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'Fresh Mexico: 100 Simple Recipes for True Mexican Flavor'
By Marcela Valladolid
Photos by Amy Kalyn Sims
Clarkson Potter -- 2009
Buy it on Amazon

Marcela Valladolid may seem familiar to fans of the short-lived "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart." She made it through 11 weeks of the show before Martha bid her "goodbye."

A former recipe tester for Bon Appétit, Valladolid landed on her feet, hosting a Discovery Familia TV show "Relatos con Sabor," and penning her first cookbook, "Fresh Mexico."

It is here that Valladolid shares family recipes from her childhood in Tijuana and San Diego, Calif., and does her best to debunk the notion that Mexican food is heaps of yellow cheese melted on tortilla chips. There is a taco recipe in "Fresh Mexico," but overall this is Mexican fare way outside the box.
Takeaway tips: You don't have to be a total stickler on certain ingredients. Valladolid offers plenty of substitutions, be they almonds for pine nuts, mushrooms for huitlacoche or feta for añejo cheese, which takes the intimidation factor out of many of the recipes. And if you're charring fresh poblano chilies, but them in a plastic bag and let them stand for 10 minutes after charring to make them easier to peel.

Quality of pictures: Vibrant and colorful. Sims' photography captures the fun Valladolid has in the kitchen with her family and young son. (As Valladolid is a TV personality, there is also a fair amount of photos of her working or smiling in the kitchen than in your typical cookbook.) Sims and the stylists had their share of fun for this book too; to illustrate a chapter on desserts, she shoots buñuelos -- fried tortillas covered with cinnamon -- cut into the letters H, O, L and A.

We tested: Baked Cod with Anchovies and Lime; Ancho and Pine Nut Rice and Salsa Borracha

Our favorite of the tested recipes was by far the Salsa Borracha -- a drunken salsa made with ancho chilies, garlic, orange juice and tequila (the alcohol burns off in the cooking process). It was incredibly easy and yielded a savory salsa so tasty we had to make it twice.

Marcela Valladolid's baked cod. Photo: Sara Bonisteel.

The baked cod really couldn't have been simplier: anchovies, chopped kalamata olives, capers, rosemary and lime slices placed on cod fillets and baked. Our only quibble was that it packed a salty punch (which we'll alleviated next time by rinsing the olives, capers and anchovies in water before adding them to the fish).

Ancho and Pine Nut Rice had a preparation method akin to a traditional risotto -- though you won't have to pour in the ancho-chicken broth in increments, as you would in a risotto. The recipe made enough of this spicy ancho rice to last for days.

Worth the investment: If you seek a book that introduces you to labor-intensive traditional Mexican cooking, this isn't for you. But if you want new ways to play with Mexican flavors, "Fresh Mexico" and its quick recipes may be just what you're looking for.