Explain your blog name: My blog is named Adriana’s Best Recipes and I started it as a tribute to my abuela, Mama Licha, who was a wonderful cook whose recipes inspire me today. I wanted to share the recipes I grew up with, especially because as immigrants, our culture and values can be conveyed through food. I started cooking at home and pretty quickly my extended family both in the United States and in Mexico would ask for the recipe. So every time I cooked I would take pictures of the cooking process and the final product and share with my family. When I discovered the world of blogging, Adriana’s Best Rest Recipes was born and I hope the name conveys the fact that I’m sharing something really special.

Blogging since: I began blogging in both English and Spanish in June 2011.

Blogging from: I blog from home in Orlando, Florida, though my I get most of my inspiration in the farmers markets. I start each recipe by testing it several times and when I finally fine tune the flavors, that’s when the cooking starts and the magic begins. It’s a labor of love but a passion of mine so I enjoy it and even more so when my followers leave comments on how they loved the recipe.

Adriana Martin is inspired by her Mexican upbringing to create recipes that remind her of home.

Most popular post: My most popular posts are those that incorporate flowers, which you can use to create beautiful, delicious food. I have a guide to cooking with flowers and a recipe for tomato farfalle and basil flowers has been very popular. I also love to grill and some of my favorite recipes are for grilled corn soup and grilled chicken a l’orange. And when it comes to Mexican recipes, my most popular posts have been for my famous enchiladas verdes and shrimp ceviche.

What you’ve learned about food while blogging: I’ve learned that you need to respect the ingredients, making them the stars of the dish. My motto is “simple ingredients create masterpieces.”

Where do you get inspiration for your posts? I’m always inspired by the farmer’s market, where I can find fresh ingredients. I’m also inspired by both of my grandmothers, who passed to me their passion for making people happy through delicious food.

What have you learned from blogging: I’ve learned that you can touch the lives of many people through publishing a recipe. I’ve also learned that you need to train yourself,  take photography classes and learn cooking techniques so that your product results are better. I see my first blog posts from when I started and I definitely see an improvement! Shoot for the stars and always keep dreaming.

Where else can we find you online? You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest.  I’ve also collaborated with Grilling is Happiness and Que Rica Vida.

What are your favorite food blogs? I love Nibbles and Feasts for great photography and simple ideas. I also love Sweet Life Bake for her great Mexican recipes. I also relate to Muy Bueno Cookbook because many of the recipes they publish are also the basis of many of my own childhood food memories.

But the most interesting thing about salsa’s mainstream arrival isn’t just how popular it became, but rather how it got there in there first place. According to a 1997 “The Atlantic” article about the growing Hispanic influence in America, salsa was unlike other ethnic crossover foods, like bagels or stir fries. “Whereas most culinary trends begin in the large coastal metropolitan areas and creep inward to the heartland, salsa has its roots among rural Latinos in the Southwest and has spread north and east,” the article states. “This pattern bucks the usual “proletarian drift,” whereby first upscale urbanites become enamored of a new product, such as Starbuck’s coffee, and then, in time, even the most isolated market in Appalachia is selling caffè latte.”

Two more classic Latin condiments: Mexican xoconostle sauce and Cuban mojo.

How fitting. It was Latinos themselves who became salsa’s most powerful ambassadors in America, the ones who evangelized it’s spicy simplicity, who took a humble condiment of nothing more than four ingredients and gave it cultural movement status. Today, of course, the rest of the country is plenty familiar with salsa: not only does it continue to outsell catsup, it boasts twice the dollar sales in comparison, according to a recent reportlinker.com study. Maybe that’s why May is official National Salsa Month?

Whatever the reason, there are plenty of delicious ways to get in on the celebration. Go out and buy a bottle of pre-made salsa, of which there are many, or whip up your own.  Today’s recipe gives the usual salsa cruda a twist by roasting all the ingredients to add a smokey depth. As with all salsas, adjust the heat and acidity to suit your taste. And make sure to have plenty of tortilla chips on hand.

Roasted tomato and garlic salsa (Photo/Betty Cortina)

ROASTED TOMATO AND GARLIC SALSA

5 roma tomatoes, quartered
1 medium white onion, peeled and quartered
1 serrano pepper, halved, cored, seeded, veins removed
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 T olive oil
Juice of 2 limes
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

1. Heat broiler, placing rack in position closest to heating element. Place tomatoes, onion, chile and garlic in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet.

