kalypso

Others may disagree, but I think these 3 Mexican cookbooks are a great foundation for cooking Mexican. I think Mexican Kitchen is Rick's strongest, Diana's The Art of Mexican Cooking is also one of her best (I'd agree with Janeer that Cuisines of Mexico is also very good) and Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz' book is absolutely underated and underappreciated. I've probably got close to 200 cookbooks on Mexican cooking in English and Spanish, and more often than not, I find myself coming back to these 3 books as my starting point.

Nakji, I'm coming to your house for dinner too! Seriously, those potatoes look really good. And, as for The Art of Mexican Cooking, don't let it intimidate you. It's my favorite DK cookbook. Most of the recipes are pretty doable with good end results. Substituting Chinese chiles would probably work well enough.

Yummy I'm coming to your house for dinner!

Mexican. I grew up eating pretty respectable Cal-Mex, but it wasn't until I went to central Mexico in the early '80s and lived with a Mexican family and was exposed to the depth and variety that I was utterly seduced by the cuisine

Darienne, not sure you really need to do the RSS thing with MexConnect. It's one of the very best all-around resources for Mexico on the web. Just go to the MexConnect web site (MexConnect.com) and you can access all their culinary information including the archieves. It used to be a subscription site but a year to 18 months ago it re-invented itself and is no longer a fee for service site. I've been on MexConnect since 2002 or 2003 and have gotten a lot of good information on assorted topics. The Forums on MexConnect are great, some of them are a little better than others, but they're all fairly active. There is a Cooking forum and it's more active than the Mexico board here on eGullet. You may have to register to post, buy you can read for free. Karen Hursh Graber lives in Cuernavaca and is their culinary editor; the majority of articles are written by her. I've seen articles published by her in some of the U.S. food trade magazines. I do think, however, that she writes for the ex-pat or American palate. I've tried several of her recipes and while they're "okay", they've not wow'ed me and I think the flavor profiles are a little bland. The information she includes in her articles is usually accurate and pretty good, I think she may have dumbed down the recipes a bit for non-Mexican tastes. Or, perhaps, I've just tried the wrong recipes who knows. In any event I can heartily give Andiesenji's recommendation of MexConnect a couple of big thumbs up. Check out their web site - http://www.mexconnect.com/ - and give it a whirl

Mexico Cooks The author occasionally posts here under the name Esperanza. This is pretty much the gold standard for Mexican food related blogs for m. Street Gourmet LA tends to be more oriented to Los Angeles, northern Baja with the occasional foray into interior Mexico. The author is a musician who is always in search of good eats. Usually a pretty interesting read. Not strictly Mexican, but with some good and related stuff non-the less, the Rancho Gordoblog is loads of fun and has good info And finally the Top 10 Mexican Food blogs and bloggers . Not entirely sure who made up this list, I found it just by Googling and it looks pretty solid.

Rhode Island Red hens produce brown eggs, I'm guessing it might mean eggs from the Rhode Island Red variety of chicken.

Don't think you're missing something Jaymes, fish tacos are a producto de Mexico, not the American Southwest. Ralph Rubio certainly popularized the fish taco and help mainstream it with his chain of Rubio's quick service restaurants, but he ddin't invent it. By his own admission, his fish tacos were originally based upon the fish tacos he enjoyed during Spring Break surfing trips to San Felipe, Baja California del Norte. Contrary to popular belief, the fish taco was not invented in San Diego, just the chain that made them popular.

The under the broiler method always used to frustrate me too. Yeah, I could get a decent char on the chiles and get them peeled, but they also ended up getting cooked too much and were too soft. That's when I started using the oil method at home. Then we remodeled and went to a gas range top instead of electric and I've been in chile roasting heaven ever since

Congratulations on your success with the chiles rellenos The frying method for skinning chiles works really well. I've done it at work using our commerical deep fryers when we've had to skin a lot of them. Aside from being a little bit messy it's pretty effective.

