Classic Cuban picadillo—ground meat flavored with sweet raisins, savory tomatoes, salty olives, and fragrant cinnamon—is the ultimate comfort food. Here, I’ve turned those same flavors into an easy-to-make warm dip that uses black beans in place of the meat (with a hint of soy sauce to add some umami). The result can be eaten warm or cold with tortilla chips.
Brother Pedro Alvarez, a monk in his mid-twenties from Mexico, introduced his favorite dish to the monks at Saint John’s. Brother Pedro lived in a Russian Orthodox monastery in Mexico City before relocating to central Minnesota. But this isn’t a recipe he learned at the monastery; he learned it from his grandmother.
As is the case with recipes that travel, this tinga reflects not only its Mexican origins but also its current home in Minnesota. Tinga is typically slow-cooked, shredded meat—anything from beef to pork to chicken—layered with the flavors of chiles, onions, garlic, and tomatoes. Brother Pedro replaced the chicken with wild turkey from central Minnesota. None of the monks hunt, but they do welcome the bounty donated to them from hunters in the area. The honey is the monastery’s own and gives the dish a sweetness that provides the perfect counterpoint to the chiles. Tinga is comforting in the winter and fun for a summertime barbecue, too. Brother Pedro’s advice is to “take it slowly, let the house fill with the smoky aroma. It will bring everyone to the table.”
To say that something is “a la Mexicana” means it is prepared “Mexican- style,” which typically means that the dish has tomato, serrano pepper, and onion, all core ingredients in Mexican cooking—also, fittingly, representing the red, green, and white colors of the Mexican flag.
When I moved out of my parents’ home at 23 years old, one thing I knew I would miss deeply were mornings with my dad. We both are morning people, so it would often just be us two in the kitchen. We sipped on coffee, and he prepared breakfast as we shared the latest chisme (gossip). One of those typical weekday breakfasts was his huevos a la Mexicana, always prepared with lots of intention and love.
I was never able to fill the void left by losing those mornings with my dad, but I did set out to fill the void of his huevos a la Mexicana. Tofu makes an exceptional substitute for scrambled eggs, and when prepared “a la Mexicana,” it transforms into the most flavorful scramble I’ve ever had. The addition of black salt (also known as kala namak) is optional but highly recommended to add an egglike flavor. Only the slightest bit is needed as it has a powerful taste and smell.
For my cookbook "Better Baking," I took inspiration from my American Chinese upbringing for sweets like almond cookies and coconut mochi, but I can eat only so many desserts and rely on this savory recipe almost daily. I learned it from an auntie in my church community on the far east side of Los Angeles, where many families made some version of this dish. It evolved from Taiwanese dan bing, where egg is cooked and rolled into a thin, chewy dough. Flour tortillas, readily available in Southern California during my childhood and now everywhere, are an approximation -- not necessarily a close one but an ideal one for busy cooks. This is the simplest version, the one that comes together under 5 minutes for a satisfying meal when there's no time to cook. The egg can be cooked with stir-fried scallions and the wrap stuffed with crispy wontons, shredded lettuce and more seasonings, such as hoisin, sesame seeds and sesame oil.
Kati rolls began, the story goes, on the streets of Calcutta (now known as Kolkata), where Kahaani takes place. Meat kebabs were wrapped in flatbread and sold as an easy, portable meal. Kati means “stick” and refers to the skewer on which the kebabs were cooked. Since then, kati rolls have evolved beyond kebabs to encompass hand-held wraps with any number of fillings - India’s version of the burrito.
This is a classic dump-and-cook crock pot recipe.
It’s taco Tuesday! Or any day! Who wouldn’t overuse exclamation points?! I loved taco night when I was a kid, when it meant yellow cheese, seasonings from a packet, and machine-molded tortilla shells—essentially, an insult to all of Mexico in one convenient box. It is, of course, better to make real tacos with sweet fresh flour tortillas.
A common sight in Mexico, chorizo sausage infuses potatoes with its salty, spicy flavor for a hearty taco filler.