2. Broil for about 10 minutes, until vegetables are blistered and tender. Flip the vegetables half way through. Remove garlic and chile if it’s browning too quickly.

3. Remove skins from garlic. In a blender, place the garlic and vegetables and pulse until coarsely pureed. Add lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and pulse two more times to combine. Pour into a bowl and mix in the cilantro. Serve with tortilla chips. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Experience: Mazon grew up under the watchful eye of her nanny, who cooked classic, labor-intensive Mexican meals. Mazon always loved food, but it wasn’t until she began a waitressing job during her time at Pima Community College in Tucson that she began to think of food as a way to transport to people to the Mexico of her youth. The restaurant offered Mexican-American fare and Mazon soon offered to cook up weekend specials like salmon enchiladas with green tomatillo sauce in order to help the restaurant expand its menu beyond quesadillas. The demand for Mazon’s cuisine steadily grew and by her late 20s, she was running an independent catering business. When a storefront in the heart of Tucson became available, she decided to open Boca Tacos and Tequila – what she calls a “modern taco stand.” With just four seats, the restaurant now serves more than 500 tacos a day and the 32-year-old self-taught chef has earned local fame as the winner of several area competitions including Tucson’s “Iron Chef.”

On receiving an unconventional culinary education: “Cooking is something that’s always been really natural for me. A few years ago I might have considered going to culinary school but I find that I’ve really absorbed the best technique naturally. For example, I learned knife skills from this guy who ran a Sonoran hot dog stand around the corner from my house. He used to serve tomato salsa with the finest chopped tomatoes I had ever seen, and one day when I was around 15 years old I just asked him, ‘how do you do that?’ So he taught me how to chop tomatoes and those are the skills I use to this day.”

Boca’s “modern taco-stand” menu includes over 20 varieties of tacos and fresh salsas.

Why she considers tacos a cornerstone of Mexican cuisine: “Sonora is considered the taco capitol of Mexico – they are everywhere and very, very good. They’re considered a way to showcase the livestock industry here: rib eye, prime rib, hanger steak. You grill the meat with coarse salt and pepper, tuck slices of the meat into a corn tortilla and top with cabbage and guacamole sauce thinned out with milk or water. No yellow cheese or sour cream; basically the opposite of everything Americans think of as a taco. I think that tacos can showcase everything that’s wonderful about Mexican food: light, fresh and flavorful. Tacos are familiar enough that people are willing to come in – and once they try my food, my hope is that they leave with an understanding about what Mexican food really is.”

On the legacy she wants to leave her son: “My son is just four years old, and he’s with me at the restaurant whenever he’s not at school or being watched by my girlfriend. I would love to leave him a legacy of franchised restaurants one day, but all I really want is for him to be proud of me no matter what, knowing that I put my heart and soul into my work.”

The argument for pheasant and alligator tacos: “Every Wednesday I make a different type of taco with an exotic protein. I’ll use anything that moves: ostrich, rattle snake, python, kangaroo, silk worms and every single intestine and organ. I think that without forcing myself to experiment, I would become like Taco Bell and just fade into the landscape. I think it’s important for people to realize that tacos aren’t always hard shell with a side of sour cream. So by going off the cuff, I’m showing people that Mexican food isn’t necessarily what you expect it to be.”

Her secret weapon in the kitchen, revealed: “I can’t cook without music. Silence kills me! Music and flavor just go hand in hand, and allows the person cooking allow to have fun with what they do. I listen to everything except rap. I’m the only girl in my restaurant and I hate hearing music that has bad words or puts down women.”

On her not-so-secret guilty pleasure: “I just love the combination of salty and spicy and I have the ultimate go-to snack. I go to the Mexican store, head straight to the snack aisle and get every single chip there is. Then, when I get home, I make a mix of these chips in a bowl and top it with freshly-squeezed lime juice and Tapatio. After that, it’s me on the couch with that bowl and an episode of my favorite show, ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’”

Here’s Mazon’s original recipe for a salsa that incorporates one of her favorite herbs, epazote. Considered a variety of Mexican oregano, Mazon loves it blended with mint for a herbaceous salsa that’s not unlike an Italian pesto. Top tacos with it, says Mazon, or use it as a wet rub or marinade.

