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.

Chicken Chile Verde with Potato

August 7, 2016

Some dishes stay with you your whole life. Beef chile verde with potatoes from Ramona's Mexican Food in California is one of those dishes. In today's post I am preparing a copycat version using chicken. I have prepared this dish using pork as well. The beef is my favorite, but this chicken could be pretty close! The twist on this version, is that I used grilled ingredients to prepare the salsa base. You can't go wrong by grilling as much of your ingredients before blending and braising ...

Arroz Verde. Cilantro Rice

January 28, 2020

Arroz verde translates to green rice. Popular is cilantro rice which most times includes fresh lime juice. This version includes cilantro, jalapeno and lime! If cilantro is not your favorite ingredient, you could use other green herbs or greens, such as kale or baby spinach.On this night, my arroz or cilantro rice was the perfect side for chicken flautas(flautas de pollo). Click the link to see the recipe that includes the salsa verde. ...

Chicken Chile Verde with Potato

August 7, 2016

Some dishes stay with you your whole life. Beef chile verde with potatoes from Ramona's Mexican Food in California is one of those dishes. In today's post I am preparing a copycat version ...

Salpicon de Pollo- Mexican Chicken Salad

January 23, 2020

Salpicon de Pollo. Most of the time leftover chicken becomes part of a soup recipe or chicken salad. Not just any chicken salad, but salpicon de pollo! The word salpicon, in this instance, refers to ...

Oven Roasted Mole Chicken Wings

January 19, 2020

Chicken and mole go hand in hand. Mole chicken wings? Yes! Absolutely, yes! I will be the first one to confess that I do love fried chicken wings. But in an attempt to find a somewhat healthier ...

Caldo de Papa Con Queso (Potato Soup)

January 16, 2020

Potato soup with Mexican flavors. Caldo (soup) is in high demand with the chilly temperatures. At this moment I am coming to you from California. I am preparing a big pot of caldo de pollo(chicken ...

Gelatina Mosaico. Mosaic Gelatin Mold

January 9, 2020

This recipe for gelatina(gelatine) is pretty straight forward. I guarantee if you show up with this dessert, it will be a favorite! I have to admit that the first time I attempted this gelatina ...

How To Prepare Chile Oil

How To Prepare Chile Oil (Mild Salsa Macha)

January 1, 2020

How does one prepare chile oil? It's much easier than you think. Chile oil consist of dried chiles and oil. You can add garlic, oregano, seeds, nuts or vinegar. I have tried all of the above. It's an ...

Tamal de Fresa. Strawberry Tamal

Tamal de Fresa. Strawberry Tamal Recipe.

December 22, 2019

Tamal de fresa? Strawberry tamal? That's exactly what I said when I first heard of them. In all honesty, I was a bit intimidated when I saw a pink tamal, lol! My first thoughts were to try and find a ...

Masa For Tamales

Masa For Tamales

December 18, 2019

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 ...