Posted by Adam Kuban, May 3, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Each Saturday evening we bring you a Sunday Supper recipe. Why on Saturday? So you have time to shop and prepare for tomorrow.
While the unofficial start to grilling season, Memorial Day, is yet to come, it's May, so what the H. And, to conflate two hallmarks of May, I think I'm going to fire up my own grill for the following recipe; it's adapted from a Rick Bayless recipe I clipped at some point, and I figure it's somewhat appropriate for Cinco de Mayo, which, for the non-Spanish-speaking folks in the audience, is this Monday, May 5. So check your propane tank or stock up on some coal and viva la grilling!
Continue reading »
Posted by Alaina Browne, May 3, 2008 at 10:34 AM
The michelada is a spicy beer cocktail that first became popular in northern Mexico. The cocktail's name is derived from "mi chela helada," or "my cold, light beer" and as the name suggests, is perfect for sipping on a hot summer day.
Continue reading »
Posted by Blake Royer, April 10, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Migas is the Spanish word for crumbs, and refers to the leftover bread originally used in this traditional Spanish dish, which was crumbled and sautéed in olive oil, perhaps with garlic or onion, sometimes peppers, and topped with a fried egg or two. Somewhere on its way from Spain to Mexico, the bread was replaced with leftover tortillas, cheese was added, and the eggs became scrambled to make this version, a Tex Mex tradition. But the name, migas, hung on. The version I made, from the Saralegui family's cookbook Our Latin Table, was creamy and satisfying, a twist on scrambled eggs imbued with the corny flavor of crumbled tortilla chips.
Continue reading »
Posted by Blake Royer, March 20, 2008 at 4:30 PM
Every time I open Rick Bayless's books, he proves to me that Mexican cooking is more than tacos and burritos. It's not that I didn't already know this--but somehow I'm still surprised when ingredients and flavors I'm used to eating in tortillas end up outside them. His book Mexican Everyday is his most accessible, full of quick meals from salads to soups to meat off the grill.
Continue reading »
Posted by Robin Bellinger, March 14, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Enchiladas may not be an essential part of everyone’s cooking repertoire, but this recipe from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook is so easy and versatile that I tend to be evangelical about it. Though the results are not authentically Mexican or even authentically Tex-Mex, they are consistently yummy.
The key here is that you can substitute two to three cups of just about anything pre-cooked for the three cups of chicken in the ingredients list. I like to make them with beans and kale, pulled pork, and even roasted potatoes and cauliflower. You could try beans and squash (inspired by 24 Boxes), and I’ve been meaning to try a breakfast version with scrambled eggs for a while now. (My only unsuccessful combination so far involved rice, which was just too starchy baked into the tortillas. This recipe is also not really good for cheese enchiladas. For cheese enchiladas, do yourself a favor and turn to Homesick Texan.)
Continue reading »
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, March 7, 2008 at 4:00 PM
I had little chorizo leftover from Monday’s fantastic chorizo, egg and raisin meal, and instead of making that same meal for the third time, I figured I’d try to see what else I could find. Contrary to all rationale, I was still in a taco munching mood, and so I quickly went for the Mexican guide to all things quick and easy, Rick Bayless. This isn’t the first time.
I’ve made this before with just the chorizo and potato, but I decided to finally pony up and get the mushrooms too. For some reason they felt unnecessary before. The potato was already going to add body and the chorizo had all the goodness. The mushrooms certainly don’t lighten up the dish like the raisins did, but they do make things a little more savory and a tad less greasy. It’s odd that it works so well, but I guess that’s just Bayless you.
Continue reading »
Posted by Blake Royer, February 12, 2008 at 4:30 PM
As good, competitive vegetarian tacos go, options are pretty limited: there's beans, and then...there's beans. I love a bean taco, but I can only eat so many. And as a meat eater, I'm not going to fall for a tofu taco. Granted, it may be pretty tasty—but why eat a vegetarian dish full of proteins that are designed, in this case, to mimic meat? So as I was flipping through the book that I often turn to first when I'm jonesing for some Mexican—Rick Bayless's Mexican Everyday
—this recipe stood out. I'm always looking for new ways to prepare the countless bundles of winter greens that end up in my grocery cart every week—collard, kale, all colors of chard. The fact that this was a brilliant new idea for a meatless taco was even more incentive.
Continue reading »
Posted by Robyn Lee, January 30, 2008 at 12:00 PM
The following recipe is from the January 30th edition of our weekly recipe newsletter. To receive this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here!
During this Sunday's Superbowl game, refuel the energy you expend while shouting/cheering at your television screen with these simple chicken fajitas from Robb Walsh's The Tex-Mex Cookbook. Although he leaves it up to you to decide what condiments to include, I'm all about piling salsa and dips onto my grilled chicken, mostly in the form of guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo. ...And perhaps refried beans and rice.
