Cooking With Baja Magic : Mouth-Watering Meals from the Enchanted Kitchens & Campfires of Baja [Paperback]

Ann Hazard (Author), Nina Hazard (Editor), Bob Bonn (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 27, 1997

The most comprehensive Baja California cookbook ever! This 240-page book contains 175 easy-to-prepare recipes in 15 categories, 20 from famous Baja restaurants. Try Confetti Dip Mardi Gras, Cabo's Restaurant Pancho's Tortilla Soup, "The" Original Tijuana Caesar Salad, Bay of L.A. Lobster Tacos, Expatriate Pepper Steak and Citrus Flan Extraordinaire from Caffe Todos Santos. A cookbook, storybook and art book all in one, it showcases 22 whimsical, colorful illustrations by Laguna Beach, California artist, Bob Bonn. Author Ann Hazard, a third generation Baja Rat, guarantees that this book will inject you with a lasting dose of Baja Magic! "In fact," she says, "I promise it will tip your perspective slightly to the south, lighten your heart and transform your outlook on life!"

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Celebrate life with Ann Hazard's long-awaited Cooking With Baja Magic! This collection of 175 mouth-watering recipes contains favorites from 20 of the most famous restaurants in Baja. Read about the author's travels and savor the beautiful, colorful illustrations by Bob Bonn." -- Hugh Kramer, President of Discover Baja Travel Club

"No faux-Mexican, Americanized recipes here -- Hazard's magic is la verdad comida, inspired by her family's extensive travels in Baja since the 1930's." -- Corinne Lynch, San Diego Magazine

"Ole! Pass the salsa! Pop the cervezas! Ann Hazard's Cooking With Baja Magic is the best Baja cookbook ever!" -- Gene Kira, author of King of the Moon and co-author of The Baja Catch

Many cookbooks have been written on the cuisine indigenous to the innumerable regions of the world. For some reason, however, Baja California, the area south of San Diego that is anchored by Tijuana, Mexico, has been seriously overlooked. Thankfully, a third-generation "Baja Rat," Ann Hazard, decided to right that wrong with Cooking with Baja Magic, a delightful new cookbook of more than 170 easy to prepare recipes that represent the best of Baja's unique cuisine. So what exactly is that? As author Hazard presents, it's a take-no-prisoners mesh of salsas and sauces, soups, salads, seafood dishes, tacos, burritos, tostados, desserts and drinks that are long on heat and flavor and short on the fuss. It's food that's as colorful and festive as the region it comes from, and, Hazard says, is less of a style of cooking than an attitude. From appetizers like Drunk Shrimp and Blue Corn Quesadillas through main courses of Lobster Tacos and Sesame-Chili Chicken and desserts like Margarita Pie, the book is a joyous romp through a thoughtful collection of mouth-watering, crowd-pleasing dishes. It is also something of a travel guide, for Hazard serves up several generations of Baja adventures and travel tales from her family along with the recipes that were collected and created on those trips. Adding to the flavor are the vibrant and dazzling illustrations of Bob Bonn of grinning cats, laughing bulls, dancing cacti and other wild west Baja characters that simply explode with color and whimsy and capture the fiesta quality of the food. Be forewarned! If you haven't visited the Baja area, you'll be intrigued to do so after reading this delightful cookbook. If a trip to this region, where good friends and good food mean good times, isn't in the immediate travel itinerary, "Cooking with Baja Magic" might be the next best thing to being there. -- From Independent Publisher

About the Author

Ann Hazard and is a third generation Baja Rat. She began traveling the Magnificent Peninsula with her parents and sister, Nina Hazard Baldwin, collecting recipes, when she was nine years old. They flew into remote places in old World War II bombers and landed on dirt roads. They camped on deserted beaches and in lush palm oases where they were the only group of gringos for miles around.

In the intervening years, Ann has traveled to Los Cabos, Todos Santos, La Paz, Loreto, Mulege, San Felipe and all the other hot spots the tourists frequent. While she enjoys the resorts, she has a deep, abiding connection to the more remote, out-of-the-way spots in Baja -- left over from her youth no doubt! Of course, she still spends as much time south of the border as possible. In addition to traveling the peninsula frequently, she shares a weekend getaway in La Bufadora with her sister and brother-in-law -- just a few miles south of Ensenada in Northern Baja.

Ann is a graduate of U.S. International University in San Diego, CA who spent the first two decades of her career doing corporate communications. She now writes and promotes her work full-time. She and lives in Solana Beach, CA with her children, Gayle and Derek and an assortment of pets.

Look for her second book, Good News for the Newly Single -- Devotions for the Recently Separated and Divorced, which will be released by Vine Books in September, 1998. Current writing projects include a novel about four gringas (female Americans) traveling without gringos (men) for a month in Baja and a children's book called The Tres Amigos in collaboration with Bob Bonn, illustrator of Cooking With Baja Magic.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Renegade Enterprises; 1 edition (November 27, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965322319
• ISBN-13: 978-0965322317
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #848,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll Be Glad You Have It, September 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cooking With Baja Magic : Mouth-Watering Meals from the Enchanted Kitchens & Campfires of Baja (Paperback)

The student and traveler to Mexico often returns home craving the tastes they experienced in Baja California. Ann's cookbook will compliment anyone's kitchen. From the appetizers to the salsas to the carnitas to the margaritas, with a little musica norteña, una fría and this cookbook, you can have a 'virtual' visit to Baja California. Recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Baja-style cuisine, May 6, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Cooking With Baja Magic : Mouth-Watering Meals from the Enchanted Kitchens & Campfires of Baja (Paperback)

The food in this book is excellent. As an almost-native San Diegan who has moved away, I depend on this book to help me make the Baja-style food that I love. I particularly like the Carnitas and the Chicken Enchiladas Verdes. Whenever I make carnitas, my guests just rave! The portions are somewhat large, so have a party or do what I often do - eat carnitas scrambled into eggs, made into quesadillas, etc. My only issue with this book is that there are a few technical mistakes(i.e. wrong page numbers, etc.). However, this is easy to overlook. Enjoy!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This cookbook reads like a Louis L'Amour novel!, October 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Cooking With Baja Magic : Mouth-Watering Meals from the Enchanted Kitchens & Campfires of Baja (Paperback)

My husband stole it from me and read it from cover to cover! Then, on our next Baja trip, he went to the Calimax and bought food. Every night we were there he cooked for me from the book! Now that's my kinda cookbook!