Recipes and Ideas
From new and innovative creations to cherished old favourites, we're constantly sharing mouth-watering recipes that will inspire your inner chef. If you have any of your own recipes to share, join us on Instagram @CoolChileCo and become part of our vibrant community.
Recipes
Cornbread with masa harina and chilli
Cornbread is typically American and very nice served on the side of stew or warmed and topped with butter and maple syrup. Using stone ground cornmeal is the best as the corn kernels are milled at a cooler temperature helping to retain the corns natural sweetness and leaving the germ intact. We have been using the Marino Brand stone ground organic fine maize from Bakery Bits with great results. The masa harina adds another corn dimension which we find very pleasing.
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Stuffed Ancho Chillies by Karla Zazueta
Stuff it! Stuff em! Anchos are dried poblanos and although poblanos are more commonly stuffed the ancho makes a tasty, rich vehicle for picadillo, mincemeat Mexican style-y. To make veggie replace the minced meat with finely chopped mushrooms.
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Garbanzo - Chickpea salad with homemade vinaigrette
Delicious, nutritious and colourful salad. Great as a main dish, but same can be served as a side. Improvise and have any leftovers you may have lying around, extra veg, cheese, etc!
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Jalapeno Cheese Balls
Jalapeno Cheese Balls make a perfect side dish and also looks great on your snack/cheese platter. You can make it from any leftover cheese in your fridge when having unexpected guests in your house.
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Albóndigas a la Mexicana
The Spanish brought this Moorish influenced dish with them when they conquered Mexico. The meat is poached in the sauce instead of being fried, and it's usually served as a stew with a little rice and corn tortillas to mop up any leftover sauce. Usually meatballs are bound with egg and breadcrumbs, but in this recipe we use raw potato (which makes them soft and tender) and crushed corn chips for extra flavour. Another Mexican trick is to stuff each meatball with a piece of hardboiled egg, an ol...
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Hibiscus iced tea by Kristina Urbonaite
Sweet cranberry-like tasting iced tea, that is just too easy to make. In this recipe we are using baking soda to reduce the bitterness, as boiling water releases the tannins of tea and makes it bitter. Alternatively, you can brew tea overnight with cold water.
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Salsa de Tomatillo Tatemada - charred tomatillo salsa
Roasted and charred fresh tomatillos and jalapeños make for heavenly salsa flecked with black bits of skin, it is smoky and delicious. Our preferred method for roasting is a hot pan on the stove and complete charring can be accomplished by using a blow torch to get into all the nooks and crannies. Plus there is an amazing smell when flame makes the chile skin go snap, crackle and pop. Roasting concentrates the flavours and natural sugars in the vegetables as they lose water when cooking. To max...
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Green Pozole
This recipe uses the left overs from a duck, the fattiness replicating the traditional pork very nicely, however you can make this recipe with chicken or turkey leftovers too. In fact you don't need any meat at all, it is great with a good vegetable stock and enriched by toasted pumpkin seed paste. The garnishes are inspired by El Pozole de Moctezuma a famous pozoleria in Mexico City, where they add raw egg yolk, sardines and mezcal to your bowl. This recipe is made easier with a pressure co...
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Nacho's Special
A homage to Ignacio Anaya, who is said to have invented Nacho in the 1940s when hungry women came into the hotel he was working at out of kitchen hours. As there were no chefs in, he quickly put together some ingredients to make a snack: totopos topped with cheese and pickled jalapeños and threw it in the oven. The women loved it, asked for seconds calling it Nacho's Special, Nacho being a nickname for Ignacio. Our Nacho's recipe involves a little more, adding salsas, pink pickled onions, liqu...
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Tacos de Tuetano (Bone Marrow Tacos)
Roasted bone marrow, often described as “meat butter” works a treat spread over a warm corn tortilla with a sprinkle of salt, you can add salsa but there is something delicious about the simplicity of the unctuous marrow, corn and salt.
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Homemade tortillas
There's nothing like getting your hands into masa and making tortillas – it feels, smells and tastes great.