Continue reading »
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, November 28, 2007 at 5:00 PM
This Mexican-inspired dish comes by way of England, which seems a tad ridiculous. But my guide in the proceedings was Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the star of the BBC series River Cottage. I’ve been devouring the three DVD box set The River Cottage Collection (which unfortunately doesn’t play on my American DVD player, but does on my computer). I’ve gotten to watch him slaughter some pigs, make black pudding, and drink a lot of locally made cider. And just recently, I came across an episode where he grew a bunch of peppers in his polytunnel and tried to find some good recipes for them. He wrapped some poblanos in a tortilla, fired it up with some salsa, and hawked it to Londoners at a farmer’s market for a pretty penny. After a week full of heavy meat dishes this sounded like a great break. It contained no meat, but still packed lots of flavor.
For little authenticity insurance, I also consulted Diana Kennedy’s The Essential Cuisines of Mexico. She convinced me to cook the peppers on top of the stove, and then cut it into strips. That seemed to work better with the excellent little corn tortillas I picked up at the local Mexican grocer. But the inspiration is all River Cottage. The pepper has a chocolate fullness with just a pinch of heat. I didn’t miss the meat at all. I also heaped on some hot salsa and sour cream to round out mine. But some refried beans would feel welcome as well.
Continue reading »
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, November 23, 2007 at 4:00 PM
Sure, I’ve got enough turkey leftovers to feed me for a week. But what I’m usually looking for on the day after is some kind of reprieve from all the madness. While I truly love the All-American meal, I usually like something that is nice and light with an acidic kick. Turns out, all I had to do was look a little farther back in the fridge.
I hope by now everyone has heard of Batali’s Chicken With Green Sauce. If not, then please check it out. You’ll get some moist and full-flavored chicken, but you’ll also be left with some fantastic green sauce. I had so much I decided to save it and see what else it could do. I found this idea in the “riff” section of Rick Bayless’s Mexican Everyday. He called for a roasted tomatillo salsa, but Batali’s chicken with green sauce works, too. Turns out it makes a nice sauce for some pasta. Who knew?
Continue reading »
Posted by Mario Batali, September 13, 2007 at 4:00 PM
Our Acapulco-born babysitter, Leo, makes some of my favorite things to eat. At Christmas she makes turkey in a dark mole with toasted sesame seeds. In winter, she makes great enchiladas with soft, never-fried tortillas and a braised beef filling with queso fresco. She makes great albondigas (meatballs) with rice and beef or pork. And this week, she took some seasoned pork and made a kind of chili or sloppy joe mix with toasted dried corn that we ate as sandwiches on toasted burger buns.
But of all the things she makes, our favorite is a killer chicken and green sauce that she makes once a week.
Continue reading »
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, September 12, 2007 at 4:00 PM
I come back often to Rick Bayless and his fantastic Mexican Everyday. Before he gets into ingenious tacos, slow-cooker beans, and the perfect rice, he has a short section of salad dressings. It may seem like he personally created these dressings to mix with American salad sensibilities, but that’s fine. As this chipotle and balsamic dressing shows, they are fantastic.
The sweetness of the balsamic vinegar balances the sharp bite of the chipotle peppers. Even my relatively simple salad of romaine and red onion was tasty, but that didn’t stop me from exploring. I decided mid-meal that it tasted good on everything. Remember those shrimp from Monday? What they needed was this dressing. I rolled sushi in it and even dipped my bread in it.
Continue reading »
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, July 16, 2007 at 4:30 PM
Today marks the debut of Nick Kindelsperger's column Dinner Tonight. Starting today, Nick will drop by on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with a quick meal that you should be able to get on the table in about 30 minutes. Regular readers of Serious Eats know that Nick is one half of the Paupered Chef duo that has done some writing for us. OK, we'll let Nick take it from here. —The Editors
Photograph by Nick Kindelsperger
Welcome to Dinner Tonight, a handy little guide to eating simply and quickly for weekday meals. I’ll run through an easy recipe that can be picked up, completed, and cleaned up before it’s time to hit the sack. I’ll pull from the latest celebrity chef’s photo-laden books as well as dusty old tomes I've picked up at yard sales. It’s all up for grabs, as long as it’s simple, quick, and delicious. If you have some perfect recipes for the column, please let me know.
First up, one my favorite quick meals from Everyday Mexican by Rick Bayless: Seafood Salad Tacos with Tomato, Radish and Habanero. It’s probably the easiest taco recipe this side of opening up a packet of “Mexican” seasoning, but it's healthier and tastier. Don’t skimp on the radishes; they provide a nice bitter crunch—a nice foil to the fresh shrimp. Use the habaneros, however, at your own discretion. Don’t be a hero. Jalapeños or even some hot sauce would work well, too.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 26, 2007 at 7:30 PM
We've been doing some research around the office on salsas (more on this later), trying various bottled brands to see which we like most. But nothing beats a bowl of the homemade stuff, so we thought we'd share one of our favorite recipes with you. It's an adaptation of Zarela Martínez's salsa cruda recipe from the book Food from My Heart
.
Continue reading »
