Welcome to our reporting thread for our January Cookbooks of the Month: MEXICAN EVERYDAY and MORE MEXICAN EVERYDAY by Rick Bayless.
To report on a recipe, please put the recipe title in ALL CAPS. Include the page number if you are cooking from a hard copy - no need if cooking from an ebook, we understand. Since we have two books this month, you will also need to include in your heading which book the recipe is from. If you are the first to report on a recipe, make your report a reply to this topic. If someone else has already posted a report on that recipe, make your report a reply to their post.
To see how we arrived at our selection, you can visit our nomination and voting threads. To see all our past selections, visit the COTM Archive.
CHIPOTLE RICE WITH SHRIMP - More Mexican Everyday p. 260
This is a pretty quick shrimp pilaf to make, regardless of whether you use a rice cooker (as he directs) or stove top (which I did). You saute garlic, chopped chipotles in adobo, and more of the adobo sauce if you want it spicier, add the rice and broth, salt (I didn’t find that it needed it), and then let is go until it is almost done (for me, on the stove top about 20 minutes). Add the shrimp 5-7 minutes from the end (depending on their size). Serve with a little cilantro to garnish.
Because I can never do things simply, I substituted the chicken broth called for with a shrimp stock made from the shells and then fortified that as I cooked the pilaf with about a teaspoon and a half of the BTB lobster base (hence, no need for salt).
I would make this again. It seems simple enough if you wanted to swap the shrimp out for chicken to saute a pound of boneless, skinless thighs up front with the garlic and rice and then just cook both together until the rice is done. We had this with roasted green beans that I drizzled with the Salsa Macha from one of the other recipes in the book (also very good!).
This salsa is kind of like chili crisp in oil. You toast garlic and nuts (he gives options in the recipe; I went with sesame seeds and peanuts) in some olive oil. I actually added the torn pieces of dried red chiles at this stage too (again, you can pick, but I went with cascabel and chile de arbol). Let it cool and add Mexican oregano, salt, and a little cider vinegar. Pulse in a blender or mini processor until finely chopped, but not emulsified (that was about 3 quick pulses in the mini processor for me). Stores, according to Bayless, for “months” in the fridge. If you have concerns about botulism from the garlic, you probably would want to go with the freezer.
Really, really good and I liked the mix of chiles. Two spoonfuls really set off my roasted green beans in a beautiful way. Recommended!
I came across this in a Ferran Adria book where calls for poaching garlic in water to soften the bite before using it for pesto. It’s a different flavor outcome than oil.
Tacos are the suggested serving method, and that’s what I did, both times. This is a great taco filling, hearty and super nutritious. It is like a simplified chili - the cooking method is about the same, I just use a larger variety of chiles and more of them when making chili (and there are no collards involved). The picture of greens and beans in a bowl is from last night. The picture of the tacos is from 2018.
GRILLED FISH IN TANGY YUCATECAN ACHIOTE WITH GREEN BEANS AND ROASTED TOMATO SALSA - Mexican Everyday pp. 174-177
While I have both Mexican Everyday and More Mexican Everyday, I feel as though I have cooked from the later one significantly more often. It’s no reflection on the recipes in the book. As it turns out, I have made Bayless recipes that utilize achiote paste from his Web site which are similar. This one in particular is fairly easy to get accomplished on a week night. That being said, I did plan ahead a little and make the roasted tomato salsa and the achiote marinade yesterday. This made everything come together that much more quickly.
The recipe for the fish and the roasted tomato salsa are both on his site, for those playing along at home who are without access to the book.
I used my broiler tonight, as we are dealing with freezing rain out here near Boston (at least where I am). I set the rack to about 4-5 inches underneath it and turned the broiler to low. I let it warm up for a good 20 minutes while I puttered about with some remaining prep and clean up. For example, my fresh beans came in a microwaveable bag (this step isn’t in the web version), so I nuked the beans for 3 minutes on high in the punctured bag instead of putting them in a bowl with water to do it. I laid them out on a sheet pan with some oil and salt. Meanwhile, I was using salmon fillets. I removed the skin and checked for any lingering bones. Then they got nicely smeared with about 4 dinner spoonfuls of the achiote marinade (about a packed 1/4 c worth (he says ~3 oz) and the juice of half a lemon (I was running low on the lime called for)). I prepped some corn tortillas to heat up in foil packets in the oven while the fish and beans would cook. Then the fish went until the broiler for 4 minutes (foil packs of tortilla got chucked on a lower rack). Out it comes. Flip. It and the beans now go back under for another 4 minutes. My nose told me it was done at 3. Windows opened, vent blasting, everything came out of the oven at the seven minute mark.
I thought about just roasting the fish and green beans at 400 for about 15-20 minutes, but I liked the freshness that remained in the beans doing it this way. I certainly enjoyed the charred bits on the fish! These made fantastic tacos, too.
RUSTIC ROASTED TOMATO SALSA - Mexican Everyday pp. 146-147
This recipe is what I used to go with our achiote salmon tacos. He has you roast the chiles of your choice and some garlic. Then blitz it and pulse together with canned fire roasted tomatoes. Stir in white onion, cilantro, lime or cider vinegar, and salt.
I ran grape tomatoes I had in the fridge that need to be used up under the broiler, along with the garlic, some red onion, and a habanero chile. I seeded the chile and then pureed everything with my immersion blender, seasoning with a little cider vinegar and salt. I held the cilantro out because I was going to garnish with it anyway.
This is an excellent salsa that goes particularly well with fish and seafood. I think it would also be great stirred into black beans or served over eggs.
Also pictured on the table here are some pickled red onions. These aren’t in Mexican Everyday, but I think that are in More Mexican Everyday. However, I’ve linked the recipe for those who’d like to try it. These are a nice, punchy garnish for rich foods!