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Chiles en nogada
In Mexico they cook these delicious stuffed poblanos called 'chiles en nogada' to celebrate Mexican Independence day on September 15th. The seasonal ingredients used in this festive recipe represent the colours in the Mexican flag: dark green fresh poblanos, creamy white walnuts and red, jewel-like pomegranate seeds. If you can find fresh British walnuts this is a great recipe to use them in. Although the peeling is a little fiddly, it makes all the difference. ¡Viva México! Inspired by Rick Ba...
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Huevos Rancheros with black bean refry
A classic Mexican almuerzo (brunch) dish. Make the ranchero salsa in advance if doing from scratch.
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Tostadas, totopos & tortilla strips
Frying adds texture and flavour and is a great way to use of stale tortillas, waste not want not.
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Mexican Fideos
In Mexico lunch is the main meal and is usually served from 2–4pm in the afternoon. Small restaurants will provide 'comida corrida' which is a set menu of 3–4 courses. Normally you will be served in sequence: sopa aguada (wet soup), sopa seca (dry soup of rice or pasta), plato fuerte (main dish), postre (pudding). Mexican fideos is a favourite sopa seca, but it can also be served as a main meal with salad. Leftovers make mighty fine tacos!
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Salsa Borracha
For a killer Salsa borracha (drunken salsa) we have turned to Alex Stupak who has an Oaxacan inspired recipe, which uses the smoky flavours of pasilla de Oaxaca and mezcal,
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Ranchero Sauce – entomatadas with requeson
Entomatada means in a tomato sauce, like enchilada means in a chile sauce or enfrijolada in a bean sauce. These are light quesadillas filled with requeson which is herbed ricotta.
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Chamoy BBQ Sauce
Chamoy! Tart, sweet, salty and spicy, made into a smoky barbecue sauce with Chile Pasilla de Oaxaca, vinegar and garlic- perfect for ribs, chicken or fish.
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Hogget-Lamb Barbacoa
Lamb or Hogget shoulder is marinated in Ancho in Adobo over night and slow cooked with Avocado Leaves, until pull apart tender. You will need a roasting tray with a rack and foil to wrap. Serve as as a main course with roasted potatoes, seasonal green and salsa borracha. Also tasty as tacos with toasty corn tortillas, diced, onion, coriander, green chile and lime.
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Pescado a la Talla by Karla Zazueta
This super delicious fish recipe is from the state of Guerrero in the south of Mexico. Chilli adobo is rubbed on butterflied fish and grilled over charcoal for maximum flavour. Our recipe uses seabass and our Ancho in Adobo Marinade, which gives a wonderful deep flavour. The fish can be eaten like a taco with different toppings or as a main dish with some roasted baby potatoes and green salad. An amazing dish for special occasions!
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Mexican Birria
The word birria means something that is a mess or deformed, but it is an affectionate name for this beloved meaty rustic brothy stew. It is usually made from lamb or goat but can also be made from beef or a combination of all three. It is marinated in a red chile paste and then cooked in a pit barbeque with steaming liquid below. The juices from the meat fall into this and are used to make a wonderful broth that is served with the meat in a bowl. It is then garnished with a scattering of chopp...
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Roasted Tomato and Jalapeno Salsa
An easy, but very tasty roasted salsa for tacos, meats and grilled sandwiches (right bowl pictured in photo).
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Chocoflan with burnt sugar caramel
Chocoflan, also called 'el pastel imposible', has two layers - one a moist chocolate cake, the other a creamy flan - so it could also be called 2 in 1 cake as well! What makes it impossible is the fact the the cake and the flan swop places in the bundt tin when cooking. The cake rising to the top and the flan sinking to the bottom. It's a great dessert for a gathering and is appealing to all ages. The burnt sugar caramel is not essential but the bitter sweet taste compliments the sweet flan, an...
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Frijoles de Charro (Cowboy Beans)
‘Frijoles de charros’ are typical in north México where pinto beans are grown. We have translated this bean dish into 'cowboy beans' which doesn't really do justice to the horsemen of northern Mexico called charros, who wear traditional dress and a large hat. Serve this dish as a side to meat or fish. It is also delicious in a bowl with a poached egg on top, for a brunch dish, served with tortillas or toast on the side. Any leftovers can be made into refry.
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