CORONA DEL MAR TODAY

Sol Cocina Chef Unveils New “Amor y Tacos” Cookbook

SOL Cocina opened last July to raves from critics and local foodies — and now the executive chef is putting Newport Beach and her Baja-inspired cuisine on the map with the launch of her new cookbook.

At a party featuring cocktail lessons by an award-winning mixologist in a private room at the restaurant at 251 East Coast Highway (near Bayside Drive), Executive Chef Deborah Schneider whipped up snacks from her book “Amor y Tacos.”

“It’s a party book,” she told a group of about 25 people who sampled lobster tostada, ceviche macho with raw beef and habanero on a beet chip, fresh guac and cocktails. The book features recipes Schneider says are “SOL-inspired.”

Manny Hinojosa, the mixologist, demonstrated how to make Spicy Verde (fresh cilantro, jalapeno and celery) and Watermelon Margarita (fresh watermelon, basil, guajillo chile and agave nectar) — the secret, he said, was in the muddling.

Schneider also wrote “Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta,” which was nominated for a 2009 James Beard Award, and “Baja! Cooking on the Edge.” She and her recipes also have been featured in Food & Wine magazine.

“Tacos y Amors” is a book filled with recipes for antojitos (think Mexican tapas, or little bites), cocktails and fruit drinks, inspired by the taco bars and Baja stands that Schneider discovered on countless surf trips.

Recipes include Blackberry Mint Margaritas, “Bite of the Chupacabra,” guacamole with fruit, grilled lamb taco and taco vampiro — so called because the taco “deserves to be immortal…”

Schneider said she’s planning a few local book signing events for May. The book is available online and at the restaurant.

Top photo shows Chef Deborah Schneider with Tom Johnson, co-founder of The Newport-Mesa Daily Voice; the next photo shows house-made guac; the next photo shows Manny Hinojosa mixing a drink while Cathy Thomas, a contributing food writer for the Orange County Register, watches; the next photo shows Erik Hale, founder Locale Magazine that will launch this summer, next to Chef Schneider; and the bottom photograph shows Greg Happeny, editor of OCStandard and his wife, Pamela Waitt, president of the Orange County Restaurant Association.