My favorite chili doesn't have too many ingredients--it's the depth and simplicity that I think make it award-winning (it has, in fact, won several awards!). I brown coarse-ground (or hand-cut) beef and pork in fresh-render pork lard or bacon drippings. I toast and soak cleaned ancho chile pods, then blend them to a puree and strain. When the meat is brown, I add a big handful of chopped garlic. After a couple of minutes, I add the chile puree and cook everything down, stirring regularly, until it is very thick. Then I add some dark beer, some beef broth, some Mexican oregano and I let it simmer for an hour or two. (you can add some diced roasted tomatoes with the broth if you want.) Shortly before serving, stir some water into a little masa harina, then stir the slurry into the chili to thicken it; stir constantly until the mixture thickens. If you want you can add some cooked beans (I like them). I season the chili with salt and a little sugar and top it with chopped raw white onion, shredded cheddar cheese and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro. I wrote about this chili in my book Mexican Kitchen on page 49.

Sincerely,
Rick

Dear John:

The recipe for Huevos Motuleos, a classic of Yucatecan cuisine, can be found in my book Mexican Kitchen on page 270. But you can also wing it, if you know your way around the kitchen. The sauce is basically the same as the one you'd use for Huevos Rancheros, but made with habanero chile and a squeeze of lime. The tortillas are fried crisp (or buy tostadas). And the beans are essentially your typical fried beans, though the beans themselves are pureed and typically flavored with epazote. When you're ready to serve, warm the sauce and the beans, chop up some ham and cook (or defrost) some peas. Fry your eggs sunnyside up, then layer everything as follows: a spoonful of beans, a crisp tostada, an egg, some sauce, a sprinkling of ham and peas (and, if you wish, some Mexican fresh cheese). Huevos Motuleos are typically served with fried sweet plantains (the ones that are black-ripe, peeled, cut on a bias and fried until golden in a little oil).

Sincerely,
Rick

Mike,

 

 

I have found that only a few specialty farmers in the U.S. actually perceive that there is a market for Huitlacoche. Try this source.... Rick

 

Burns Farms

Montverde, FL

407-469-4490

Sincerely,
Rick

Sylvia, thanks so much. As long as people keep enjoying it we'll keep making it.

Sincerely,
Rick

Cookie girl,

You must be a pretty adventurous eater this sauce is Caliente!!! Just follow the link to our site..... Rick

 

http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=21

Sincerely,
Rick

Don, I prefer the traditional Goat Birria but you can sub any meat. I especially like mutton. Use a simple red chile marinade and a slow-cooker and you're all set. Enjoy!   

 

Rick  

 

Slow-Braised Lamb (or Goat), Jalisco Style Birria Jaliscience serves 6

 

 

8 garlic cloves to 1/3 cup ground guajillo or anch teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 3 tablespoons vinegar (cider vinegar is common in Mexico) Salt 6 medium (about 1 pounds) red-skin boiling or Yukon gold potatoes, each cut into 6 wedges A 3-pound bone-in lamb (or goat) shoulder roast 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice (preferably fire-roasted) 1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican About cup finely chopped white onion, for garnish cup chopped cilantro, for garnish 1 lime, cut into 6 wedges     Cut a slit in the side of each garlic clove, place them into a microwaveable bowl, cover with plastic, poke holes in the top and microwave for 30 seconds at full power. Cool until handleable and slip off the papery husks. One by one, drop the garlic cloves into a running food processor, letting each get thoroughly chopped before adding the next. Measure in the chile powder, cumin, black pepper, vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt and cup water.     Spread the potatoes over the bottom of a slow-cooker. Sprinkle generously with salt. Lay the meat on top. Scrape the marinade onto the meat, then spread it sloppily over the top and sides, letting some fall onto the potatoes. Pour enough water into the slow-cooker to cover the potatoes and the lower inch of the meat. Cover and slow-cook for 6 hours until the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender (the dish can hold on a slow-cookers keep warm function for 4 more hours or so).    Carefully remove the tender meat to a large plate, pulling out the bone and cutting away any visible gristle or fat. Use a slotted spoon to scoop the potatoes onto the plate with the meat. Keep warm in a low oven.  Spoon off the fat that has risen to the top of the broth.     Set a medium (3 to 4-quart) saucepan over medium-high heat and pour in the tomatoes with their juice. Cook, stirring frequently, until the juice has reduced to the consistency of tomato paste. Tip or ladle the broth from the slow-cooker into the pan. Add the oregano and bring to a boil. Taste and season with salt, usually about 1 teaspoons.    Divide the potatoes between 6 deep dinner plates (or wide bowls).  Coarsely shred the meat and distribute between the plates.  Ladle a portion of broth over each one, then sprinkle generously with chopped onion and cilantro.  Pass the lime wedges separately for each person to squeeze on to his or her own likingan essential part of great birria. 

