Cooking-Mexican-Recipes.com is created and edited by former Mexican Restaurant manager Robin Gai.  We spoke with Robin about the site and her inspiration for its creation.

Could you tell us a little about yourself?

I grew up in the restaurant business.  I was 12 when my dad started his own Mexican restaurant and my whole family worked there.    My first job was washing dishes.  I moved up to cooking and preparing the dishes in my teens.

By the time I graduated from college I decided to work full time in the family business.   I managed the kitchen while my dad tended the bar and my mom handled the waitresses.  After about six years I got married and started a family.  

Now, many years later, I created cooking-mexican-recipes.com because I wanted to share my knowledge with others and pay tribute to our family business.  I learned to cook some really great Mexican food from my dad.

What was the inspiration behind creating cooking-mexican-recipes.com?

My inspiration for creating cooking-mexican-recipes.com really came from my experience working with my dad.  We had such a great time in the restaurant business and lots of fun.  We had great tasting food and we were successful.

My father taught me about putting out a quality product, something you could be proud of.  As you know, the restaurant business is not an easy one to succeed in.   Because we did the important things right, we were successful.  Our food was definitely good.  All in all, my family had a successful business for 18 years.  After my parents retired, my dad never stopped talking about opening another restaurant.   I personally didn’t want to take on such a huge task.   So I turned to the internet to see if I could have a presence there and cooking-mexican-recipes.com was born.  People can use my recipes and cook great Mexican food at home.

What can readers find on cooking-mexican-recipes.com?

95 percent of the recipes on my main site, not including the blog,  are prepared and tested by me before they are posted on my site.   I never just post a recipe to put something up.  I’m all about quality.  So I do my best to post great-tasting recipes. You will find recipes for enchiladas, chile verde, carne asada, fajitas, salsas, and 3 milks cake to name a few.  I am also including more and more pictures of the recipes.  I think people like to see those pictures and it helps them understand how to make things with detailed instructions.

I have also included recipes that are my family favorites.  These are mostly dessert-type recipes that are traditions in my house.  Desserts like my apple pie, mint brownies, peanut butter balls, and Chiffon pumpkin pie (from my husband’s nana) that I make at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  You will also find that if you have a question about something,  or you need cooking advice, you can write to me and get an answer.

What are your favorite things to cook/bake?

I love to cook a lot of things, but for Mexican food I would have to say chile rellenos.  I don't make them often, but I have made thousands for the restaurant and they are just plain fun to make.  There is a technique to it.  Maybe one day I will make a video.

Salsa is another one I love to make, because I love eating it.  Our tostada compuesta is another of my favorites to make and eat. I've never had anything like it in any restaurant. 

I’m married to an Italian, so I love Italian food with lots of garlic.  I love to take some pasta, sauté some veggies and lots of garlic, add some Parmesan cheese and enjoy!  Did I mention that I love dessert?  Chocolate chip cookies, apple pie, toffee, I could go on and on.  I like to make these and then give them away so I won't eat all of it.  I also like making homemade hot sauce.  I cook up a gallon every couple of months and then give most of it away to my friends.  I have a few who are really addicted to it.  That's one recipe you won't find on my site.  It's top secret.  Maybe someday it will get bottled.

If you could summarize Mexican cooking into one quote, what would it be?

Okay this is an easy one.  This is a quote my dad would say when we worked in the restaurant.  He would be talking and joking with the
customers and he would tell them: “It’s got to be hot to be good!” So that sort of turned into our motto.

It always got a good laugh.  This didn’t just mean spicy hot.  He meant temperature hot.  And I agree with him.  We used to heat our plates in the oven and wouldn’t take them out till the sauce had a little bubble going on.  The taste is just better that way.

For more information, visit www.Cooking-Mexican-Recipes.com