Customer Reviews

Mexican Family Favorites Cook Book (Cookbooks and Restaurant Guides)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After collecting cookbooks for over 30 years, and specializing in Mexican cooking, I've found three really reliable Mexican cookbooks that I use all the time:

1. This book (Mexican Family Favorites Cook Book)

2. Concina de la Familia (My favorite of the three)

3. 365 Easy Mexican Recipes (believe it or not!)

So if you're after the real taste of Mexico, I suggest you invest in these (and don't waste your time with the other 35 Mexican cookbooks I've bought)!!

Ms. Bermudez is a good, honest author.

I grew up on the Texas-Mexico border surrounded by terrific Mexican restaurants, both gourmet and hole in the wall. After I moved to the Northwest I went into Mexican food withdrawal, since nothing in my new area really deserves the name of Mexican food. I got so desperate I decided I would learn to make it myself. I went through a lot of cookbooks to find this--and it tastes like home. The acid test: my southwestern relatives came up for a visit and said these were the best enchiladas they'd ever tasted. At six bucks, what a bargain!

I moved to Arizona from Minnesota and aquired a taste for true Mexican cooking. This cookbook provides great recipes for excellent authentic Mexican favorites, from the basics, to salsa's, to entire meals.

I highly recommend it.

I was hoping to find basic recipes for carne asada, shrimp, marinated chicken, etc. - the type of food you find in Southern California taco shops - but I was disappointed that most of the recipes in this book use the same limited group of spices (salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder and sometimes thyme or oregano) for virtually everything. For example, "Tacos #1" call for ground beef, onion, salt, pepper, garlic powder, ready-made taco shells, lettuce, cheese, stewed tomatoes and oregano. Pretty boring for my taste. Chicken tacos call for "1 fryer chicken, stewed" without any mention of seasoning it at all. Many recipes also rely on ingredients such as evaporated milk, canned cream-style corn, margarine and shortening, canned soup and canned apple pie filling, which don't fit my ideal of "home cooking." There are a few interesting dishes using nopales, verdolagas and chilitepins, so this purchase was not a total loss, but I am definitely still looking for a good basic Mexican cookbook.

if you're sick and tired of the tinned enchilada sauce, this cookbook has some wonderful recipes for enchilada sauce. i insist on making my own from now on as it's so easy and really fulfilling.

i also love tia elena's zesty tamale pie. simply comforting!

so i suggest this book. i'm glad i bought it...a wonderful yummy bargain.

Born in Arizona I grew up eating "real" Mexican food which I sorely missed when I moved to a nearby western state. One day I found this small inexpensive cookbook in a local bookstore. I bought it. I've never been disappointed with the purchase. You will find real southwestern-style Mexican home cooking. Not your fancy "gourmet" recipes found in pricey wannabe Mexican cookbooks but the real deal.

The recipes are tasty, use normal pantry ingredients. Purchase this cookbook for some fine Mexican home cooking!

I used this book for the first time today. I made the recipe for the Chili Powder and I used the Chili Powder to make the recipe for Enchilada Sauce #1.

Both recipes turned out well.

For the Chili Powder it called for 6oz of dried chili pods. I used 2oz ea of New Mexico and Guajillo and 1oz each of Ancho and California. I thought it turned out good.

I agree with one reviewer (the person who gave it only 1 star) that her measurements are off. The Author says that the recipe for the chili powder makes 2/3 cup of finished product. It was more like 2 cups. Just the other seasonings without the chilies comes out to 7 tablespoons and THAT's almost a 1/2 cup.

And the recipe for the enchilada sauce says that it makes 1 1/4 cups of finished sauce. I don't know how you take a recipe that calls for 2 cups of water and seasonings and only simmer it for 5 minutes (covered) and get 1 1/4 cups of sauce. It was more like 2 cups.

That all being said, I was happy with the turn out of both recipes.

If you are looking for an AUTHENTIC Mexican Cook Book, THIS IS NOT FOR YOU!!!! This is a mediocre, simple and flavorless cookbook. I'm Mexican, and I know it's cuisine. Look at the other 2 and 3 star ratings, and I agree with them. This is like a Taco Bell, Del Taco type of food. I hope no one gets offended by this, but this is what I call, "White Mexican Food".

This is a horrible cookbook! They have the most basic recipes and they aren't even complete. I tried cooking their version of Plain simple "Rice" the measurements for the ingredients are way off. They asked for 4-5 cups of chicken stock plus 3/4 cup of water for 1/2 a pound of rice?!?! who weighs out there rice? everyone i know measures by cups, the 1/2 lb. was no more than 1 cup. So even though I knew the measurements were wrong I still followed the directions. It was no surprise that it came out mushy and salty.

I'm Mexican, and although I don't know how to cook ALL Mexican dishes, I do have a general knowledge of most of them. I have also tasted a great majority of these delicious meals so I do know what I'm talking about when I say DON'T BUY THIS BOOK! I was reviewing the other recipes and found 2 for soup, menudo and pozole, very traditional Mexican meals. it gave you all the ingredients for the soup but never mentioned what color the soup should be. Menudo can be red of green but it doesn't tell you which one your making, so you end up with clear soup. It never once mentions to blend green tomatoes with cilantro and pour in to soup after meat has cooked. Where's the flavor! The color of the soup determines the flavor! I think the person who wrote this book should give back whatever money they received for making it cause she didn't complete it.

It goes without saying that I DO NOT recommend this cookbook for anyone.

I was taught Mexican cooking by a Mexican Mother-in-Law. This is the real Mexican food of New Mexico. Go for it if you want the good stuff.