'Antojitos: Festive and Flavorful Mexican Small Plates'
by Barbara Sibley and Margaritte Malfy with Mary Goodbody
Photography by Lucy Schaeffer
Ten Speed Press -- 2009
Buy it on Amazon

Antojitos, as Barbara Sibley and Margaritte Malfy explain in their book of the same name, are small bites sometimes eaten as appetizers in Mexican cuisine and sometime just downed as a street snack to satisfy between-meals hunger pangs.

The owners of New York City's La Palapa have written a book that covers all manner of these spicy snacks -- from empanadas and tacos to ceviches and mole. Along the way, they give brief stories about the dishes as well as menus perfect for any fiesta, and colorful pages filled with images of Loteria cards and stock Mexican art that add a whimsical touch to the cookbook.

See what we tested and whether it's worth buying after the jump.
Takeaway tips: Buy dry chilies in small amounts as you don't want them so dry that they become brittle. You don't always have to roast tomatillos to get a flavorful salsa. They worked really well freshly pulverized with avocado in the salsa we made below.

Quality of pictures: Lucy Schaeffer's photographs leap off the page and do quite a good job working up an appetite. There aren't photos of every dish, leaving us longing for more.

What we tested: Meatballs in Chipotle Chile with Avocado-Tomatillo Salsa

We'll admit it. We were intrigued by the idea of a Mexican meatball. Sibley and Malfy's dish is actually meatballs in a rich adobo sauce made of pasilla, guajillo and chipotle chiles.

We decided to make the dish for a Day of the Dead party, as the cookbook authors suggested.The adobo-making was a bit time consuming, what with seeding the dried chiles, so we did that prep work a day ahead of time. Mixing together the ground beef and pork and forming them into meatballs didn't take long at all. They quickly cooked in the adobo sauce -- which we pre-fried in corn oil to cook the plum tomatoes in the sauce.

The avocado tomatillo salsa was perhaps the easiest salsa we've ever made. Just blend six tomatillos with an avocado, some onion, garlic, cilantro, jalapeños, salt, pepper and lime juice for this bright, refreshing dip.

Worth the investment: If you want to dabble in Mexican cuisine without too much kitchen labor, "Antojitos" is a good place to start. If you're looking for a comprehensive bible of Mexican cuisine, turn elsewhere.