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Mexican Cooking Tips (5 Of 6) Recipe

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1 x
1 x Dictionary of MEXICAN Cookin

Directions

Step #1 GROUND RED PEPPER: From ground dried cayenne chilies, this is often called "cayenne pepper".
Step #2 See Chili, Cayenne.
Step #3 GUAVA: These yellow-green fruits with pale faintly pink flesh are about the size of a plum.
Step #4 They are intensely fragrant when ripe.
Step #5 Guava paste is only one of the fruit pastes beloved of Hispanics, often served with cream cheese as dessert.
Step #6 The fruit is cooked with sugar until thick, then canned or shaped into blocks.
Step #7 HOMINY: These corn kernels have been soaked & lightly cooked so that the outer coating can be removed.
Step #8 INSTANT CORN FLOUR TORTILLA MIX (MASA): This commercial product is the shortcut in making fresh corn tortillas.
Step #9 It is fresh corn MASA that has been dried & ground.
Step #10 JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE (Sunchoke) This knobbed root keeps well in the refrigerator or other cold place.
Step #11 Jerusalem artichokes discolor after peeling.
Step #12 Dip them in acidulated water as the flesh is exposed.
Step #13 Enjoy Jerusalem artichokes ray in salads, sauteed, or broiled, mashed or in a gratin.
Step #14 JICAMA: The flesh of the jicama root is often compared to that of the water chestnut, both for flavor & crunch.
Step #15 Jicama is related to the sharp-tasting turnip but is so mild in flavor that, when eaten raw, it is usually Sprinkle topd with lemon or lime juice & chili powder.
Step #16 After the brown fibrous skin has been pared away, jicama flesh does not discolor.
Step #17 Look for smallish jicama, which will be sweet & moist.
Step #18 JUNIPER BERRIES: The fruit of an ever green, juniper berries give gin its distinctive flavor.
Step #19 They are sometimes used to flavor game dishes.
Step #20 These blue-green berries are purchased dried.
Step #21 Add them (sparingly) whole to saucy foods for subtle flavor or slightly crushed for more impact.
Step #22 LARD: This has been perhaps the most frequently used cooking fat south of the boarder since it was introduced by the Spaniards.
Step #23 For tender, flaky pastries, lard can't be beat.
Step #24 It is little known that lard, for all its reputation, has approximately half the cholesterol of butter.
Step #25 MANGO: The skin of this oval fruit is washed in gold, red, pink, and parrot green.
Step #26 The flesh is deep yellow, juicy & richly perfumed.
Step #27 Mangoes have flat, oval pits.
Step #28 To slice the fruit, free it from the pit in large pieces.
Step #29 MASA: Literally "dough" in Spanish.
Step #30 MASA is cornmeal dough made from dried corn kernels that have been softened in a lime (calcium hydroxide) solution, then ground.
Step #31 Fresh MASA is commercially available in Mexico, but it is tricky to work with & dries out quickly.
Step #32 MASA comes finely ground, for tortillas, & coarsely ground for tamales.
Step #33 It is easier to use instant corn flour tortilla mix when making tortillas.
Step #34 NOPALES: These leaves of the prickly pear (nopal) cactus are firm crunch pads.
Step #35 Let size be your guide in buying them; the smaller the pad, the more likely it is to be tender.
Step #36 Use tweezers to remove spines, a sharp paring knife or vegetable peeler to remove their bases.
Step #37 With a flavor similar to green beans, NOPALES are eaten both raw & cooked.
Step #38 NUTS: In southwest cooking, nuts are sometimes ground & stirred into sauces as a thickening agent.
Step #39 In addition to giving the sauce more body, of course, raw nuts add, their own particular flavor.
Step #40 Toasted nuts are more often used as a garnish or in baking.
Step #41 TOASTING NUTS: Toasting enhances the flavor of the nut.
Step #42 To toast nuts, spread them in a single layer in an ungreased pan; bake this at 350 degrees F, stirring & checking for doneness frequently.
Step #43 Nuts are toasted when they are lightly browned.
Step #44 Let almonds, pecans & walnuts bake for 7 to 12 mins.
Step #45 Pine nuts toast more rapidly, in 5 to 7 mins.
Step #46 TO GRIND NUTS: To grind nuts, place 1/3 to 1/2 c at a time in the workbowl of a food processor/blender or mixer.
Step #47 Process them in short pulses just until ground (longer & you will have nut butter).
Step #48 PAPAYA: A nearly oval fruit with creamy golden yellow skin, orange yellow flesh & scores of shiny black seeds conveniently packed in its center.
Step #49 When slightly underripe, the flesh is firm (perfect for making into relishes); When ripe, it is so juicy as to be almost melting.
Step #50 PECAN: This oil-rich nut is an American native.
Step #51 See Nuts for toasting & grinding.
Step #52 PEPITA: See Pumpkin Seed PEPPER: There is PIPER NIGRUM, Peppercorn, & the CAPSICUM FRUTECENS & CASPSICUM ANNUUM, the family of vegetables know variously as peppers & chilies.
Step #53 Peppercorns came to the Western world originally from Madagascar.
Step #54 The success of medieval spice traders made black pepper more widely available & only a little less precious than it had previously been.
Step #55 Representing the FRUTESCENS contingent, bell peppers are related to chilies but lack the capsaicin (the comlb that makes them hot), Bell peppers are therefore known as "sweet".
Step #56 Until recently, bell peppers of any color than green were an oddity at many markets; today, there is a profusion of yellow, red & purple ones.
Step #57 Red and yellow are acknowledged to be the sweetest.
Step #58 Roast bell peppers as for chilies.
Step #59 --.
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