Adobo Potatoes Gratin

The New Southwest: Classic Flavors with a Modern Twist
author: Meagan Micozzi
publisher: Hippocrene
photos: yes
hard cover: 230 pages

chapters/sections: The Southwestern Pantry | Building Blocks | Condiments | Breakfast | Drinks | Appetizers & Snacks | Breads | Side Dishes | Main Courses | From the Grill | Desserts | A "Christmas-Style" Extra

fun features:  The Southwestern Pantry at the beginning of the book is a great reference for those who may not be familiar with some of the basic ingredients used in Southwestern cooking.  It includes sections on spices & herbs, chiles, produce, dairy, baking ingredients, other pantry staples, and essential equipment.  Meagan doesn't send you in blind, she equips you with the knowledge to ensure that your foray into these recipes is successful.

I also love the handwritten thank you notes at the back of the book; such a heart-felt personal touch.

Chia Cupcakes

Today kicks off week two of The New Southwest Cookbook Spotlight; I could not be more curious to see what everybody chose to make with their free rein.  In other words, I chose the recipe last week, and everybody made it.  I love in and of itself, because it's always fun to see the variations and similarities in a dish when 15 different people make it.  But this week is fun, too, because it's a surprise!  Although I know it was not an easy task deciding what to make.  I bet more than one person simply closed their eyes and chose a bookmark at random.

I've already made several delicious dishes from The New Southwest, but today I wanted to share the very first thing that I made after paging through the book.  I'm not a cupcake person.  Don't get me wrong, I like cupcakes.  They're just not something that I normally gravitate towards unless there's a birthday coming up or something.  But the mental image of these beautifully speckled chia cupcakes was something that I just couldn't shake.

Mushroom & Leek Migas

Strap yourself in, because today The New Southwest Cookbook Spotlight is taking off!  Over the next three weeks, you will see 15 blogger's takes on both the same, and different, recipes from this new release by Meagan Micozzi.  As host, I get an advantage; I get an advanced reading copy.  This makes me inexplicably excited.  I sit down at the table, armed with a full pad of sticky notes, and a pencil (I mark the bejeezus out of my arc's).  My hunger increases page by delicious page, and I make my way through, tagging recipes and making notes.

Next up, narrowing down my initial choices.  I need to find one or two recipes that I think would go over well with a varied group of bloggers.  I take into consideration that some don't eat meat, or dairy, or gluten...try to find something adaptable.  The ridiculous amount of papers poking from all three open sides after that choice are a whole 'nother story...

This time, the recipe that I chose for everybody to tackle, was a variety of Migas.

The New Southwest by Meagan Micozzi - #CookbookSpotlight

I'm very excited to be bringing you a new COOKBOOK SPOTLIGHT this month!  I can hardly believe a year has gone by since the last one, but it's true.  I've been very fortunate in my spotlight-series to work with not only an amazing bunch of bloggers, but also some wonderful publishing houses and authors.  This round is no exception!

You know her as the author of the delicious blog, Scarletta Bakes (you do know her, right?  If not, you are in for a treat), Meagan Micozzi.  As with all of my other spotlights, I'm particularly proud of Meagan - because she is a fellow food blogger!  I love having the opportunity to share and promote these books that are made by people doing what I do; it pushes me forward and inspires me.  Not originally from the area, Meagan moved to Arizona and fell in love with "the food and flavor that (she) found" there.  Thankfully, we can all fall in love with it, too, via her blog and now, her cookbook!