Epazote Salsa

1 bunch epazote
1 bunch mint
1/3 white onion, chopped
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
3 garlic cloves, peeled
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tea spoon of jugo maggi

Preparation: Blend all the ingredients till incorporated. Makes about two cups. Use immediately.

If there’s one town in America that’s decidedly all about meat and potatoes, it’s Dallas, Texas. Home to the state’s oil industry, Dallas’s restaurants reflect the tastes of its residents – think slabs of steak and the usual steakhouse sides of creamed spinach and scalloped potatoes. But there is one chef who stands out among his peers in Dallas: Omar Flores, a Culinary-Institute-of-America-trained chef who has made seafood the protein of choice among the city’s foodies, turning out plate after plate of sustainable fish seasoned with clean, fresh and decidedly Mexican flavors.

“I grew up eating predominantly meat myself,” says Flores, 32. “But once I discovered seafood in culinary school, I fell in love and now, I enjoy bringing that experience of diving into something fresh and new to diners in Dallas. This city has an excess of steakhouses and to serve something different that reflects where I come from is a lot of fun.”

A composed hamachi crudo dish by Chef Omar Flores.

Born to Mexican parents – dad owned a restaurant, mom was a homemaker who always sent Flores off to school with enchiladas for lunch – Flores grew up in El Paso, Texas with an appreciation for the flavors of his heritage. He says he always knew he wanted to become a chef and after obtaining a bachelor’s degree in restaurant management at New Mexico State University, took off for New York City’s Culinary Institute of America. Flores worked at several restaurants in New York City– including David Boulud’s Café Boulud – before heading back to the Lone State to work at Abacus Restaurant in Dallas. He quickly earned a reputation for elegant, composed plates and when he heard that a new restaurant  in town – Driftwood – was looking for an executive chef, decided to go for it. One plate of ahi tuna crudo dressed with yuzu, olive oil, English cucumber, 7 spice and churned avocado ice cream later, Flores had the job.

Flores describes his style as contemporary American, and that it is, reflective of the country’s growing Hispanic population and its culinary traditions. He serves steamed littleneck clams in a garlic confit, pickled aji amarillo and white wine broth and plates chargrilled octopus with manzanilla olives and smoked tomato vinaigrette; entrees made special with a decidedly Latin sensibility.

“I make dishes that reflect my style, but that people don’t feel intimidated by,” says Flores, whose cuisine has earned him multiple 4-star ratings from local press, as well as a nomination for “The People’s Best New Chef Award” from Food & Wine magazine. “I want people to feel comfortable about trying Latin-inspired seafood dishes that aren’t the usual fish tacos.”

“I want to push Dallas to try new things – but I want to stay true to who I am by doing so.”

Ahi tuna, avocado ice cream, yuzu olive oil

1 pound Ahi Tuna

Ice cream

2 cups cream

1 cup milk

1 ¼ sugar

¼ tsp

3 avocados

14/ salt

6 egg yolks

The juice from two limes

½ cup spinach leaves

Dressing

½ yuzu

1 tbsp white soy sauce

1 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp seasoned sushi vinegar

¼ extra virgin olive oil

Togarashi, to taste

Cilantro leaves, to taste

1.  In a blender, combine avocado, spinach, lime juice and 1 cup of cream. Puree well and strain. In a mixing bowl whisk together egg yolks, sugar, salt and avocado puree. Scald remaining cream and milk and temper egg-avocado mixture. Strain and cool. Follow recommended ice cream machine instructions.

2. For the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients and whisk until well incorporated.

3. To assemble, slice tuna thinly and arrange on a plate. Season lightly with sea salt, togarashi and place a few cilantro leaves on the tuna. Spoon a small amount of the vinaigrette on the fish and finish off with a small scoop of the ice cream.

Vitals: Julieta Ballesteros was brought up in a tight-knit family in Monterrey, Mexico. She’s the chef and owner at Crema, a Mexican restaurant in New York City grounded in French technique and presentation. At just 35 years old, she’s consistently praised as one of New York’s best Mexican chefs and has competed against Chef Cat Cora on the hit Food Network show “Iron Chef.” Ballesteros is also an in-demand consultant whose menus are a staple in Mexican restaurants across New York City.

Experience: Ballesteros says that even as a little girl, she was a fixture in the kitchen. After studying International Business in Monterrey, Ballesteros moved to New York City to study at the French Culinary Institute and before she had even graduated, landed her first job opening a casual Mexican restaurant.

On cooking Mexican food with a French flair:  “For me, the focus of Mexican food is similar to the model of French food, done with technique and creativity. Many people think that Mexican food is just cheese and grease, but our cuisine is beyond that. That being said, I love French food and just to make a sauce, I use French technique. I roast the bones, sweat the vegetables and use that base in my Mexican food. Even plating and service is with French style, as are my wine pairings and cocktails.”

Her inspiration: “Every moment is an inspiration for me, even grocery shopping among the beautiful fruits and vegetables. I’m also a huge Iron Chef Fan – chefs like Mario Batali, Morimoto, Michael Symon really keep the industry moving. I’m also inspired by classic chefs like Thomas Keller and Daniel Boulud. And of course, the dishes that I grew up with at home inspire me. I love thinking about how take my favorite dishes and create them in a sophisticated way. For example, empanadas with Chihuahua cheese and squash blossom puree or asado de puerco cooked slowly with chile cascabel, lime zest and lard. I also love apple pie, based on one that I made when I was 6 years old, but done in a Mexican way with homemade goat’s milk, dulce de leche and vanilla ice cream.”

Current passion project: “I’m currently developing a China-Latina restaurant here in New York, which will be my new baby. I love Chinese food and I think Mexican food actually has a lot in common with Asian cuisine. We use a lot of the same ingredients and both cuisines have such powerful flavor that it’s a great combination. I’ve been experimenting with dishes like a chow fun with huitlacoche (editor’s note: a black corn fungus), shrimp and truffle oil that was just amazing. I also did a lo mein with mole poblano that was so inspiring and sophisticated. I’ve also made fried rice with spinach, mushrooms and chipotle that I topped with carne asado in adobo with a fried egg, avocado and salsa. If that sounds good to you, call me because I’m looking for investors!”

Five ingredients she can’t live without: “Crema, because a lot of my soups are cream-based, really melt in your mouth. Of course tomatoes, because you can’t go without tomatoes for salsa in Mexican cuisine. Mexican chocolate, which you need for mole – and if you don’t have mole in a Mexican restaurant, just forget about it! It’s like an Indian restaurant without curry. And maseca, one of the most basic elements but essential for the empanadas and tamales that I just can’t live without.”

Favorite indulgence: “I have two: a nice, beautiful burger on a brioche bun with bacon and cheese, and then pecan pie. I love the crunch of nuts with the sweet maple with all the different textures and a good buttery, flaky crust. I can eat an entire pie.”

Part 1 of our series on a new generation of  Mexican American chefs featured Rick Ortiz of Chicago’s Antique Taco and his Abuelita’s Pop Tart. Read his story here.

The path that led 31-year-old chef Rick Ortiz to open a taco shop in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood might best be described as improbable. After attending an intensive two-and-a-half year culinary program at the city’s Kendall College, where he learned the fundamentals of French cooking technique, he landed an internship in the south of France, working for a master chef at a chateau with a two-Michelin-star restaurant. When he returned, he worked at Courtright’s, one of suburban Chicago’s most venerable kitchens where fine, white-tablecloth dining was the name of the game. Later, he helped run the fine dining operation at Soldier Field, where he catered to luxury executive suites and sky boxes. Ortiz even competed in the prestigious Culinary Olympics in Germany, on the team that belonged to famed chef Roland Henin.

Yet when it came time to veer in his own direction, the young star made a sharp turn—to the South, toward his roots. “A lot of what I cook now stems from my childhood, what we ate growing up,” Ortiz explains. “I’ve blended that with everything I’ve learned along the way.”

He was raised on Chicago’s south side, the younger of two siblings born to hard-working Mexican parents who believed that no matter how long a day was, it needed to end with a fresh, home-cooked meal. “After working all day as a dental technician, my dad would go to the store and come home with fresh ingredients to prepare a meal,” Ortiz recalls. “We’d eat as a family. It was just our daily routine.” While his father “cooked anything that was fresh,” his Mexico-city born grandmother was the one who made the most traditional dishes—the tamales, carnitas, and chocolate. (“Mom wasn’t as big a cook, but she was still the backbone of the family who pulled us together,” he says.)

Today, Ortiz describes the food at his Antique Taco restaurant, which he opened just a year ago with his wife of two years, Ashley,  as “comfort Mexican with an elevated spin.” What exactly does that mean? “It means that if we’re making a nacho, we’re making our own cheese from Wisconsin curds, we’re topping it with our own braised short ribs, we’re pickling our own peppers,” Ortiz says of the artisanal technique applied to every dish on his menu. “It’s recognizable food, but it’s still complex.”

While his most popular dishes are what you might expect—fish tacos and pork carnitas—the way in which they’re prepared is nothing if not unexpected. The fish tacos are topped with sriracha tartar sauce and smoked cabbage; the carnitas are smothered in a tamarind glaze and garnished with bacon spinach. (Another unexpected surprise: The restaurants doubles as a charming antique store, tapping in to the Ortiz couple’s passion for antique furnishings.) We asked Ortiz to share with NBCLatino one of his trademark recipes—his Abuelita’s Pop Tart. Made with Mexican chocolate ganache and marshmallows, the dish, reminiscent of a s’more, is a great metaphor for Ortiz himself; his Mexican and American experiences and his classic French training all wrapped up in a delicious pastry dough.

Chef Rick Ortiz (Photo/Courtesy Antique Taco)

Abuelita Chocolate
8 oz Mexican chocolate
1 cup heavy cream

1. Cut chocolate into small pieces and place into a medium saucepan. Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer of medium heat. Reduce heat, and cook slowly until thick and smooth.
2. Strain through fine mesh sieve. Makes 2 cups. Set aside.

Pop Tart Dough
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 T sugar

1. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the first 3 dry ingredients. With a pastry cutter or using 2 knives, cut in the shortening. Add the eggs, milk and sugar and mix until the ingredients are just incorporated. (Overworking the dough can make it tough.)

2. Split the dough in half and shape into a round, flattened disk, about 1 inch thick. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Assembling the pop tart
6 marshmallows
1 egg  and 1 tsp water whisked together for egg wash
Canola oil, for frying tarts
Ground cinnamon, for garnish

1. Once the dough has rested, roll out on a flat, well-floured surface. Roll into square sheets. Keep dusting the the dough and rolling pin with flour to prevent sticking.

2. Cut sheets into 3 by 4 inch rectangles.

3. Place a dollop of Abuelita’s chocolate in the center of one rectangle of dough.

4. Place one marshmallow on top of chocolate.

5. Brush egg wash on the edges of the dough.

6. Top with another rectangle of dough and crimp edges with fork to seal well.
Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

7. Place in freezer for about 10 minutes or until cold.

8. In a deep fryer, or in sauce plan filled with 3 inches of oil, heat oil to 350 degrees. Fry the tarts for a few minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and sprinkle with ground cinnamon.

El Pelon Taqueria opened its doors and allowed shell-shocked people to come into their restaurant to sit down, eat free food and have drinks.

“We tried to help in that moment so they could come to the restaurant,” says restaurant manager Jose Torres. “We put it on Twitter, come get drinks, free food, charge your phones.”

open wifi, place to charge cell, or just don’t want to be alone, food and drinks,- pay only if you can #bostonhelp

— El Pelon Taqueria (@ElPelonTaqueria) April 15, 2013

Torres says part of the reason the restaurant, led by owner Jim Hoben, was moved to help was because of all of the uncertainty after the events unfolded.

RELATED: Carlos Arredondo, the man in the hat at the Boston Marathon, didn’t set out to be hero

“One of the ideas was to get people together and safe,” Torres says. “We didn’t know how big this was.”

We have cold drinks,bathrooms, place to charge a phone and a calm place to sit #westandtogether

— El Pelon Taqueria (@ElPelonTaqueria) April 15, 2013

People were incredibly thankful that the taqueria opened its doors and offered refuge to shaken people, says Torres, who came from Mexico and has lived in Boston for eight years. “Some marathon runners came, in that moment people didn’t know what had happened. They were in shock,” he says. The company also used its Facebook page to spread the word of their open doors.

On Twitter, El Pelon caught the attention of those inside and outside of Boston, many of whom said they would be visiting in the future, even though they had never been there before.

VERY CLASSY move by @elpelontaqueria open wifi, place to charge cell, or just don’t want to be alone, food and drinks,- pay only if you can

— R.I.B.N.S (@RIBNS) April 15, 2013

@craiglander @elpelontaqueria I’ve never been there but after that comment, I plan on making it a point to visit them. #CLASSACT

— R.I.B.N.S (@RIBNS) April 15, 2013

After a whirlwind day of giving free food and comfort to shaken Boston residents, El Pelon’s owner thanked those who made it possible.

Humbled by all the comments and my staff who didn’t blink when asked and gladly served everyone who came through – they are my family

— El Pelon Taqueria (@ElPelonTaqueria) April 16, 2013

RELATED: Opinion: Boston is a city of survivors, a city of fighters

“Pati’s Mexican Table” – the newest released by noted PBS television show host Pati Jinich – is a compilation of simple, home-style Mexican recipes. You won’t find greasy nachos or overstuffed quesadillas here; instead, Jinich focuses on the use of simple staples like soft corn tortillas, eggs, basic cuts of meat and lush produce, transforming them with fragrant spices, magical salsas and traditional Mexican cooking techniques to yield deeply flavorful, south-of-the-border-inspired meals that are right at home in any American kitchen. In short, this is home cooking for the people who really do cook at home.

“For me, it’s the everyday food I feed my family; the dishes I hanker for, the ones that make me feel at home and that ironically, I mostly learned how to make while living away from the country where I grew up eating them,” writes Jinich in her book. “Our food is abundant, accommodating, and much more simple than you might think.”

Her recipes range from straightforward, uncomplicated riffs on classic Mexican dishes (like melt-in-your-mouth carne enchilada or arroz verde, studded with poblano chiles and fragrant cilantro), to the absolutely traditional (tiny albondigas simmered in tomato sauce flavored with mint and chipotle; yellow mole with tender masa dumplings) and even flavorful variations on American favorites, including burgers spiked with chiles and lime aioli and pork ribs basted with spicy-sweet honey chipotle sauce.

And the volume, divided into chapters on flavorful condiments, crunchy and beautiful salads, warming soups, different proteins, sides, desserts and drinks doesn’t stop there; if you’re absolutely clueless about how to char a tomato on the comal for salsa roja or have questions about which ethnic ingredients to stock in your pantry, there’s plenty of straightforward advice from Jinich on how to get started. And there’s no better place to begin your foray into Mexican home cooking than with Jinich’s recipe for arroz rojo, which takes all of the mystery out of creating this classic rice dish with tender carrots, spicy jalapeño slices and sweet corn. It’s a dish often in demand by Jinich’s three boys and will soon be a favorite in your home too.

Jinich’s recipe for flavorful arroz rojo.

Red Rice (Arroz Rojo)

From “Pati’s Mexican Table” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Serves 6 to 8

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes, plus resting time

Can be made up to 2 days ahead, covered, and refrigerated

Ingredients

2 cups long or extra-long grain white rice or jasmine rice

1 pound ripe tomatoes, quartered, or one 14½-ounce can of tomatoes

1/3 cup coarsely chopped white onion

2 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt, or to taste

About 3 cups broth from Mexican Chicken Broth or canned chicken or vegetable broth

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 fresh Italian parsley sprigs

¾ cup peeled and diced carrots (optional)

½ cup fresh or frozen green peas (optional)

½ cup fresh or frozen corn kernels (optional)

1–2 jalapeño or serrano chiles, left whole (optional)

2 tablespoons water, if needed

1. Soak the rice in a bowl of enough hot water to cover for about 5 minutes. Drain in a sieve and rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear; drain well.

2. In a blender or food processor, puree the tomatoes with the onion, garlic, and salt until smooth. Pass the puree through a strainer into a large liquid measuring cup; note the amount and reserve. Pour enough chicken broth into another liquid measuring cup to make 4 cups liquid total—you want to keep the two liquids separate, since you will add the puree first.

3. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the rice and cook, stirring often, until the rice becomes milky white, 3 to 4 minutes. Pour in the tomato puree, mix gently, and cook until the puree darkens, thickens, and has mostly been absorbed by the rice, about 3 minutes.

4. Stir in the chicken broth and add the parsley, carrots, peas, corn, and chiles, if using. Bring to a rolling boil, cover, and reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed but there is still some moisture in the pan. The rice should be cooked and tender; if it is not but all the liquid has been absorbed, add the 2 tablespoons water, cover again, and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from the heat and let the rice rest, covered, for at least 5 minutes.

5. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve.

MEXICAN COOK’S TRICK: Mexican cooks often soak rice in hot water to get rid of excess starch, any dirt, and the talc that is sometimes used as a milling aid, as well as to soften and relax the rice. Removing the excess starch helps keep the grains separate, so the cooked rice is fluffier and less sticky.

Explain your blog name: It started off as “Teenage Glutster,” since I started my food blog when I was an angsty 16-year-old teenager. I made up the word Glutster one bored afternoon because I didn’t like the negative religious connotation of the word glutton, a common term proudly used by my some of fellow gastronomy-oriented clique. But I knew I wanted to use the word, since, well…let’s just say that I am one lucky guy to have such a speedy metabolism. So, I took the root of that word and just added the -ster part to make it into a more secular “fun and cool” term, haha. Naturally, as I grew up, I dropped the teenage part and just kept it as “The Glutster,” though I didn’t do this until I was about 21-22. As a result, I feel like the Steve Urkel of the L.A. food world at times.

Blogging since: May 2006. Despite the fact that I just turned 24, I am somewhat considered a veteran or my preferred term, old geezer, in the L.A. food blogging world because I started my blog way before it was considered to be “cool.” I have Chowhound and Yelp to thank for that, as well as my older brother Rojelio Cabral, who was the first one to spend big bucks on me and take me out to my first non-chain, non-fast food restaurants in the Westside.

Blogger Javier Cabral

Blogging from: I blog from my home, in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Since I tend to specialize in Central or Eastern Los Angeles food, music and culture coverage, this neighborhood is perfect. It’s still has a few rough edges in some parts, which I like since it reminds me of “mi vida loca” type of upbringing back home in East L.A. Though, I still cover the latest restaurant opening in Hollywood or the Westside whenever there is an opportunity to do so.

Most popular post: One of my most popular posts was probably a feature I wrote about a time when my mother and I taught Chef Ludo how to make Mole and Pipian Zacatecano from scratch!

What you’ve learned about food while blogging: I basically built my life, career and long term goals on everything that I’ve learned through blogging about our life’s sustenance. It’s been a long and crazy journey since I first started learning through the culinary school of hard knocks. The one main thing I’ve learned is: Just enjoy your food and drink! Treat what you put into your body with respect and it will take care of you. Sometimes that means buying organic products and sometimes that means occasionally splurging on an expensive cut of beef or a $13 Double IPA.

Where do you get inspiration for your posts? Anywhere and anything. A while back, I started to notice that almond milk was appearing in the supermarket shelves of East Los Angeles,so I did a little research on that and wrote a 3,000 word story for Zocalo Public Square on the healthier foods starting to become available in inner-city parts of town. But, there is really nothing like taking a bite of awesomeness from whatever undiscovered hole-in-the-wall restaurant to spark up my creativity.

 What you’ve learned from blogging? To believe in yourself and never undervalue or undersell yourself. At the end of the day, your work is an extremely valuable public service, to either a business or product of some sort or to someone else. A blogger must never forget that fact.

Where else can we find you online? I freelance for a bunch of publications, both writing and photo work. Recently, I’ve been working consecutively with Grub Street Los Angeles and Zocalo Public Square, and I have a few print pieces coming up on Pasadena Magazine very soon. Saveur Magazine is another classic that I work with occasionally. To stay up to date on my latest work, follow me on Twitter.

What are your favorite food blogs? In the Suds keeps me up to date with the best current beers. I like Latino Foodie’s stories. Señorita Vino is awesome at breaking down wine complexities and last but not least, Latino Fit Club for her fellow nopal-centric recipes!