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 Mexico One Plate At A Time :: 068484186X
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Rick Bayless has been acclaimed widely as America's foremost proponent of Mexico's thrillingly diverse cuisine. In this companion book to his 26-part Public Television series, he takes us, with boyish enthusiasm, through Mexican markets, street stalls and home kitchens to bring us the great dishes of Mexico, one "plate" at a time. And each "plate" Rick presents here is a Mexican classic. Take guacamole, for instance. After teaching us the essentials for a perfect, classic guacamole, Rick shows how to spin contemporary interpretations, like his Roasted Poblano Guacamole with garlic and parsley. Rick's cuisine is always lively, but rooted in strong traditions. Always the teacher, Rick begins each "plate" with some never-before-found features: traditional benchmarks (Rick's idea of the best guacamole), when to think of the recipes (weeknight dinners or casual party food), and advice for American cooks (Rick's insight into the ingredients that make the dish). He rounds out each "plate" with suggestions for working ahead. To complete the journey into the Mexican mindset, Rick, with help from his testers, ends each "plate" with a question-and-answer section detailing just about everything a home cook might want to know: What are the best cuts of beef for grilled tacos? The best cheeses for quesadillas? Is one grill better than another? Rick draws from his years of living in Mexico, pulling us into the Mexican kitchen, to teach us how to create authentic Mexican dishes in our American kitchens. Rick is an Indiana Jones of the stove, a Julia Child of Mexican cuisine in black jeans and a T-shirt. Rick's goal: to enable folks all across the United States to create dishes that weave in the rich tapestry of Mexican flavor with ingredients that are widely available. He always provides ingredients that make the dish authentic, but he also delivers with the right substitute if an ingredient is hard to find. Experience food you can't wait to make in a new and user-friendly cookbook that contains the full range of dishes -- Starters, Snacks and Light Meals; Soups, Stews and Sides; Entrées; Desserts and Drinks. Rick serves up such classic Mexican plates as Tomatillo-Braised Pork Loin, Quick-Fried Shrimp with Sweet Toasty Garlic, Chiles Rellenos, Cheesy Enchiladas Suizas, and Mexican Vanilla-Scented Flan. And for an exciting taste of the unexpected, try Rick's contemporary interpretations of the classics -- Crispy Potato Sopes with Goat Cheese and Fresh Herbs, Grilled Salmon with Lemon-and-Thyme-Scented Salsa Veracruzana, Broiled Flank Steak with Tomato-Poblano Salsa and Rustic Cajeta Apple Tarts with Berry "Salsa." Food and friends, food and family. Good cooking, for Rick, is the unspoken animator of friends and family as they gather to share a meal. Rick's recipes lend themselves to weeknight family meals or celebrations. Take part in a tamalada, the tamal-making party before the party, or the ritual of a barbacoa, an earthy experience that Rick has made possible with a kettle grill in the backyard. 24 color photographs of finished dishes Photographs of Mexican location shots throughout Editorial Descriptions are usually submitted by the manufacturers, publishers and authors. Contact us if you are one of them, and wish to change the above description. |
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Author: Guest
`Mexico One Plate at a Time' by Rick Bayless with JeanMarie Brownson and Deann Groen Bayless is a companion volume to a 26 part PBS series and deserves much attention in that it presents us with a very refreshing new approach to cookbook subject matter and method of presentation.
The title of the book is no snappy afterthought. The book goes far beyond a simple series of individual recipes or even groupings of similar recipes for the same dish. It is a grand amalgam of authentic material similar to the recipes in his first book, `Authentic Mexican', exposition on the background of dishes not unlike the essays of John Thorne, and analysis of recipes to come up with the best, not unlike the style of `Cooks Illustrated', with the difference that Bayless often gives two or more alternative recipes from which the reader can choose. One recipe is a traditional Mexican approach and the alternatives may be either additional traditional recipes or `modern' recipes. The modern alternatives are not the same as `Americanized', but just newer recipes that may make more use of prepared ingredients.
The chapter on quesadillas is an excellent example of how Bayless approaches his subjects. The first thing which strikes me about the recipes is that while your average Food Network cook will use flour tortillas, the preferred Mexican choice is corn tortillas. And, while Rachael Ray and others build it as a sandwich of two tortillas with fillings in between, Bayless does it up much more like a wrap or possibly even a French omelet, where a single tortilla is laid flat, filled with stuffing in the center, and folded over after griddle-baking. In this chapter, we get three traditional recipes, one with a sautéed mushroom and cheese filling, one with squash blossom and leafy greens (spinach and arugula) and cheese filling, and one with home made corn tortillas and only cheese and epazote or cilantro leaves as filling. The recipes include detailed notes on technique and on cooking ahead tips. When appropriate, a chapter on a large subject such as quesadillas will include additional recipes on appropriate condiments such as salsa verde (green tomatillo salsa).