I lived in the Bay Area when One Market first opened and dined there on many occasions. It was one of my favorite places, not because, as you point out, because it breaks new culinary ground, but because it consistently and reliably turns out good to very good food coupled with good to very good service. It was always a rock-solid dining choice. Glad to hear it's still doing well

Yes, it does help. I like this method of shaping and forming better than the one I tried. This dough is a pleasure to work with and well suited to your method. In addition I think it will yield a nicer, more interesting final product. Thanks for the suggestion, I'm going to try it soon.

I would agree, her instructions sometimes leave something to be desired. I'm a pretty good baker, but I've had some difficulty figuring out what she intended. I learned after my first recipe I needed to read each one pretty thoroughly before starting out on it. For example, some of her recipes call for tepid/lukewarm liquid for proofing yeast, others don't. After having made a couple of them, you do need to use tepid/lukewarm liquid. I should have trusted my instincts and used the warm liquid on the one recipe I tried that didn't call for it. The lack of clarity is a little frustrating, but so far hasn't been a big deterrent. The Huachiboles are another example of the lack of instruction clarity. Mine looked pretty much like large dinner rolls. I gather the corners up and pressed them together, then flipped the packet over and made it into a ball. I'm not entirely sure this is correct, but it's how I interpretted her directions

I got My Sweet Mexico back in October and have been cooking pretty successfully from it. The first thing I, too, made were the Empanadas de Jitomate They are very good and ridiculously easy to make. The dough is so forgiving and the jam a snap. I've actually made them several times and taken them to parties where not only are they a novelty, they also disappear pretty quickly. I've also made the Huachiboles and the Pan de Muerto, both of which were very good. I made another recipe that didn't turn out so well, but I think it was an equipment error on my part. I was going to work my way through some of the candies and cookies duruing the holidays but didn't quite get there. You're right, there isn't much on Mexican desserts other than flan, churros, bunelos, this book certainly presents a much wider spectrum.

I would agree with this, it also has fewer problems. I've owned a Pro 5 for about 8 years now and haven't had a bit of problem with it and it get regular use. It's fair sturdier and more durable than the artisan line. It doesn't have the tilt head feature, which is a pain for adding ingredients but it does a great job otherwise

Boy, what rotten timing. We haven't seen this much rain all at once in 5 years and you get an herb that needs to be dried. Epazote doesn't freeze well. Go the drying over the furnace route. Good luck

Get ready, lime prices are about to go up again. USDA has barred the import of Mexican limes into any state that has commerical citrus crops. The Mexican limes apparently are infected with a disease that is easily transmitted tree to tree and could inflict some serious damage to citrus growers. There is also some debate as to whether or not the disease has actually been controlled and the USDA was meeting yesterday (Dec. 17th) to review the status and decide whether or not to leave the embargo in place or lift it. This information came from my produce company in a special release they sent to customers

Tracy, I think you've got chocolate de metate. If so, that would be chocolate that was fround from bean to finished product on the metate. I've seen it shaped in bars, balls and discs, so why not a cylinder like you've got. If there is no sweetener in it that you can discern, nor almond or cinnamon, you can use it pretty much like you would use any bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate. How big a piece did you taste? If it was a good sized little hunk and you tasted no seasoning, you can use it in baked goods calling for unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate. It may not melt as well as some of the products we're used to NOB. It will, however, probably melt in a hot liquid such as milk, water, coffee or liquor. It was most likely made to be a drinking chocolate and making hot chocolate with it is probably your best bet. To do that simply heat as much water (or milk) as you'd like until simmering or boiling. Lower heat and begin adding pieces of the chocolate and whisking until melted/dissolved. Taste and adjust seasoning by adding sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves or whatever, it's your choice here. Keep adding chocolate until you get the taste and consistency that you want. Transfer mixture to a blender and whip on high until frothy and aerated. (Start the blender on low and leave the lid a little bit ajar so that the hot liquid doesn't blast the top off when you turn on the blender). Pour into cups or mugs for service. There aren't any hard and fast ratios for making hot chocolate from Mexican chocolate. Many of the boxes indicate 6-8 oz of water per disc or bar of chocolate. My personal experience with it has been that it takes more chocolate than you'd think to get the chocolate where you want it.