Sincerely,
Rick

Skarz

Thanks for the kudos and the support! That's funny you should say that. I do the same thing when it's a recipe I haven't made in awhile. My family loves it. Thanks for watching,

Rick

Betty some might call us adventurers for enjoying pig's feet; I just call it delicious! - Rick

Tostadas de Manitas de Puerco (Pigs Feet Tostadas): This classic Mexican dish, especially beloved in West Central and Central Mexico, can be made by replacing the chicken in the traditional recipe with pickled pigs feet, either purchased or homemade; you may omit the beans, as most cooks do when building pigs feet tostadas, and use a vinegary Mexican bottled hot sauce (like Tamazula) for the salsa. To prepare 1 pounds (2 medium) pigs feet (ask the butcher to split them), simmer them slowly in water to cover in a large pot (add salt, bay leaves, garlic and chopped onion for flavor) until theyre very tender, about 4 hours. Remove and cool, then cut out all the bones and knuckles. Chop what remains into rough half-inch pieces. Make an escabeche of sliced onion, halved garlic cloves, sliced carrot and sliced jalapeos, first frying them in olive oil until crunchy-tender, then simmering briefly in half cider vinegar and half waternot even enough liquid to cover. Cool, season with salt, mix in the pigs feet and let stand at least several hours before assembling your pigs feet tostadas.

Sincerely,
Rick

I can give you my basic Mexican RED Rice recipe, but I don't think it's really what you're looking for (I've had Puerto Rican Yellow Rice and I love it).  In a medium-size saucepan, I fry 1 1/2 cups rice (I like medium-grain rice)and a small diced onion in a little vegetable oil over medium heat until everything starts to brown.  While the rice mixture is frying, I blend one 15-ounce can of tomatoes (drained) and 2 garlic cloves.  When the rice starts browning, I add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 2 or 3 minutes, until nearly dry.  Then I add 1 3/4 cups chicken broth (it's best if it's hot) and about 1 teaspoon sslt.  When the mixture comes to a boil, I stir it a couple of times, put on the lid and cook over low heat until the rice is done--usually about 20 minutes.  When it's done, I remove the pan from the heat, remove the lid and fluff the rice to stop the cooking.  You can add diced carrot along with the tomato and, when the rice is nearly done, you can add some frozen peas.

Sincerely,
Rick

Yes, that was my daughter.  We cook a lot together (we even wrote a cookbook together, Rick and Lanie's Excellent Kitchen Adventures)and she helps me with the television shows.  Even though she's only 16 years old!  But, as you can imagine, she's the pride of my life. Glad you like the shows.

Sincerely,
Rick

A fresh, red-ripe poblano is still a fresh chile and will taste as different from a dried ancho as a fresh, ripe grape does from a raisin. In the drying process many flavor changes take place. And textural changes, too. So if you were to make a typical ancho sauce from those fresh, red-ripe poblanos, you'd have a kind of watery mess on your hands that tastes more like a roasted red bell pepper puree than the sauce I think you're after.


