When Thomasina Miers first visited  Mexico at the tender age of eighteen,  she fell so in love with its food that she went back to live there, opening up a cocktail bar in Mexico City and using her free time to travel the country and cook with some of Mexico’s top chefs. Returning to London, she entered and won  BBC’s MasterChef in 2005. She went on to open a  Mexican street food cantina, Wahaca, which won the Observer Food Monthly’s ‘best cheap eats’ award, and has now opened three branches. She writes a regular recipe column in the Times and is co-editor of Soup Kitchen (2005) and the author of Cook (2006) and Wild Gourmets (2007). Her latest book Mexican Food Made Simple is a really great introduction into Mexican food, as she puts it  “It’s not necessarily completely authentic – I’m not trying to prove how good at making this food I am! It’s meant to be fun and accessible.“

And accessible it certainly is.  Recipes are simple to follow, yet at the same time wholesome and full of Mexican flavour.  The book is written in a very easy to read style. it has some great chapters including sauces and salsas, salads, soups, snacks and easy dishes for the grill.  If you like it spicy, this book is a definite must.

Click here for a delicious recipe from the book.

Interested in buying this book? visit - Red Pepper Books – The South African online bookshop, they will be able to offer you great prices on any book you are looking for.

Wickedfood Cooking School, Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Thomasina Miers is one of Britain’s rising star chefs. This recipe is from her latest book Mexican Food Made Simple. Skirt steak, a cheap cut, is a favoured piece of meat in Mexico, thanks to its rich flavour. As long as you cook it quickly over a high heat, the meat will be tender and delicious.

Steak burritos. Photograph: Tara Fisher

600g skirt steak

3-4 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

juice of half an orange

1 chilli de arbol, finely chopped

sea salt and black pepper

4 wraps (corn tortillas, chappatis or other wraps)

1 tbsp olive oil

4 spring onions

about 150g warm cooked black beans

about 200g warm rice (optional)

salsa

1 avocado, peeled and mashed with the juice of a lime

3-4 tbsp crème fraîche

chopped coriander leaves

120g extra mature cheddar cheese (optional)

1. If the skirt steak is cut into thick slices, butterfly it out into thin steaks by cutting it down the middle with a sharp knife. Marinate the steak in the olive oil, garlic, orange juice, chilli and seasoning for 30 minutes.
2. Heat each tortilla in a hot, dry frying pan for about 10 seconds a side to make it soft and pliable.
3. Heat up a griddle or heavy-bottomed frying pan until smoking hot and add the olive oil. Top the spring onions and peel off the outer skin before chopping them up into 2-3cm lengths. Season with salt and pepper and put onto the hot griddle.
4. Pat the steak dry with some kitchen paper and add to the griddle pan. Sear for a minute on each side (or 90 seconds, tops). Leave to stand for a minute on a warm plate while you finish cooking the spring onions. They should be soft and slightly charred. When the spring onions are cooked, remove from the pan, add the reserved marinade from the steak and let it sizzle up before pouring over the warm beans. Chop up the steak into bite-size pieces across the grain (you can see the grain all running in one direction, so cut across these lines at a right angle).
5. Fill the tortillas with the steak, beans, rice, salsa and spring onions. Add some mashed avocado, a drizzle of crème fraîche, some coriander leaf and the cheese, and toast if you like, your burrito crispy. Eat up at once.

Mexican dishes are easier to make than to pronounce. Thomasina Miers shares her favourites … click here for more of her Mexican dishes.

Wickedfood Cooking School, Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.