Linda Rodriguez - The I Dont Know How to Cook Book Mexican: 300 Everyday Easy Mexican Recipes—That Anyone Can Make at Home!

TheI Dont
Know How to
Cook"BookMEXICAN 300 EVERYDAY EASY MEXICAN RECIPES
THAT ANYONE CAN MAKE AT HOME! LINDA RODRIGUEZ Copyright 2008, F+W Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any
form without permission from the publisher; exceptions
are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews. Published by Adams Media, an F+W Publications
Company
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www.adamsmedia.com ISBN 13: 978-1-59869-607-3
ISBN 10: 1-59869-607-6
eISBN: 978-1-44051-526-2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
is available from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. J I H G F E D C B A This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a
Committee of the American Bar Association and
a Committee of Publishers and Associations Contains material adapted and abridged from The EverythingMexican Cookbook by Margaret Kaeter, copyright 2004 Simon and Schuster. This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.
For information, please call 1-800-289-0963.ContentsAcknowledgments Mary-Lane Kamberg wrote the first I Dont Know How to Cook Book, a simple and simply brilliant concept. Id like to thank her for beginning this series. Special thanks to my husband, Ben Furnish, and my children, Crystal, Niles, and Joseph. And above all to the late Jenny Rodriguez, who taught me how to cook Mexican so long ago. I would particularly like to thank my friends, Ruben and Norma Campos, who own my favorite Mexican restaurant, Chellys Caf.

They have been generous with their time and answers to my questions. My gratitude goes also to the Latino Writers Collective for encouragement, support, and general crazy fun. Thanks, too, to my editor, Chelsea King, who made this process so painless. Introduction The original concept of The I Dont Know How to Cook Book was to create a hands-on learning experience for new cooks. In The I Dont Know How to Cook Book: Mexican, I have a similar goalto make Mexican cooking so easy and so much fun that even inexperienced cooks can enjoy a successful south-of-the-border cooking adventure in their own kitchens. If you love Mexican food as much as I do, youre in for a delicious treat.

You can make it yourself by following the easy directions you will find here. There are no fancy cooking terms in the recipes, though you can find them in a glossary at the end of the book for use with more traditional cookbooks. Also, I have taken advantage of the wide variety of already prepped and cooked foods available to the modern cook to make the cooking process quicker and simpler. Your greatest difficulty may be in finding specific Mexican foods and seasonings, but in recent years most of the specialty items required in these recipes have become widely available throughout the United States. Some of the dishes most identified as Mexican in the United States are actually Tex-Mex, a style of cooking that developed out of the centuries-long interaction between U.S. settlers in the Southwest and the Mexicans and Indians they found already living there and influencing each others language, dress, artand food.

Weve included these dishes, such as fajitas, in this cookbook, too. The recipes in this cookbook are grouped according to difficulty within each chapter and identified by these symbols: Vegetarian recipes are identified with a v right after the recipe title; vegetarian recipes do include eggs. Serving size is indicated below each easy level. Although some of these recipes are classified as hard, they are not really difficult, but they may require extra steps or a slightly more advanced technique. Begin with the many recipes marked easy and medium. Then try one of those marked hard, and youll be pleasantly surprised at how your cooking skills have developed.

It wont be long until youre planning a fiesta with your friends, and this is very authentic since Mexican and Mexican American cooks love to cook for their family and friends. Just practice your recipes for yourself first. Before you know it, you too will be always ready to pull up another chair and get out another bowl or spoon. Chapter 1
Get to Know Mexican Foods If fast food tacos and burritos are your idea of Mexican food, youre in for a surprise. No one eating what passes for commercial Mexican food in America would have any idea of the variety of tastes and textures good Mexican food providesor the variety of fruits and vegetables (almost always missing on that restaurant plate) found in good Mexican cooking.
Myths and Misconceptions
Unfortunately, overeager restaurateurs striving to bring Mexican cuisine into our lives perpetuate some common misconceptions about Mexican food. In their efforts to create meals that appeal to a palate not accustomed to spicy foods, they have eliminated the subtle blending of flavors and the wonderful textures in Mexican meals.

Even many of the more authentic Mexican restaurants tend to provide only the menu items that are familiar to most Americansenchiladas, burritos, tacos, and tostados, and always with sides of beans and rice.
Blend, Blend, Blend
Mexican cuisine has actually changed very little over the several thousand years that the country has been settled. Europeans brought new varieties of meats, vegetables, and cheeses, but the basic tenets of Mexican cooking are the same today as in the days of sun goddesses and tall pyramids. Mexicans blend everything. There is absolutely no mixture of foods and spices they wont try. To the Mexican cook, separate flavors are good, but when they are combined, they create something so unusual, so mouthwa-teringly wonderful, that you just have to try adding another combination of ingredients. Marinate the steak in garlic and olive oil? Sure, but cant we add just a little oregano, a few peppers, and some green tomatoes? At first, the tastes might seem too different, but you will quickly come to appreciate the melded flavor as something new in and of itself.

Dont worry that you find pork or poultry mixed with papayas and peppers. Its Mexican. Dont fret when you find chocolate in your meat sauce or wine in your eggs. Its Mexican. And dont cringe when you see specks of chili powder in your candy or peanuts and fruits floating in your water. The blend of flavors is tantalizingly, uniquely Mexican.

As a result, you will quickly find that Mexican cooking uses just a few basic main ingredientsmeat, beans, rice, tortillas, fruits, and vegetables but combines them in a multitude of different ways: