A casual cook-up, Mexican style, is a great way to spend an afternoon or evening with your friends. These recipes are easy and everyone can get their hands dirty.
Handmade flour tortillas
Handmade, hand-rolled tortillas are simple and fun to make. Don’t worry if yours are not perfectly round, my first attempts looked more like a map of Australia.
Makes about 20
450g plain flour
¼ tsp baking powder
60g lard, at room temperature
1 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
- Put flour, baking powder and lard in a large bowl, rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Make a well in the centre, add water and salt, mix until combined. Turn on to a lightly floured bench, knead until smooth. Wrap in plastic wrap and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Heat a large frying pan or barbecue hot plate to a medium heat.
- Use a rolling pin to roll a tablespoonful of dough into a 15cm-diameter circle. Cook on the dry, un-oiled surface, turning once, until just coloured (about 1 to 2 minutes on each side). Repeat with remaining dough.
- Cover the cooked tortillas with a tea towel and set aside to steam.
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Puerco pibil
This popular slow-roasted Mexican pork dish, originating from the Yucatan Peninsula, is truly one of the best ways to cook pork — and use for your tortillas. This particular method and recipe was made even more famous when it was featured in the Robert Rodriguez film Once Upon a Time in Mexico starring Johnny Depp. The unique rusty orange colour of the dish comes from the annatto, also called achiote, seeds harvested from a shrub; the flavour is uniquely earthy and peppery. Annatto seeds can be found at spice shops, good food stores and delicatessens.
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 Tbsp black peppercorns
½ tsp whole cloves
1 tsp whole allspice berries
4 Tbsp annatto seeds (also known as achiote)
2 habanero chillies, fresh or dried, seeds removed and finely chopped
½ cup pineapple juice
½ cup orange juice
Juice of 3 limes
Juice of 2 lemons
½ cup apple cider vinegar
8 garlic cloves, finely grated
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp tequila
2 Tbsp salt
2.5kg pork shoulder, diced into 6cm pieces
Banana leaves (optional)
- Grind the cumin seeds, whole peppercorns, whole cloves, whole allspice berries and annatto seeds in a mortar and pestle or with a coffee or spice grinder.
- Mix the fresh ground spices with the habanero chilli, pineapple and orange juice, citrus juices, cider vinegar, garlic, sugar, tequilla and salt.
- Add diced pork and massage marinade into meat. Cover and leave in the fridge for four hours or, for maximum flavour, overnight.
- Line a roasting tray with foil then lay a banana leaf on top. Place pork and all marinade on top then fold leaf and foil over and seal the edges completely to form a tightly closed envelope. Roast at 140C for 3½ hours.
- Allow to rest for half an hour before opening, then squeeze over extra fresh lime juice to finish before serving with plain steamed rice. Accompany with guacamole and Mexican slaw, recipes below.
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Guacamole
2 avocados, diced
2 Tbsp finely chopped shallot
1 Tbsp chopped coriander
1 tsp garlic, finely grated
1 Tbsp lime juice
- Mix all ingredients, season with salt and pepper.
- Cover and chill in the fridge for half an hour before serving.
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Mexican slaw
This recipe is a simple version of the traditional “cortido” — a Salvadoran cabbage salad which is actually fermented. If you have a little more time, then this slaw left in the fridge for a week or two turns into something quite magnificent, a true cortido.
½ head cabbage, core removed and finely sliced
1 small red onion, finely sliced
1 carrot, grated
½ fresh red chilli, seeds removed, finely diced
¼ cup white wine vinegar
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp lime juice
Mix all ingredients together.
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Tacos dorados
Crispy fried Mexican rolled tortillas also known as “tacquitos” can be made with either flour or corn tortillas. There are no set rules with the fillings — so you can put anything you like inside. Traditional toppings include guacamole (recipe above) and sour cream and they’re great dipped into tomato sherry salsa (recipe below).
Makes 10
2 cups cooked barbecued chilli chicken (recipe below)
2 cups cooked steamed rice
3 Tbsp chilli sauce or barbecue sauce
10 medium size flour tortillas
1.5L vegetable oil for deep frying
Toothpicks
- Finely dice the chicken and mix with rice. Add chilli sauce. Place two tablespoons of chicken mix in a line across the tortilla.
- Wrap tightly and use two toothpicks to stop the tortilla from unrolling. Do not fold over or seal the ends. Place oil in a deep sided saucepan and heat to 175C.
- Cook two or three tacquitos at a time. Use tongs to feel when they are crisp and golden, remove and drain on paper towels.
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Tomato sherry salsa
The delicious unique flavour of this salsa comes from the fast, hot cooking of the tomatoes and chilli.
4 vine-ripened tomatoes
1 fresh red chilli
1 Tbsp shallot finely chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp aged sherry vinegar, or red wine vinegar
Blister the outside of the tomatoes and chilli by cooking over an open gas flame, on the barbecue or under a very hot grill. Once blackened place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool. Peel and discard skins, dice tomatoes and chop chilli finely then mix with shallots, oil and sherry vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Barbecue chilli chicken
I use these skewers of tasty smoky caramelised chicken for the tacos dorados filling, but they are also fantastic straight off the skewer, with a bit of minty mango cucumber salsa (recipe below) on the side.
Serves 8
8 boneless chicken thighs, cut into 5cm strips
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp each ground cumin and ground coriander
2 cloves garlic, finely grated
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp lime juice
Place chicken, oil, spices, garlic, salt and lime juice in a bowl. Mix well then place in fridge to marinate for 4 hours, or preferably overnight. Soak bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes then thread on chicken. Heat barbecue to medium-high heat, cook skewers until caramelised and cooked through, 8-10 minutes.
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Mango cucumber salsa
1 Tbsp finely diced onion
1 cup fresh mango, diced
1 cup cucumber, diced
1 Tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
2 tsp lime juice
Sea salt flakes
Mix all ingredients together, adding salt to taste just before serving.
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Char-grilled prawns
Having some fresh seafood at your Mexican feast will provide a nice balance of lightness. These super-easy and quick to prepare prawn tails are the perfect solution. Sweet and juicy, they work superbly in a tortilla with guacamole (recipe above), a splash of chilli or barbecue sauce and some homemade sharp vinegary pickles.
24 black tiger prawn tails, peeled
1 tsp salt
1 tsp finely grated garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
Pat dry prawn tails on paper towels. Mix with salt, garlic and oil to marinate for 10 minutes before cooking. Heat grill or barbecue char-grill until hot. Cook prawns on a high heat in small batches for two minutes on each side until lightly caramelised. Serve with tortillas or on tacos with radish and celery pickle.
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Radish and celery pickles
125ml white wine vinegar
125ml water
1 tsp salt
1 fresh or dried bayleaf
4 white peppercorns
3 medium size radish, sliced
1 stick celery, sliced
- Bring vinegar, water, salt, bayleaf and peppercorns to the boil. Gently simmer for 5 minutes then turn off and allow to cool.
- Add radish and celery to pickling solution. Allow to marinate for 30 minutes before serving. Transfer to a small container, cover and store in the fridge.
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