Cookbooks Just In... from Roy Choi, Julia Child and more!

Cookboks by Roy Choi, Julia Child and more

I just added some new cookbooks to add to my library. It was a little gift to myself for Christmas. Cookbooks are great gifts for any occasion. They are also a great gift for yourself - a way to learn new food recipes from you favorite chef, learn about new food ingredients, different cooking methods and open your palette up to a whole new food culture.

The books I ordered were a mix from new chefs, classic chefs, world cuisine and making homemade pantry recipes. I'll be preparing recipes from these cookbooks soon so make sure to check back and see what recipes I cook up in the kitchen.

Check out these new cookbooks I just ordered:

L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food by Roy Choi
Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1, 40th Anniversary by Julia Child
The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making by Alana Cherlina
Tacos, Tortas, and Tamales: Flavors from the Griddles, Pots, and Streetside Kitchens of Mexico by Roberto Santibanez

Bangin' Beef Birria in Mexico City

(Xhico in Mexico)

Beef Birria Tacos in Mexico City

Rafael prepping Beef Birria for Tacos

I can't complain about my apartment in Mexico City. It's everything an artist could want - spacious, beautiful and full of natural light. Though, I think the best thing is waking up to the smell of quesadillas by Doña Chelo in the morning and coming home in the evening to the air filled with the delicious smell of beef birria. Birria is a traditional Mexican cuisine that hails from Jalisco, Mexico. It's usually prepared with goat or sheep that is marinated with dried chiles and spices.

Right outside my door, I have a wonderful street food stand where Rafael prepares his own version of "Birria de Res" or Beef Birria. It is braised in a seasoned broth for several hours until it is tender and juicy. The texture reminds me of my grandma's pot roast, but the flavor is definitely more robust and slightly spicy.

Beef Birria braising in a giant kettle, the scent wafts thru my apartment

Beef Birria Consomé

Beef Birria Tacos with Salsa

For twelve years, on this very corner, Rafael has stewed his birria. When it's ready he takes it out of the broth and chops it into fine pieces for tacos. The small corn tortillas are dipped in the broth, heated on the comal and served with cilantro and onion. He then served a small bowl of consomé, which is absolutely fantastic. A few squeezes of fresh lime juice over the taco and into the broth adds a brightness which compliments the flavors wonderfully.

Beef consomé, perfect for a rainy day

If you want, ask for salsa at the bottom of your consomé bowl and add some marinated onions and habanero for extra heat. Now get to dipping! Dip your taco into the broth for a taco experience that you won't forget. You can also order a stew with meat in broth.

Visit Rafael at his Beef Birria Puesto on the corner of Chilpancingo and Aguascalientes just a few blocks from Parque Mexico in the Condesa neighborhood. I hope you don't have the same problem I have of not being able to stop eating these delicious Birria Tacos.

Cecina, Delicious Marinated Beef and Pork in Mexico

(Xhico in Mexico)

Taco of Cecina (Pork, Enchilada Style)

I haven't seen it on the menus much in Mexico City, but cecina is definitely food of choice a little over an hour outside of the city in a pueblo called "Chalco". I went on an adventure with my friend, Antonio. His family lives in Chalco and I was invited over for lunch. An invitation that I could not resist. Though it was a bit of a trek it was worth every bite.

Inside the church courtyard across from the mercado.

We started out the morning for "desayuno" (breakfast) at the Mercado Municipal in Chalco. Like many of the markets in Mexico City, there are puestos (stalls) selling fruits, vegetables, cheeses, meat and poultry. Of course there are also many places to eat inside and around. The main difference was that there were many puestos dedicated to preparing "cecina" for the drones of people packed inside the market. Beef and pork, pounded flat and piled high into a wall of meat separating the patrons from the cooks. As the people line up and are seated into long-narrow tables, the meat is put over a hot fire and cooked to perfection.

Stacks of beef cecina waiting to be grilled

Cecina being cooked up at the mercado in Chalco, Mexico

The cecina is lean cuts of beef and pork that has been cut and pounded into thin slices, marinated and served hot off the fire. We ordered the pork "enchilada-style" which means that it has also been marinated in chilis which gives it a reddish hue.

