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Simply Mexican: [A Cookbook]
From Chile-Glazed Pork Chops to Dos Leches Flan, Lourdes Castro offers authentic, no-fuss Mexican meals with clean, vibrant flavors that are the essence of great Mexican food.
In Simply Mexican , Castro presents authentic recipes that don’t require a fortnight to prepare or extended shopping forays to find rare ingredients. Castro honed her knowledge of traditional south-of-the-border dishes by teaching the fundamentals to adults and children at her Miami cooking school, and now she’s introducing real Mexican fare that works for busy cooks every night of the week.
Simply Mexican features easy-to-prepare, fun-to-eat favorites with big flavors, such as Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce and Crab Tostadas. Once you have mastered the basics, Castro will guide you through more advanced Mexican mainstays such as adobo and mole, and show you how to make the most effortless savory and sweet tamales around. With cooking notes that highlight useful equipment, new ingredients, shortcut techniques, and instructions for advance preparation, Simply Mexican demystifies authentic Mexican meals so you can make them at home in a snap.
“With this book Lourdes Castro has added a spark of creativity and simplicity to Mexican food that up until now had not yet been realized. It gives me a huge sense of pride and honor to know that this book exists, as it will help a large audience re-create these gems in a simple and straightforward way.”
—Aarón Sánchez, chef/owner of Paladar and chef/partner of Centrico, author of La Comida del Barrio , and former cohost of Food Network’s Melting Pot
“Here, at last, are real Mexican recipes that are authentic, creative, and fun to prepare. Lourdes Castro creates an atmosphere that makes learning about enchiladas, tacos, and salsas exciting and interesting, and her precise methodology with Mexican cookery is refreshing and very entertaining. Highly recommended.”
—Jonathan Waxman, chef/owner of Barbuto and West County Grill and author of A Great American Cook
In Simply Mexican , Castro presents authentic recipes that don’t require a fortnight to prepare or extended shopping forays to find rare ingredients. Castro honed her knowledge of traditional south-of-the-border dishes by teaching the fundamentals to adults and children at her Miami cooking school, and now she’s introducing real Mexican fare that works for busy cooks every night of the week.
Simply Mexican features easy-to-prepare, fun-to-eat favorites with big flavors, such as Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce and Crab Tostadas. Once you have mastered the basics, Castro will guide you through more advanced Mexican mainstays such as adobo and mole, and show you how to make the most effortless savory and sweet tamales around. With cooking notes that highlight useful equipment, new ingredients, shortcut techniques, and instructions for advance preparation, Simply Mexican demystifies authentic Mexican meals so you can make them at home in a snap.
“With this book Lourdes Castro has added a spark of creativity and simplicity to Mexican food that up until now had not yet been realized. It gives me a huge sense of pride and honor to know that this book exists, as it will help a large audience re-create these gems in a simple and straightforward way.”
—Aarón Sánchez, chef/owner of Paladar and chef/partner of Centrico, author of La Comida del Barrio , and former cohost of Food Network’s Melting Pot
“Here, at last, are real Mexican recipes that are authentic, creative, and fun to prepare. Lourdes Castro creates an atmosphere that makes learning about enchiladas, tacos, and salsas exciting and interesting, and her precise methodology with Mexican cookery is refreshing and very entertaining. Highly recommended.”
—Jonathan Waxman, chef/owner of Barbuto and West County Grill and author of A Great American Cook
128 pages, Hardcover
First published March 3, 2009
30 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
Lourdes Castro
7 books3 followersProfessor and chef Lourdes Castro is passionate about teaching and cooking and is as comfortable in the classroom as she is in the kitchen. She was her own first student, teaching herself how to cook while in graduate school. Lourdes’s initial experiments in the kitchen lead to her profound understanding of food and flavor. Her self-taught background helps her relate to her students, contributing to her dynamic and accessible teaching style.
Lourdes entered the culinary world as a college student at New York University, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Food in 1993. She then attended Columbia University, earning a Master’s in Nutritional Sciences.
Shortly after graduation, Lourdes served as an associate at the James Beard Foundation. But it was Lourdes’s love of teaching that inspired her to return to her alma mater, NYU, where she is a Professor of Food Science in the Food Studies department.
A natural at explaining culinary concepts, Lourdes founded the Ars Magirica Cooking School in Miami, Florida in 2001. She created an acclaimed private catering service for high-profile clients seeking nutritious and flavorful meals. In 2006, she sold the cooking school to pursue other opportunities.
In 2008, Lourdes was approached by the Biltmore Hotel to launch their first on-premise recreational cooking school. As director Lourdes oversees classes, workshops and team-building events for adults and children.
Inspired to teach an even broader audience, Lourdes wrote two cookbooks Simply Mexican (2009) and Eat, Drink, Think in Spanish (2009). Her straightforward and user-friendly style contributed to Food & Wine magazine’s selection of Simply Mexican as one of the 25 best cookbooks of 2009. Lourdes third cookbook, Latin Grilling, was published April 2011.
