Shannon Bard - The Gourmet Mexican Kitchen

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In Memory

MY MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHERS

Who taught me a love of cooking that has now become my passion.

Dedication

TOMMY LOVE, HUSBAND AND BEST FRIEND

For believing in me despite all odds as well as for a million other things.

DYLAN, DEVIN, LOGAN & CAMDEN

For being you. My hope is to make you proud and be an example that it is never too late to follow your dreams.

In my family, we love to cook. Somehow cooking has always been something that created a happy experience for me, even before I became a professional chef. Maybe it was because the resulting meals would be enjoyed with my family sitting around our large kitchen table, appreciating not only what I prepared but also each others company. Or maybe it was because all holidays celebrated with friends and family always began and ended in the same placethe kitchen.

It is this love of cooking that made me decide to become a professional chef. Prior to becoming a chef, I was successful in the corporate world and even more successful as a stay-at-home mom raising my four children. It wasnt until my youngest son enrolled in kindergarten that I decided to change my love of cooking into a career. At the age of forty, I enrolled in culinary school and started on the path that has led me to where I am now: restaurant owner, chef and now cookbook author. I have two successful restaurants, Zapoteca Restaurante y Tequileria and Mixteca Taqueria, and get to do what I love every day cook.

At the restaurants when I am walking the floor and visiting guests, I often get asked, Why Mexican? I guess it seems a bit odd for those who dont know methat a blonde-haired, green-eyed woman is cooking traditional Mexican cuisine. To me, its something that just seems natural.

During my youth in Oklahoma, I was surrounded by Mexican food and culture. Over time, I learned a deep appreciation for the Mexican people and their love of family, food and celebrations. As I continued my culinary education, I began researching and learning more about Mexican cuisine and the culture of the people that create it.

For a very long time, Mexican food has been underappreciated and underestimated around the world. It wasnt until recent years that the culinary community has really sat up and taken notice of the intricate flavors and techniques that Mexican food has to offer. Today Mexican food is finally being noticed and appreciated for all that it has to offer, not just its tacos and enchiladas.

In this book, I do include some recipes for tacos and enchiladas, but also more intricate and elegant recipes from around the Mexican country. Ive made many of these recipes since I was a little girl, while others are based on my culinary training and research while traveling in Mexico. All recipes, however, represent food that I love and that satisfies my palate.

I love bold, memorable spices and unique flavor combinations. I love the surprise on the palate when you taste sweet flavors combined with a hint of spicy chile pepper. I love the brininess of not only seafood but also just the right amount of salt added to a dish to make it sing with flavor. I love the complexity of mole sauce that has been simmered for hours in such a way that the ingredients blend together as one to create the perfect marriage. I love the earthy taste of corn masa, whether it has been lightly grilled for tortillas or steamed in corn husks for tamales. These are the flavors that you will find in this book. At my restaurants, you can often hear me say that I want my guests to remember my food just as much as I want them to love it. I hope that you create memorable meals and flavors in your home using these recipes, flavors that you crave and want to cook and eat again and again.

Prior to each meal, my family gives a traditional toast stating what we are happy for. The toast always ends with the words a la familiato the family.

So from my kitchen to yours, and from my family to yours, a la familia!

If youve ever had the good fortune to visit a market in Mexico, you know that Mexico is virtually a cornucopia of ingredients. The Mexican open-air markets are overflowing with different kinds of chiles, nuts, seeds, fresh fish and produce as far as the eye can see.

These varieties of ingredients are what help make Mexican cuisine so unique. Luckily today as the palates of the world expand, so does the availability of international products here in the US. My jaw no longer drops to the floor when I see an entire aisle dedicated to Latin ingredients at my local grocery store. As a farmers daughter, I also realize the importance of buying local products whenever possible and encourage you to do so when you can. The grocers are not the only ones increasing the number of Mexican products available; local farmers markets throughout the country have expanded their crops to include produce such as tomatillos, jalapeos and squash blossoms.

In this section, I have listed ingredients that are mentioned throughout the cookbook that make a vital difference in the final flavor outcome of a dish. Ive tried to list substitutions whenever possible, but at times, there simply are no suitable substitutions. Ive also tried to only list the items that you may not be familiar with, and I have not created an enormous list of ingredients, as the vast array of Mexican ingredients is so large that entire books have been dedicated to them.

Many of the techniques listed are not dissimilar to those used in American kitchens. Roasting ingredients without oil (dry roasting) is an essential technique that imparts a slightly charred flavor and intensifies the taste of the vegetables. If you try only one technique in this book, thats the one that I suggest you try, as it could change the way you cook from now on.

The equipment necessary in Mexican cooking does not include elaborate, expensive tools. Cooking should be enjoyable, so if you do not have a tool listed, use what you have on hand to get the job done. If you dont have a molcajete, use a blender. After all, the molcajete is sometimes referred to as the Mexican blender. The flavor outcome will be slightly different, but in the end, that is a small price to pay to keep your sanity and enjoy your time in the kitchen.