Mole, Carne Asada & Fajitas: 3 Mexican Recipes from Rosa of La Esperanza

This National Hispanic Heritage Month, Familia Kitchen was invited by our friends at Spanglish Asadero seasonings to celebrate abuela cooking, with mucho amor and tradición — Mexican style. Of course we thought of Rosa Camarena, who is one of our all-time-favorite Mexican abuela cocineras and owner of La Esperanza, a popular restaurant in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, known for its Mexican heritage.

Watch as Rosa and her daughter Alejandra, who cooks alongside her in La Esperanza’s kitchen seven days a week, explain why cooking their way home matters and how to make 3 of their restaurant’s best-selling family recipes: 1) mole with chicken, 2) carne asada and 3) chicken fajitas.

Dish 1: How to Make Rosa’s Award-Winning Mole with Chicken

Rosa serves her famous deep-red mole to her loyal customers with mucho amor. They can’t get enough of her family recipe. It’s rich, earthy, with a hint of sweet, and just enough chile heat.

Rosa takes pride in scooping her mole over freshly cooked chicken, several kinds of tacos, chilaquiles, and so many other best-selling dishes on her menu. She also faithfully prepares this recipe for her family at home, on special occasions like Mexican Independence Day every Sept. 16, holidays, and birthdays, she says.

Watch Rosa make her legendary mole, below, and find her step-by-step family recipe here.

Dish 2: How to Make Rosa’s Best-Selling Carne Asada

Carne asada is for good times and celebrations. No wonder it’s a best-seller at Rosa’s restaurant. In this video, below, watch as she shows you how to ”make my deliciosa carne asada,” setting out the spices she’ll be using to season the skirt steak or arrachera, the traditional cut of beef used to make this dish. “This dish makes me feel very proud of my Mexican roots,” Rosa says.

This dish is all about the bold mix of spices and three liquids in the marinade, explains Rosa. The acids in the beer, lime juice and orange juice help break down the fibers in the skirt steak, making it tender and better able to absorb the spices’ flavors. As with so many recipes at La Esperanza, her carne asada is sprinkled with her proprietary seasoning mix, which includes: salt, black pepper, paprika, cumin and garlic powder.

Watch Rosa and Alejandra make their best-selling carne asada, below, and find their family recipe here.

Dish 3: How to Make Rosa and Ale’s Chicken Fajitas

Chicken fajitas were of course on the list when we asked Rosa to show us how to make three of her all-time favorite dishes in our special National Hispanic Heritage Month video series.

“Alejandra is the expert at making this dish,” says Rosa, stepping aside to let her daughter take over the cooking in their restaurant kitchen. “Plus, you really love fajitas, right?” Alejandra laughs. She does, and so does her own daughter, Rosa’s granddaughter. “We make these at home a lot. They are practical, affordable — and fast,” says Rosa.

Interestingly, these chicken fajitas are the one meal in this series she didn’t learn to cook from her mother when she was growing up in Jalisco, Mexico. “I learned how to make this dish in my life travels,” says Rosa. “We are always running around so busy, and this dish is so fast and easy to make. These fajitas are very popular in our restaurant. Everyone loves them.“

Find more family-famous Mexican recipes at familiakitchen.com