Cooking Through Mi Cocina by Rick Martinez
This my first post on reddit, ever!
I’m doing a cook-through of Mi Cocina by Rick Martinez,I started in January 2025-ish and already have some favorites. My original goal was to finish in 2025, but I now realize that this was quite the undertaking and I’ll be lucky to finish in 2026! I put stickers in my cookbooks for items that I enjoy and would make again.
Here are the five recipes that I made in March/April:
- Frijoles de Olla. 4/5 stars. Was the juice worth the squeeze? Yes. Such a good basic bean recipe. I make a big batch of these beans in the instant pot and then freeze to use as I need them.
- Arroz Verde. 4/5 stars. Was the juice worth the squeeze? Yes. Really, really delicious rice. Very quick and easy to throw together. I added extra cilantro and a few big handfuls of spinach to the vegetable broth for more greens.
- Pollo al Pastor. 5/5 stars. Was the juice worth the squeeze? Yes. I made this Pollo al Pastor using a whole chicken and it was extremely impressive coming out of the oven (dinner party worthy). I added some sliced Yukon Gold potatoes to my onion and pineapple mixture and it really helped to bulk up the tacos while taking advantage of the delicious marinade. I’m convinced that the oven temperature is a typo though - I have not been able to get this chicken to a safe temperature at 350 solely, ever. I followed Ina Garten’s guide to roast chicken and cooked at 425 with much better results.
- Guacamole. 1/5 stars. Was the juice worth the squeeze? Meh. For just how good the salsas tend to be in this book, this guacamole was … not great. I much prefer the guacamole method of great salsa + avocados + fresh garlic.
- Birria estilo Aguascalientes. 2/5 stars. Was the juice worth the squeeze? No. I’m able to find really excellent birria locally, so I was excited to find a recipe and learn how to do it myself. This birria was only okay and it was a lot of work. I wasn’t able to get a goat or lamb shoulder, so I used a bone-in piece of beef, and the birria mixture contains blended nuts which really threw off the texture of the consomme.
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My Top Ten So Far (In no particular order):
- Pollo al Pastor
- Morisqueta Michoacana
- Salsa de Chile de Arbol
- Torta de Lechon
- Burritos de Chilorio
- Albondigas en Chipotle
- Pescado a la Talla
- Sopa de Lima
- Cafe de Olla
- Champurrado
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Exemptions:
(Recipes I won’t be making due to allergies, availability, ethics, or aversions. I try to limit this to no more than ten in a book.)
- Brochetas de Pulpo y Camarones (may make with just the camarones…)
- Ceviche de Camaron y Leche de Coco
- Ceviche de Pulpo y Habanero
- Arroz a la Tumbada
- Aguachile
- Ceviche de Almejas Chocolatas
- Ostiones a la Parrilla con Chicharrón