María Del Mar Cuadra
Serious Eats
New York, United States
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Past articles by María:
Sopa de Albóndigas de Pollo (Nicaraguan Chicken Meatball Soup)
This Nicaraguan version of chicken soup has tender corn masa–based chicken dumplings infused with culantro and mint. → Read More
Apple Cider Doughnut Cake Recipe
Apple cider doughnuts reimagined as a bundt cake, no deep frying required. → Read More
Cuban Picadillo Recipe
Picadillo is classic Cuban comfort food, made from ground meat mixed with a flavorful combination of olives, capers, and raisins → Read More
Pumpkin Cheesecake With Gingersnap Crust Recipe
Pumpkin pie is great, but this pumpkin cheesecake with a gingersnap crumb crust and spiced nut topping may be even better. → Read More
Gallopinto (Nicaraguan Rice and Beans) Recipe
Rice and beans are served at every single meal in Nicaragua. It's either rice and beans, or riceandbeans, otherwise known as gallopinto ("red rooster," though friends and I used to call it "painted rooster" due to odd translations and plain old foolishness). The name alludes to the color of the mixture of white rice and small red kidney beans, which mirrors that of the king of the coop. → Read More
Spaghetti Squash Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Recipe
Crusty rolls stuffed with shallot and sage-scented spaghetti squash and melted cheddar cheese. → Read More
Sandwiched: Grilled Steak, Avocado, and Spicy Crema
Toasted bread, grilled steak, velvety avocado, and cool spicy crema make this an incredibly satisfying sandwich. → Read More
Sandwiched: Crisp Grilled Cheese
If it were socially acceptable, rather than a qualifying attribute to be a guest on Freaky Eaters, I'd eat grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner every night. And for breakfast each morning—although in that instance I'd to sneak a fried egg in the middle. Here's one I make when I have more time to enjoy the slowly crisping buttery bread and the quiet melt of a mound of curled-up orange cheese… → Read More
How to Make a Better Breakfast Sandwich
The whole mess of ham, bacon, eggs, and thin slices of yellow American cheese are piled onto one side of the bun, then covered and pressed to squash everything together: cheese melts on contact with the hot contents, egg yolks ooze out velvety yellow goodness, fat-slicked ham nestles crisp strips of bacon. A cup of coffee and you're ready for the day. → Read More
Classic Breakfast Sandwich Recipe
The breakfast sandwich gets a little special attention and goes from ho-hum on-the-go meal to morning spectacular. → Read More
Monte Cristo Sandwich (Fried Ham and Swiss with Red Currant Jelly) Recipe
This particular Monte Cristo calls for my preferred combination of ham and cheese for the filling. Please note that whenever there is cheese in a hot sandwich I like to use it as glue. In this instance, the build is... → Read More
Easy Homemade Doughnuts Recipe
Note on the biscuits: I used Pillsbury biscuits for this recipe. One roll of "Buttermilk" biscuits yields ten small (about 2 1/2-inch inches in diameter) doughnuts and ten tiny doughnut holes. You'll need a 1/2-inch round cutter to punch out... → Read More
Peanut Butter Granola Snack Cake Recipe
Satisfying and dense, this cake is crowned with a granola-based topping that melts and increases in crunchiness as it bakes, turning into a cookie-like shell. Peanut butter, cake, cookie—get all your cravings satisfied in a single bite. → Read More
Tres Leches Cake Recipe
Notes: The whipped cream in this recipe is stabilized with unflavored gelatin and cream cheese—feel free to omit those ingredients if you expect the cake to go in one sitting. This recipe can be halved. If doing so, bake the... → Read More
Champurrado (Mexican Chocolate Atole) Recipe
Warm, rich, and luxuriously thick, champurrado is Mexican hot chocolate with an unexpected secret ingredient: corn masa. → Read More
Guava and Cream Cheese Pastelitos Recipe
Notes:Guava paste is available in the Latin American aisle of most supermarkets and also in a variety of online stores. In a pinch, quince paste is an acceptable substitute. I used one (17.3-ounce) package of Pepperidge Farm brand frozen puff... → Read More
Torta de Elotes (Corn Torte) Recipe
To feed the hordes, doña María used to make her torta de elotes in a large, deep, rectangular baking dish, which I suspect was actually a medium-sized roasting pan. It was thick, dense, and hearty; an edible corn brick that tasted of earthy white corn and pungent cheese. → Read More
Cocada (Coconut Bark) Recipe
This cocada is gooey and even custardy, with a caramelized, chewy surface and bottom and the unmistakable fleshy crunch of coconut. → Read More
Buñuelos de Yuca y Queso (Yuca and Cheese Fritters) Recipe
These golden, crusty, cheesy fritters are on the salty side. But when with a served warm, dark mahogany-colored, cinnamon and clove-scented simple syrup, they make for a wonderfully sweet and savory end to a meal. → Read More
Tres Leches de Coco (Coconut Tres Leches Cake) Recipe
Tres leches is typically topped with mounds of whipped cream, but this one gets a toasted marshmallow cap with bits of bronzed and toasted coconut. → Read More