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The Unorthodox Epicure — (Recipe): Sopa de Fideos (Vermicelli Soup)
Fideo is the Sam Spade of Mexican and Tex-Mex food — its background is a cloudy mystery. We know fideo as the pasta used in sopa de fideos, or vermicelli soup. But where did it come from? And how did...
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Food Snob Chronicles — (Recipe): Charro Beans
Beans. There’s nothing sexy about them. In fact, we recited a vulgar poem about them in elementary school. But, they are among the most widely (and longest) cultivated crops, and these days are...
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The Unorthodox Epicure — (Recipe): Pork Carnitas
Imagine a prepared meat that is so good — so succulent — that it’s difficult to avoid filling up on it before you add it to a dish. In it’s most popular authentic state, this meat really isn’t even...
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Food Snob Chronicles — Recipe: Fresh Chicken Chorizo
It’s been more than 30 years since I had my first taste of Mexican chorizo — tucked in a fresh flour tortilla with eggs, potatoes and cheese — and I’ve loved it ever since. Use it anywhere you’d use...
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The Unorthodox Epicure — Crispy Flautas w/ Crema Avocado
If you’re from California or are an oft-eater of Mexican food from your grocer’s freezer, you probably know these little rolled gems as taquitos. But in my Tex-Mex world they are called flautas, which...
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The Unorthodox Epicure — Tacos de Camarónes Frescos (Fresh Shrimp Tacos)
Fresh. Zesty. Light. Nope, these aren’t the tacos we grew up on. For one, there’s nothing guilty about this pleasure — no frying; no amber-colored grease dripping down your forearm; and no need to...
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The Unorthodox Epicure — Sweet Heat Shrimp en Brochette
It’s a Southern/Tex-Mex fused appetizer with a French name and — with only four ingredients — it’s quite a dandy. I’ve made Shrimp en Brochette (translation: shrimp ‘cooked on skewers’) with as many...
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Food Snob Chronicles — The Ultimate Tex-Mex Cheeseburger (El Gran Supremo)
In my best Don LaFontaine voice: In a time when the cheeseburger was set in stone … There was a burger that aspired to be more. Provocative … Inviting … Out of this world. Yes. Seriously. The El Gran...
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The Unorthodox Epicure — Esquites stuffed Zucchini
I still remember my first taste of zucchini. Sort of. We were probably seven or eight when a childhood friend’s mom presented us with warm muffins and challenged us to guess the main ingredient. But...
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The Unorthodox Epicure — Fresh Mexican Salsa
I still remember the first salsa (or hot sauce, as we call it around here) that I ever had. The brand was Albert’s. It is a semi-chunky garlicky concoction that works just as well over enchiladas and...
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