This sounds like a must-have for an avid Mexican cook like me. I took the Empanadas de Jitomate to a Christmas part this afternoon, where they were a HUGE hit. I will say that it's probably not a cookbook for novice bakers or candymakers. The recipes are sound but some the instructions aren't quite as clear as they could have been. That said, I have really enjoyed cooking from this book and my tasters have been well pleased

My Sweet Mexico came out in September of this year. I've been cooking (baking really ) from it since October. Beverages, breads, candies and desserts from Mexico with really good text explaining ingredients, traditions, methods etc. Exceeded my expectations. Surprise hit and keeper cookbook for me this year.

With fresh poblanos you can... * Make rajas, once you've peeled and seeded the chile, cut them into strips about 1/4" +/- wide. You can use them like this, or.. * turn them into rajas en escabeche (i.e. lightly pickled) * turn them into raja con crema - super simple, slice up a big onion and lightly sautee it. Toss in the chile strips, season with salt, pepper and a little garlic if you want it. Finish with crema, but since you probably can't get that, substitute creme fraiche, or simply use some sour cream thinned with a little milk or cream. I love rajas con crema. It's a great side dish for beef, makes a great for bed grilled chicken and a fantastic taco filling. Also works pretty well as a baked potato topping. The rajas en escabach works well with meaty fish and any place where you need some acid to cut the richness of a dish. * You can make a cream soup with pureed poblanos, or just add them to soup * You can cut them into cubes and toss them in with scrambled eggs or mince up and add to deviled eggs * Add them to sandwiches * Use them in place of green peppers on a chicken kebab * Puree and add to any sauce for a little interest and kick * Add them to salads Pretty much anything you can do with a green pepper, you can do with a Poblano. I love poblanos, they make the house smell great when you're charring them, they have a nice flavor with just enough heat and they're pretty versatile. I think they go with almost everything but seem to pair exceptionally well with potatoes, eggs, chicken and pork. I can get them all year long, so they don't really have a season where I live. I suspect that's not the case in your neck of the woods. Good luck with them. I would just experiment with them to get used to working with them and their flavor profile and figure out what you like and don't like.

I was hoping Chef's Tio and Forgione would be the final 2 (even tho' like everyone else I really like Ming Tsai). I only got half the equation. I'm going to have to be in Chef Forgione's corner for the final, I find Chef Canora fairly unlikeable and rather annoying not to mention self serving and arrogant.

I live in the best place in the world. Not necessarily from a food standpoint, but the quality of living in San Diego, CA is outstanding. It's not called America's Finest City without reason However, if I could live anywhere in the world it would probably be Mexico City. It's big, it's chaotic but has phenomenal energy and vitality.

This is just an update on the cooking times for the Flan Imposible (ChocoFlan). I made 6 of these yesterday at work for a function we're having today. We've got Montague double convection ovens at work and these things really rock, they are some of the best commercial ovens on the market. They also oeprate at a pretty high BTU rating. The first 2 flanes went in the oven at 350* with the convection feature on. They cooked in about 40 - 45 mintues, which is less than the time in the recipe. The next 2 went in the other oven at 350* with the convection feature off. These took 50 mintues, which was the time in the recipe. The last 2 went back into the first oven with the convection feature off. Unfortunately, my employees were at the end of their shift and kept turning the oven off without looking inside as they thought all the baking was done for the day Once we got the oven turned back on these took about 45 mintues +/-. My guess is that this recipe was probably originally developed using a commercial oven, whether in a test or restaurant kitchen. On the positive side, this recipe is pretty sturdy/flexible and can stand up to the variables of home kitchen ovens. The recipe works regardless of the oven used, tho' cooking times may vary considerably I've now made this recipe about 15 times, for home use my recommendation is to use an oven thermometer to verify the temperature and then monitor the cake for doneness beginning at about the 45 - 50 mintue mark and adjust the cooking time to your oven. If your oven has the ability to do convection cooking, use it. This does speed the cooking time and it does not affect the appearance or quality fo the finished product. DanM...think about actually mixing your puree of butternut squash and chipotles into the masa para tamales and then just filling with your leftover turkey

Jaymes, you've seen tomates verdes in the mercados in Mexico. You'd recognize them if you saw them. I have some pretty decent pictures of them, in the husk and out, that I keep trying to upload without success. If I have time tonight I'll upload them to Flickr and link it.