La Piña en la Cocina

Embracing my Mexican heritage and sharing all the wonderful flavors, colors and foods I grew up with. Join me on this journey as I also learn new foods and cooking techniques. Dedicated to my parents Ramiro and Blanca.

Masa For Tamales

Masa For Tamales

Here we are! Right in the middle of tamal season! Masa for tamales is much easier than you think. It's not an exact science, but more like mixing it up a little until you like the results. The masa for tamales recipe featured here is prepared with masa harina corn flour. I grew up enjoying fresh ground masa directly from the tortilla factories in Los Angeles and Houston. Unfortunately for me, it's not available to me all of the time. Give Masa Harina a Chance! The masa harina works ...

Read More

Fresh Corn Tamal with Cheese, Green Chile and Jalapeño

Fresh corn tamales with red and green salsa

I know for most, tamales are just prepared at Christmas time. But, for me, I crave tamales year round. I crave them more when the fall season arrives and the thought of tamales steaming on the stove top is all I can think about. Late last year, I experimented with using fresh corn in my sweet tamale dough. I really liked the results! For this recipe, I decided to make it savory instead of sweet. My favorite cheese varieties to use for these tamales are Oaxaca, fresco, manchego, mozzarella or ...

Read More

Chile Colorado Pork Tamales(Tamal de Puerco)

Chile colorado pork tamales. The word colorado is used to describe the red, dried chiles used in this recipe and not the state of Colorado. If I had a nickel for every tamal I helped assemble while I was growing up at home, I would have quite a savings account, lol! This is truly the one tamal recipe that I remember the most from my childhood. The only difference is that I am using masa harina to prepare the masa because that is all that is available to me. These tamales are also called tamales ...

Read More

Spiced Apple Bundt Cake

Bundt Cake on a large platter

Spiced apple cake just in time for the holidays! The great thing about this recipe is that you literally mix everything into one bowl! Don't have a bundt pan? No worries! A standard 13x9 dish works great for this easy recipe. I don't know about you, but I always have a can of ready made dulce de leche in my pantry. I keep a variety of nuts and seeds in my freezer. The nuts and seeds are there for when I get a craving for mole style sauces or pipian! Now I am getting hungry! What ...

Read More

Masa For Tamales

Masa For Tamales

Here we are! Right in the middle of tamal season! Masa for tamales is much easier than you think. It's not an exact science, but more like mixing it up a little until you like the results. The masa ...

Read More

Chile Colorado Pork Tamales(Tamal de Puerco)

Chile colorado pork tamales. The word colorado is used to describe the red, dried chiles used in this recipe and not the state of Colorado. If I had a nickel for every tamal I helped assemble while I ...

Read More

sliced turkey breast on cutting board

Turkey Breast In A Jalapeño Brine

Don't want to cook a whole turkey? Although I can think of 50 ways to use leftover turkey, sometimes I may not have time for all of that. This year I am downsizing and preparing a two pound split ...

Read More

Fall sangria with pitcher

Fall Sangria

Delicious flavors of fall apples, touch of cinnamon and citrus! This refreshing fall sangria can easily be considered a starter dish with all that fruit in there! Just kidding! Serve with a delicious ...

Read More

Jamoncillo candy mini loaves

Jamoncillo- Dulce de Leche Candy

Jamoncillo, dulce de leche or leche quemada(burnt milk) is a Mexican candy made from sugar and milk. This was not a recipe I learned from home, but I was always curious on if I could prepare it! Here ...

Read More

A baking sheet filled with finished empanadas

Easy Empanada Dough!

Stop looking for that easy empanada dough! This is it! Plus the fact that I can just add everything to my stand mixer! What's The Secret To This Recipe? The ingredient that makes this easy ...

Read More

Pumpkin in Syrup

Calabaza en Miel. Pumpkin in Piloncillo Syrup

Pumpkin)cooked in piloncillo(natural cane sugar) is also known as calabaza en tacha. The name tacha is in reference to the cauldrons that the sugar was produced in. This is the sugar used to prepare ...

Read More

See More →

Sauces

See More →

Appetizers

See More →

MENU & SEARCH