The `Cooks Illustrated' role comes in at the end the authors pose and answer `Questions and Answers from our Testing'. It is no surprise that the authors suggest that the best tortillas for quesadillas are homemade or made that day from a local tortilla bakery. A bit more surprising is the statement that good supermarket flour tortillas may be better than the average supermarket corn tortilla. To my mind, the biggest change giving a more authentic Mexican experience with these recipes is to switch from cheddar to Chihuahua, quesadilla, or asadero cheeses. Unfortunately, the only truly Mexican cheese I have seen in my local markets is queso fresco, which can be easily improvised with cottage cheese, farmer's cheese, or ricotta.
Using this style of exploring selected dishes in great detail means that Bayless covers a lot less different dishes than the usual 370-page cookbook. The book is divided into only four chapters with:
Starters, Snacks, and Light Meals with Guacamole, Ceviche, Queso Fundido, Sopes, Gorditas, Quesadillas, Tostadas, Tamales, Tacos, Enchiladas, and Chilaquiles.
Soups, Stews and Sides with Chicken Soup, Tortilla Soup, Seafood Soup, Pozole, Rice and Beans
Entrees with Chiles Rellenos, Turkey with Red Mole, Chicken with Green Pipian, Chicken Adobado, Fish a la Veracruzana, Fish in Excabeche, Seafood in Jojo de Ajo, Pork in Salsa Verde, Beef a la Mexicana, Carne Asada, and Barbacoa
Desserts and Drinks with Flan, Rice Pudding, Cajeta, Mexican Chocolate, Tropical Mango, and Tequila, Beer, and Wine.
The recipe for the Chicken Adobado is the first time where I saw a connection between a Mexican and Filipino dish, the famous Chicken Adobo. Both dishes use a strong vinegar marinade/braise. As the Philippine cookbooks claim, the Spanish influence in the islands was delivered via Mexico, so there is Mexican influence in Filipino cooking.
Aside from the very nice pictures, I would rely on a copy of `Authentic Mexican' rather than this book for it's glossary of Mexican ingredients. The glossary of Internet and Mail Order sources is as good or better than you will find in other books. Its best feature is the sources for seeds to plant Mexican vegetables.
One thing that strikes me as very strange is the appearance of olive oil in traditional recipes. The olive arrived in Mexico with the Spanish conquistadors, and olive trees did not flourish in Mexico. By Bayless' own statements, the traditional `lipid of choice' was lard that Bayless points out has a lot less cholesterol than butter.
This is a really super first book on Mexican dishes for Americans. It does not cover as broad a range as `Authentic Mexican', but it gives us all the best substitutions from American megamarts. And, I believe it is better written and edited. As PBS series hosts go, Mr. Bayless is super successor to wear the mantle of Julia Child. I just wish he would have beaten Bobby Flay on `Iron Chef America', but then, Flay had the home court advantage, experience, and won by but a single point.
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Author: Guest
This is a great Mexican cookbook. I can't recommend it enough. My husband asked for it on his birthday and since we like the dishes so much I plan to send a copy to my sister for her birthday. I find the recipes have a wide range of complexity and time required to prepare them. Although I will "cheat" and buy tortillas for my weekday menus instead of making them. We especially liked the Chipotle Chicken Salad Tacos which is a very quick and easy recipe for the weeknights. YUM.
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Author: Guest
This is a great book, no doubt about it. Unlike one of the other reviewer's, I did not find the recipes to be complex, just accurate. The hardest thing for me is that, since watching his tv show, I have a little Rick Bayless voice reading to me in my head when I pick up this book.And, what's the deal with that commercial for Burger King? I tried the sandwich based on Bayless's street credibility. It was disgusting. That 'baguette' turned out to be some sort of gummy bread-like product that no one would want to eat. I would expect him to have some input into the quality of any sandwich that he is helping to promote. This thing is junk. Why didn't they go with a bolillo or a telera? And why is he in a market in Los Angeles when the sandwich is called Santa Fe Chicken?
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Author: Guest
If you want to prepare real Mexican food, this book is a must.
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Author: Guest
We love mexican food and heard rave reviews about this book. Be warned, though - you'll need some time to prepare most of these recipes. If you have time on your hands and want to prepare meals that are very authentic then this is a great cookbook. However, when it's 6:00 and you are trying to throw something together for dinner, this is not the cookbook to use. My other gripe is that he is very long-winded in his instructions. This lends to the authenticity of each recipe, but it can be hard to follow. Everything we have made has been delicious but we have learned to plan ahead!
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