada and always prefer a green or cheese sauce on them. This recipe seemed a little odd to me that the cheese it called for was swiss cheese, but it worked great. I did use a jalapeno (without the seeds) instead of the serrano peppers. Next time I will use the seeds from the jalapeno too.

I couldn’t locate medium tomatillos so I got the small ones and just used a few more. The recipe instructions were easy to follow and I love that it has to cook in the oven as this gives me time to clean most of the kitchen so after dinner there are very few dishes to do.

I did forget to make a side and next time will make some Spanish rice to go with the enchiladas. They tasted really good and were very filling. I will be making these enchiladas again.

Guacamole

I love a good guacamole. Like most guacamole recipes this one was quick and easy to make. The serrano pepper was new to me as most of the guacamole recipes I have made call for a jalapeno. It was flavorful and we ate it all! A great guacamole recipe to make for a crowd or for yourself.

I did try a third recipe in this cookbook, Empanadas de Queso, however, no matter what I tried I could not get the dough to come together. The masa harina flour I used was yellow corn and I believe that was the problem – it needed to be white masa harina. I am going to have to do some searching to see if I can find the white masa harina and try the recipe again.

Overall I would recommend for people to get The Mexican Home Kitchen. It has so many great recipes to bring Mexico to your own kitchen through soups, main dishes, salsa, sides, desserts and even drinks!