Recipes
Now you can enjoy the diverse flavors and authentic Mexican cooking of Rosa Mexicano in your own home. Impress your guests or simply indulge your love of Rosa Mexicano with the following recipes from our cookbook, Rosa’s New Mexican Table, that are also featured dishes on our homepage.
To purchase a copy of Rosa’s New Mexican Table, click here.
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Over the years at Rosa Mexicano, we have run through so many avocados for guacamole that if you placed them side by side they would stretch from New York to Tierra del Fuego and back—maybe twice! It is our signature dish—nine out of ten guests order it. One thing that makes the guacamole at Rosa Mexicano so special is that we were among the first, if not the first, restaurant on either side of the border to serve guacamole prepared tableside in a traditional molcajete.
We are frequently asked what makes our guacamole so special. For one, we take great care in preparing the chile paste that is the underpinning of the dish—that’s where the layered flavors come from. We begin by grinding some onions, chiles, and cilantro together in a molcajete. Then we gently toss in cubed avocado so that every piece is coated evenly.
Makes 4 servings
Chile Paste Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped white onion
- 1 firmly packed tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeño, or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt, or as needed
Additional Ingredients
- 3 medium ripe but firm Hass avocados (about 8 ounces each)
- 3 tablespoons diced tomato
- 2 firmly packed tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped white onion
- Salt if necessary
- Tortilla chips and/or fresh corn tortillas
Make the chile paste: Grind the onion, cilantro, jalapeño, and salt together in a molcajete until all the ingredients are very finely ground. Alternatively, use a fork to mash all the ingredients to a paste in a wide hardwood bowl.
Cut each avocado in half, working the knife blade around the pit. Twist the halves to separate them and flick out the pit with the tip of the knife. Fold a kitchen towel in quarters and hold it in the palm of your “non-knife” hand. Rest an avocado half cut side up in your palm and make 3 or 4 evenly spaced lengthwise cuts through the avocado flesh down to the skin, without cutting through it. Make 4 crosswise cuts in the same way. Scoop the diced avocado flesh into the molcajete. Repeat with the remaining avocado halves.
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Makes 1 drink
- 1 ½ ounces (3 tablespoons) silver tequila
- ¾ ounce (1 ½ tablespoons Cointreau or Triple Sec)
- ¾ ounce (1 ½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice)
- 1 tablespoon superfine sugar
- A lime wedge
Prepare a salt-rimmed glass if you like (see below). Use a 10-ounce glass if serving on the rocks; a 6-ounce glass if serving up.
Put 6 ice cubes in a tall cocktail shaker. Pour the remaining ingredients (except the lime wedge) into the shaker and shake vigorously. Pour (ice and all) into the larger glass or strain into the smaller glass. Garnish with the lime wedge.
Salting Glasses for Margaritas
Oversalting the rim of your glass causes the salt to dissolve into the drink, which can leave your cocktail tasting like Acapulco Bay on the rocks. To avoid this, follow these simple steps.
- Roll and press a lime on a hard surface to break down the membranes and yield more juice. Halve the lime crosswise.
- Spread an even layer of fine sea salt on a plate. Lightly rub the lime around the outside rim of the glass (just a gloss).
- Lightly press the rim of the glass into the salt. Lift, and tap off any excess.
- Allow the salt to air-dry before filling the glass. This is important you do not want too much salt coming off the glass with each sip. In upscale restaurants in Mexico, among the few places in the country where margaritas are served, one sees salt-rimmed glasses hanging upside down from racks behind the bar.
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Makes 4 sandwiches
List of Ingredients:
- 4 Ciabatta-style rolls
- Vegetable oil
- 4 cups shredded beef
- 3/4 cup restaurant-style refried beans, warm
- 4 cups shredded romaine lettuce
- 2/3 cup finely chopped white onion
- 3-4 pickled jalapeños, seeded and cut into strips
- Salt
- 1 Tbsp. Crema, crème fraiche, or thinned sour crea
- 1/4 cup Green Salsa or Rosa’ Pasilla de Oaxaca Tomatillo Salsa
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Split the rolls open, and reassemble the halves.
Brush or rub the outsides (top and bottom) very lightly with oil. Place on a baking sheet and bake until crisp, 6-8 minutes.
Meanwhile, pour enough vegetable oil into a large skillet to film the bottom (you may be able to skip the oil if your beef has some fat) and heat over medium heat.
Add the beef and toss and stir until sizzling, about 5 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat.
Spread the cut sides of the rolls with the refried beans.
Pile the beef onto the bottoms of the sandwiches and top with the lettuce, then the onion, jalapeños, and a pinch of salt.
Drizzle the crema and salsa(s) over the vegetables, put the tops on the sandwiches, and press down lightly but firmly.
Cut the sandwiches in half from corner to corner.
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Think as queso fundido as Mexican fondue- creamy, rich and delicious. Unlike fondue, you don’t dip anything in it. Instead, you scoop it onto tortillas. If you like, serve a little pico de gallo or diced fresh tomatoes on the side.
Ingredients:
- ½ cup cooked green salsa
- 2 tablespoons créma, crème fraiache, or thinned sour cream
- 2 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded, and cut into ½ inch-wide strips
- 6 fresh corn tortillas or store-bought 6-inch corn or flour tortillas
- 1 ½ cups diced queso-Chihuahua, Monterey Jack or Muenster cheese (about 7 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Stir together the salsa, créma, and all but a small handful of the pepper strips in a heavy round 8 by 3 inch-deep flameproof casserole or heavy 8-inch pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until lightly thickened, about 4 minutes.
While the sauce is simmering, warm the tortillas.
Add the cheese to the salsa mixture all at once and stir until melted, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir well until smooth. Scatter the remaining chile strips and the cilantro over the top and serve immediately, letting guests spoon some of the queso fundido onto the warm tortillas and eat them out of hand.
* Photo excerpted from ROSA'S NEW MEXICAN TABLE (Artisan Books).
Copyright 2007. Christopher Hirsheimer photographer.