I was given a free copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.
My Review: It is possible that you are like me and believe that when you see “slow cooker,” it means that you can just dump everything willy nilly into a Crockpot and in 6-8 hours WA-LA! You’re the hero. Your food has magically married into something scrumptious and fabulous. Maybe you’re also like me in that you have lots of slow cooker recipes, and some are good, some are great, and lots are just so so.
Have I mentioned the two main beliefs about slow cookers?
So let’s have a chat. When I got this cookbook I was
super excited. I thought I would, without a doubt, be throwing in a whole bunch
of ingredients from my pantry that would then turn into Mexican food magic and
I would never look back. Now, some of this is true. We did have some really delicious
food. However, there was very little throw it in and leave it going on.
Perhaps the thing that should tip you off is that this
book is written by a chef. Like a legit Mexican-food making chef who has
restaurants and who has won awards and such. This should tell you that she is
not going to settle for dumping cream of anything in with a random meat and
walking away and calling it good. Oh no. These recipes are time consuming. Many
of them require several steps and quite a bit of prep before the slow cooking
even begins, and then sometimes in the middle of the cooking or even at the end
there is still quite a bit to do before you can sit down and eat. Also, the
prep can take awhile as well. The recipes require ingredients that I was able
to find in my big box store, but there were some that I couldn’t find right
away. I probably could have found them at a Latin foods specialty market, of which
we have several, but I was able to find what I needed for the recipes I used in
the big box store in a well-stalked Mexican section.
With so much prep and sometimes in-depth cooking, I would
say that what came out of my slow cooker was definitely delicious. One of our
favorites was the carne con rajas (slow-cooker fajitas), which, on the surface,
seems simple, but what came out was complexly flavored and I could tell that
this was not just pinterest-grade Mexican food recipes. It was more like
restaurant food. Another thing we loved in this book? The sides. The beans and
rice were super delicious and the rice was actually really easy and
throw-together. I made it several times. Also, many of these recipes are spicy.
I eat spicy food. Like really spicy food. I didn’t think these recipes were too
spicy, but they definitely had some kick. It’s for someone who really eats Mexican
food and appreciates the different peppers and what they bring as opposed to
someone who considers Taco Bell Mexican food. Which I don’t.
In a nutshell, this is a really yummy cookbook that is
for the home cook who is looking to elevate their slow cooker skills. Instead
of throwing everything in and walking away, you are using the slow cooker to
bring out the depth of flavors in both tried and true and unique Mexican dishes.
If you are a cookbook connoisseur and looking for something maybe a little
outside of the Mexican cooking norm, this is a great cookbook for you.
My Rating: 4 Stars
For the sensitive
reader: This book is spicy! (haha! See what I did there?)
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