Sincerely,
Rick

First of all we have two steaks (two carnes asadas) on the Frontera menu--one that we've offered since the day we opened twenty years ago, the other a rather recent addition. Our original steak is a boneless rib steak that's marinated in adobo (ancho and guajillo chiles blended with roasted garlic, vinegar and spices), served with black beans, rustic guacamole and fried sweet plantains (that are topped, in a traditional style, with homemade crema and fresh cheese). Our new carne asada came about after I'd done a lot of research into grass-fed beef and concluded that not having a grass-fed option on the menu was foolhearty. Not only is it one of the healthiest choices you can make at the dinner table (most researchers agree that eating grass-fed beef is as good for you as eating chicken breast), but it's incredibly flavorful--tasting a lot like the pasteured beef I remember eating back in Oklahoma as a kid. Sure, the texture is a little more robust than the corn-fed beef most of us are accustomed to, but if you know how to marinate it and cook it, grass-fed can win any dinner-time contest. First, use a full-flavored marinade to match the full flavor of the meat. I nearly always gravitate to roasted garlic and roasted serrano chiles made into a paste with lime juice and salt, using a food processor. I spread that thickly on the steak (yes, my favorite steak is a boneless rib steak), let it stand for a few minutes, then spray or brush the steak with oil and grill it over live coals. The trick with the grilling is to bank the coals to one side so that you have a searing-hot side and a coasting-cool side. Lay the meat on the hot side, let the grill grates sear it darkly before you attempt any moving. Flip the meat over, sear the other side and, if the meat isn't done enough for you, move it to the coasting-cool side to finish slowly. A note about doneness: I like grassfed beef cooked one stage less than corn fed beef. That means for me I'm looking for a rare grass-fed steak or a medium-rare corn-fed beef. We're proud to say that not only is our grass-fed rib steak outselling our tried-and-true corn-fed rib steak, but we're getting it from Tallgrass Beef, a company started by one of our loyalist customers, Bill Kurtis.

Sincerely,
Rick

Tamales are just plain wonderful food--rich, tender, aromatic, satisfying. So what went wrong? Nothing that a little practice won't remedy. First, the prepared masa should be the consistency of thick cake batter--easy to spread but not runny. If you make it too stiff, the tamales will be dry; if you make it too thin, you'll have a difficult time forming the tamales and they won't be as light. If you're using the powdered masa harina, I suggest that you let the batter stand in the refrigerator for several hours (or overnight); rebeat the mixture, adding a little more broth (or water) to achieve that cake batter consistency. This will ensure that the masa cooks evenly and that the tamales are both light and moist. After forming the tamales, make sure that they are all standing upright in the steamer. I lightly wad pieces of aluminum foil to fill in the gaps and ensure that the tamales stay upright. After about an hour and 10 minutes, they should be done--though the dough will be so soft that you'll think they AREN'T done. When the batter will come free from the husk, the inside is cooked--though soft. I always recommend that you let the tamales stand--off the fire--for 15 minutes or so, for the masa to firm up (and seem completely done). And about running out of water: many cooks in Mexico will put a coin in the water. As long as you hear it bouncing around, you've got water; when the pot goes quiet, it's time to add more water.

Sincerely,
Rick

A little-known fact about Chicago is that we have the second largest concentration of people from Mexico in the United States--over a million within our city limits, according to most people's calcuations. Which means that we have access to many wonderful ingredients from Mexico and have the opportunity to share the richness of Mexico's regional cuisines with hundreds of diners in our restaurant every day. While I love LA (I lived there for several years), my heart is with our wonderful guests and staff at Frontera Grill/Topolobampo here in Chicago. Besides, I think commuting back and forth might kill me. Please come visit us in Chicago.
Rick Bayless

Sincerely,
Rick

I'd go to Mexico City and try out some of the great places like El Bajio, Fonda El Refugio, Churrera El Morro and Pujol (very contemporary). Then I'd head to Oaxaca or Veracruz. Oaxaca is filled with wonderful places to eat, though I wouldn't miss Los Pacos for an old-fashioned standby and Casa Oaxaca (the restaurant or the hotel) for more contemporary food. Veracruz is a little touristy (but Mexican tourists) and the seafood restaurants are all pretty much the same--meaning pretty decent. Two old standbys are Pardios and Brisas del Mar (down in Boca del Ro). Of course, there's La Parroquia on the waterfront for a good breakfast and caf con leche. But my very favorite place to eat in Veracruz is the downtown market. Wonderful seafood cocktails and tacos of all the local flavors. It is one of Mexico's most beautiful markets.

Sincerely,
Rick