The Tex-Mex Table: 60 Knockout Recipes from the Lone Star State
Cookbook By: Mandi Hickman
“Tex-Mex cuisine is vibrant, flavorful and fresh. It’s comfort food that’s made with love. It’s simple but it makes people happy. You truly cannot be in a bad mood when you are presented with a margarita on the rocks, a taco platter and guacamole. It’s impossible!”, Mandi Hickman author of The Tex-Mex Table: 60 Knockout Recipes from the Lone Star State.
Mexican and tex-mex are two very popular cookbook topics, and it can be tough to figure out which ones to try. When I found The Tex-Mex Table: 60 Knockout Recipes from the Lone Star State I was drawn to it as the recipes seemed different from the typical tex-mex cookbooks. Picking just two recipes to cook was tough! Read on to find out what dishes I made and how they turned out.
Sheet-Pan Chicken Fajitas
I love making chicken fajitas at home and make them at least twice a month. When I saw this recipe I decided to give it a go. The Sheet-Pan Chicken Fajitas can be served with Jalapeno Sauce – I skipped the sauce as it seemed like it would be to spicy for me and since it had sour cream in it I knew other people in my house wouldn’t touch it as they hate sour cream.
A lot of the ingredients I had in my pantry or freezer. I only had to pick up the adobe seasoning, avocado oil, and produce. I love it when a meal is super simple to put together like this one. It takes about 15 minutes to cut everything up and get it on the sheet pan – then it cooks for around 25 minutes. One of my favorite things about sheet pan meals is that you can take the cooking time to wash any prep dishes which means a lot less to clean up after dinner.
I expected the chicken fajitas to be spicy, but surprisingly, they were the perfect mild heat, which makes them ideal for anyone, even kids. The fajitas had the perfect flavor to them, and I enjoyed them so much that I ate a lot. I’m not surprised that we didn’t have any leftovers as they were so good. Next time I make fajitas I will definitely use this recipe. This seasoning mix is much better than the store-bought fajita seasoning and now that I have all the spices in the pantry it takes no time at all to mix up the seasoning.
Creamy Queso
What do you order for the table when you go out? Me, queso, it’s always queso…it’s one of my favorite things to eat. I rarely make queso at home but decided to give this one a try.
The ingredients for the creamy queso were easy to locate except the American cheese, in our local grocery store they don’t sell it in a block. So, I went to the deli counter and asked them to cut me a 1 lb. block of it – they looked at me strangely but then had no problem doing it. I learned to do this when I was making fondue and couldn’t get the cheese I needed in a block – it’s a good trick to keep in mind for hard-to-find cheeses.
Recipe directions were simple and straight forward. I did notice that it took an extra couple of minutes at the end for my queso to be smooth. Just remember to keep stirring it until it is creamy, it may seem like it’s not going to come together but all of a sudden it will go from lumpy to smooth.
The creamy queso was so delicious and this recipe made so much queso. We had three people eating but it seemed like enough for 10! The picture above is less than half of the queso! I put the rest of it in the fridge to have another day. The creamy queso heated up nicely a few days later on the stovetop. Just warm it up for a few minutes in a saucepan – you can add a little milk if you want to thin it out if needed. I will definitely be making this recipe again and again!
The Tex-Mex Table: 60 Knockout Recipes from the Lone Star State is a great cookbook that reminds me of the food I ate when I lived in Dallas for a short time after college. I loved all of the recipes I tried so far and have so many more on my list to try including: Turkey Taco Skillet, Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup, Sheet-Pan Shrimp & Cheesy Ranch Potatoes, Pickleback Slaw, and Margarita Key Lime Pie. This is the perfect addition to any home cooks’ cookbook collection. The Tex-Mex Table: 60 Knockout Recipes from the Lone Star State recipes are so easy to follow – even beginner cooks will have success with them.
Have you tried The Tex-Mex Table: 60 Knockout Recipes from the Lone Star State yet? If so let me know below what your favorite recipes are so far.
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