Born in Miami to Cuban parents, Lourdes is fluent in both English and Spanish. She has translated for acclaimed chefs such as Juan Mari Arzak, Pedro Subijana, Dani Garcia, Paco Torreblanca, Harold McGee, and Tetsuya Wakuda. She also translated events hosted by The James Beard Foundation, Madrid Fusion Culinary Conference, StarChefs.com, and the South Beach Food & Wine Festival. Bacardi USA made her the face of a video series in which she created and explained rum and cocktails in English and Spanish.
Lourdes’ talent and success are profiled in noteworthy publications such as Food & Wine magazine, Ocean Drive, Miami Luxury Living, The Miami Herald, Ocean Drive en Español, and El Nuevo Herald. Her recipes appeared in Men’s Health, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, South Hampton Press, Pittsburgh Tribune, and The Seattle Times among others.
Lourdes is an active member of Les Dames d’Escoffier and was selected by the organization to contribute a recipe to their cookbook, Cooking with Les Dames d’Escoffier (2009). She currently lives in New York City.
from: http://www.lourdes-castro.com/
Lourdes entered the culinary world as a college student at New York University, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Food in 1993. She then attended Columbia University, earning a Master’s in Nutritional Sciences.
Shortly after graduation, Lourdes served as an associate at the James Beard Foundation. But it was Lourdes’s love of teaching that inspired her to return to her alma mater, NYU, where she is a Professor of Food Science in the Food Studies department.
A natural at explaining culinary concepts, Lourdes founded the Ars Magirica Cooking School in Miami, Florida in 2001. She created an acclaimed private catering service for high-profile clients seeking nutritious and flavorful meals. In 2006, she sold the cooking school to pursue other opportunities.
In 2008, Lourdes was approached by the Biltmore Hotel to launch their first on-premise recreational cooking school. As director Lourdes oversees classes, workshops and team-building events for adults and children.
Inspired to teach an even broader audience, Lourdes wrote two cookbooks Simply Mexican (2009) and Eat, Drink, Think in Spanish (2009). Her straightforward and user-friendly style contributed to Food & Wine magazine’s selection of Simply Mexican as one of the 25 best cookbooks of 2009. Lourdes third cookbook, Latin Grilling, was published April 2011.
Born in Miami to Cuban parents, Lourdes is fluent in both English and Spanish. She has translated for acclaimed chefs such as Juan Mari Arzak, Pedro Subijana, Dani Garcia, Paco Torreblanca, Harold McGee, and Tetsuya Wakuda. She also translated events hosted by The James Beard Foundation, Madrid Fusion Culinary Conference, StarChefs.com, and the South Beach Food & Wine Festival. Bacardi USA made her the face of a video series in which she created and explained rum and cocktails in English and Spanish.
Lourdes’ talent and success are profiled in noteworthy publications such as Food & Wine magazine, Ocean Drive, Miami Luxury Living, The Miami Herald, Ocean Drive en Español, and El Nuevo Herald. Her recipes appeared in Men’s Health, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, South Hampton Press, Pittsburgh Tribune, and The Seattle Times among others.
Lourdes is an active member of Les Dames d’Escoffier and was selected by the organization to contribute a recipe to their cookbook, Cooking with Les Dames d’Escoffier (2009). She currently lives in New York City.
from: http://www.lourdes-castro.com/
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 24, 2022
Wonderful photos and I liked the "cooking notes". However, many of these ingredients are not available in my area of Ontario, Canada.
September 26, 2009
A very good, modern cookbook but definitely not the thing to get if you're looking for classics. This is a modern adapatation, what you might find at like a really good spa in Southern California. Her directions are terrific though and she has excellent clear photos of, for example, how to make tamales (as well as interesting variations, such as her chocolate and coconut dessert tamale).
January 25, 2014
I really like this cookbook. Last night I made the Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce & the Fried Caramelized Bananas with Ice Cream and they were both delicious! My only gripe is that sometimes the directions seem kind of vague, and I'm one of those people who needs things to be super specific. But I do really like all the notes that she gives!
February 15, 2012
So far, it seems like an okay book. Not the traditional foods I was hoping for, but it has it's gems; Tortilla Soup, Mexican Red Rice, Guacamole, and Tomato Salsa (which I look forward to making with my homegrown tomatoes).
A good book, but not stellar.
A good book, but not stellar.
June 3, 2012
The book has some really nice pictures but there just are not enough recipes. For example, there are only 3 or 4 dessert recipes. I think that there needs to be more variety, more to choose from. The seared tuna is good, the flan (despite what she says) is too hard to make.
February 11, 2020
another fun book I shot. great easy recipes.
September 24, 2011
Exactly as its titled. Really good Mexican broken down simply. Some of the recipes are labor intensive, but all are worth it. My favorites are the Chicken Enchiladas and Fundido. Good stuff.
February 24, 2010
Some really easy and tasty recipes in here, if not exactly authentic.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews