Chile

Ancho chilies are dried Poblano chilies, and have an earthy, sweet flavor and mild heat level. This classic tortilla soup is a creative way to use leftover turkey—substitute 1 1/2 cups finely chopped cooked turkey for the chicken.

To choose a fresh tomatillo, they should be firm and the husks mostly intact. A split is ok, but you want them looking pretty tight. Roast the onions here if you like a deeper, caramelized flavor, or add them in raw for a more authentic salsa.

Bursting with fresh corn and a hint of spice, these summery fritters take inspiration from the Southern classic shrimp and grits.

When lacquered with a rich, complex sauce and roasted, chicken becomes a delicious crowd-pleaser. There's enough chipotle here to make your lips hum, but not so much as to overshadow the balancing act created by the other ingredients—toasty garlic, onions, and ketchup, plus a kiss of brown sugar and cinnamon.

This spicy and sweet powerhouse seasoning blend packs layers of flavor onto grilled flank steak.

Puréed kale leaves give this lighter guacamole an extra dose of fiber and Vitamin A.

If you're short on time or refrigerator space, you can preseason the pork for only 1 to 2 hours.

The secret to removing the pin bones from black cod is to wait until after it's been cooked.

Not all tomato recipes require the fruit to be ripe. In fact, you’ll want unripe green tomatoes for this one (rather than green-hued heirlooms, which tend to be too delicate to grill).

With a mega-flame and a gargantuan pot, you can cook an ocean's worth of seafood in a fraction of the time it would take on the stovetop—without stepping foot in a steamy kitchen.

When you put an egg on eggplant, you get a veg main course.

Typical Mexican enchiladas arrive rolled up and stuffed, but at my favorite enchilada street stand—the inspiration for this recipe—they're stacked in a messy, luxurious pile, with separate individual layers of corn tortillas, fresh cilantro and onion, green enchilada sauce, shredded cheese and chicken. The whole thing is topped with a blanket of crema and more cheese. It's almost like a deconstructed lasagna. The dish is enough to make you fall deeply in love with Mexico City—particularly when the corn tortillas are homemade, and the green sauce is prepared with a slow-simmering pot of fresh chicken stock.

You can assemble this elote-inspired party starter ahead of time, and then bake right before you're ready to serve it.

Roasted poblano chiles and cream are a classic—and irresistible—combination. It's worth roasting more than you need—the peeled and seeded chiles freeze well and thaw quickly. Sliced and seared zucchini or chayote squash is a terrific addition to the rajas mixture.

In the state of Chiapas, these are made with chewy dried shrimp and called tostadas turulas. Use the most flavorful shrimp and best tomatoes you can find.