Cecina meat - Beef (left), Pork Enchilada Style (right)

Fresh made blue corn tortillas are the foundation of taco construction

Tacos of Cecina (beef)

We decided on the puesto called "Becerro de Oro", got a seat and ordered. Antonio ran to go get some cheese at a nearby stand. He insisted that the double-cream cheese was delicious when making tacos with cecina. I was so hungry I could hardly wait as I got wafts of grilled meat arousing my olfactory receptors. Then it came. The beef and pork steaming hot and simply served on a banana leaf. Blue corn tortillas were served along the side with cream and salsas. Everything was complete to let the taco making process begin. I put a slice of meat, salsa, cream and the double-cream cheese atop a tortilla and began to eat my first cecina taco. It was slightly salty, spicy and creamy - everything delicious should be. Even though after two tacos, I was full. I couldn't stop snacking on the meat.

Chow with Xhico: Taco Tasting

I'll be doing a Taco Tasting in LA this weekend. I'll be serving up beer-braised beef, achiote orange chicken and veggie tacos. There will be homemade salsas, fennel slaw and aguas frescas. If you want beer, wine or whatever, you have to bring your own booze. It's first come, first serve. Eat what you want, pay what you want.

SUNDAY, MAY 4, 2014

5-7PM

GET FULL DETAILS HERE

Silverlake location will be posted 3 hours before the event.

Ricky's Fish Tacos - LA's Best Fish Tacos!

After just coming back from Mexico City, I couldn't just have an al pastor or asada taco anywhere because I knew I would be disappointed. So I had to go with a California classic, a fish taco. Not any fish taco, but Ricky's Fish Taco. Ricky's Fish Tacos are the best I have had in Los Angeles. They are always super crispy without being greasy. They come topped with cabbage, tomato onion, and just enough jalapeño for a little kick. You can then top you taco with their white cream sauce or salsas. They also have shrimp tacos. The only thing missing for me is lime wedges (and I've been known to take my own). They also have a choice of sodas and aguas frescas - usually horchata, jamaica and cucumber-spinach-mint, which is refreshing and a great compliment to the fish tacos. It's always my choice.

Ricky's Fish Tacos, Los Angeles

Ricky's Fish Tacos is kind of hard to find. There is not really any signage. You will see a food truck and yellow striped awning in the parking lot of some sort of abandoned beauty salon, where someone may or may not currently reside. It's on Virgil just below Sunset Blvd across from the Vons where East Hollywood, Los Feliz and Silver Lake collide.

Ricky's Fish Tacos

Neighborhood: East Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silver Lake

1400 N Virgil Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 906-7290

The Inventors of Al Pastor: El Tizoncito

Al Pastor roasting on the spit at El Tizoncito, Mexico City

Upon my arrival in Mexico City, there was much confusion finding my amiga, Eme, at the airport. Fortunately there were some incredible sculptures by Jorge Marín to distract me, as well as a friendly, handsome security guard who I gave some of my art stickers.

Sculpture by Jorge Marín, Mexico City, DF, Mexico

By the time I found Eme at another terminal, I was already starving. We grabbed a cab and headed toward our digs in the Condesa neighborhood. We were fortunate enough to have friends staying at a mansion so we were able to live large there for a few days while attending the Material Art Fair. Which by the way was amazing. You'll read more about that later. We have tacos to talk about.

We dropped our bags on the first floor of the mansion and headed down the street for tacos. Conveniently, there is an El Tizoncito, just blocks away. Tizoncito claims to be the inventor of Tacos al Pastor. We arrived to the marinated slices of pork loin stacked in the shape of a spinning top. The name comes from the "style of the shepherd" and is cooked very similarly to shawarma and gyros. The meat slowly spins and roasts and then thinly sliced onto tacos. At the top of the meat is a piece of pineapple that gets richly sweet as it cooks and a thin slice is added to the tacos. It's just enough subtle sweetness to compliment some of the spicy salsas.

Salsas at El Tizoncito, Mexico City

After we were seated, we were seated by a very friendly waitress and an even more friendly tower of chips and salsas. There were four very different salsas - a tomatillo with green chile, pure serrano, chile de arbol and morita chile. There were liquified beans also served which helped cut the heat when needed. The michelada (beer with lime juice and salt) also helped mellow things out.

Al Pastor Tacos at El Tizoncito, Mexico City

And then... the tacos came. Tender roasted slices of al pastor, pineapple with white onion and cilantro. Perfection on my plate. The taste was delicious and I couldn't get enough. I stopped after six. Only because I knew I was having churros later.

Visit El Tizoncito website for menu and locations.