Blog Tour Review: Daily Tortilla by Ricardo James

I really loved this cookbook! Of course it helps that I love Mexican food. :) Check out my review below...

Daily Tortilla

by Ricardo James

Cookbook
Paperback, 192 Pages
June 10th 2014 by Cedar Fort

Summary

Sopes, Tamales, Pozole, Huevos Rancheros, you’ve never had Mexican food like this! Daily Tortilla starts with the basics of tortillas, beans, rice, and salsas, and then builds to an incredibly delicious repertoire of dishes found in any family dining room in Mexico. Say “adios” to Americanized Mexican food this is authentic, south-of-the-border flavor at its finest!

   

My Review

Mexican food is one of my favorites, not only to eat, but also to cook. Daily Tortilla sounded and looked fabulous from beginning to end. You're not going to find your industrialized, processed Mexican foods here. These recipes felt and tasted deliciously homemade, rich, and flavorful. There were a few things I might tweak here and there, but even with that I absolutely loved this book, cooking from it, and experiencing a more authentic Mexican dining experience!

You'll find sections broken into the basics, platforms, main dishes, first courses, drinks, and desserts. The layout was beautiful, easy to follow, and included a picture for every recipe (a huge deal for me). One of the things I loved the most about Daily Tortilla was that everything was from scratch. Of course you could cheat here and there by purchasing a pre-made sauce, meat filling, or platform (tortillas and such), but if you wanted to make your own, the recipes are all here. Sauces, salsas, tortillas, gorditas (don't think our American version, but more like a corn pancake), beans, rice, sopas, Mexican Cream (who knew it was just sour cream and half-and-half?), meat fillings... Then there were recipes to put meals together for just about any type of meal. Soups, tamales, enchiladas... The salsas and sauces were full of flavor because they were homemade and hadn't been processed. In fact, some of them (such as the Mole Sauce) were a lot stronger than what I was used to, but also very good.

There were several recipes that we tried. I chose recipes that were different than what I normally make and some that were basic staples of Mexican food. Here are some of them:

Ceviche de Cameron or Mexican Shrimp Cocktail. This recipe made a ton! It says it serves ten, but I would say that it could serve twice that, especially if it's actually for an appetizer. We ate it for dinner. I especially loved the jicama in it.

Before and after shots of the Frijoles de Olla or Pot Beans. These were simple, very quick (about 45 minutes in the pressure cooker), and delicious. Definitely will turn into a staple for us.

Top picture is the Red Mole Sauce by itself and the bottom is it used in the Red Mole Chicken Enchiladas. It was definitely very flavorful and strong, but perfect with the cheese and cream on top. Next time I'll make it less sweet by about half. I used the Roasted Chicken recipe for the filling, but cooked it in the crock pot instead of in the oven. It and the Mole both made a ton and I have a whole pan of these enchiladas for another dinner in the freezer, besides our meal and another we shared with family, plus leftovers.

Arroz a la Mexicana or Mexican Rice. Spicy and flavorful. For kids or guests, may need to de-vein and de-seed the chile or use less to lesson the spiciness, but my husband and I loved it! We'll definitely be making this again.

These little corn cakes are the Sopes or Corn and Potato Boats. We topped these ones with refried beans, lettuce, sour cream, cheese, and tomatoes. They were really good. I did decide that it will take a little practice to actual make these indented a little. This is also pretty much the same recipe as the Gorditas, which we also made and which I need more practice with. I don't know how they sliced them. The Gorditas we topped with the Chicken Hash, which uses a whole can of chipotles and I thought would be really hot, but was just nice and spicy and super flavorful. I could eat that meat all day! The Hash also made plenty, so there's still some in my freezer to use for another meal.

One of my other favorites was the Pazole or Pork and Hominy Stew (wish I had a picture). This was so fabulous and definitely one we'll make a tradition. We also made the Hot Chocolate, which was extremely rich and I would like to make the Fried Bananas soon. We additionally made the Fried Fish Tacos. The fish was really good. I almost didn't want to fry it and next time I probably will fry the tortillas a little, but then bake them instead of re-frying with the filling. Still very good and the kids ate these right up.

I was actually sad that I couldn't continue making each and every recipe in the book because I had other cookbooks to review, but I definitely plan on using the Daily Tortilla on a regular and on-going basis. It would be worth purchasing the spiral-bound version as well. I'm hoping there will be a second cookbook, maybe including chili relleno, since that is my husband's favorite, and a few other recipes. Although, this cookbook pretty much has it all.

If you love cooking and/or eating Mexican food then I would highly recommend grabbing a copy of the Daily Tortilla. I can't wait to use it again!

Source: I would like to thank the publisher, Cedar Fort, for my complimentary copy, which did not affect my review in any way.

About the Author

Ricardo M. James grew up in a rural town in Wyoming. He studied Spanish Pedagogy at Brigham Young University where he also taught Spanish and directed study abroad programs to Mexico. He currently owns a consulting firm that provides technology solutions to K-12 schools across the United States and South America. He lives in Springville, Utah with his wife and five kids. 

To found out a little bit more about Ricardo go here. Join him at Thanksgiving Point to create authentic, simple and fun Mexican food that you can share with your family. To register for a class click here.