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jennifer rose

Nov 6, 2006, 11:51 AM

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Mexican culinary shortcuts

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This morning I tossed a pot roast in the oven, covered with the contents of two cans of Herdez salsa casera. I chuckled at myself for making something with canned goods, but I had to admit that just about anything's better with a can of salsa casera. Well, at leaste I didn't add a cube of Knorr Suiza, reserving that for soup.

All of this work got me to thinking about other Mexican culinary shortcuts we take. What are yours?

Anonimo

Nov 6, 2006, 12:05 PM

Post #2 of 10 (2047 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] Mexican culinary shortcuts

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Número Uno of short cuts is the omnipresent Caldo de Pollo Knorr-Suiza (powdered).
Buying a roast chicken or a medio kilo of carnitas is an excellent kitchen shortcut.
There are "pretty good" sauces, packed in boxes, ready to heat and serve. I like the Salsa Chipotle para guisar, although I used it more often in the US than here.

Nopalitos, already despined and cut into strips—what a great shortcut.
Prehulled fresh peas... I could go on.
All generalities are suspect, including this one.

Saludos,
Anonimo

esperanza

Nov 6, 2006, 5:48 PM

Post #3 of 10 (2023 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] Mexican culinary shortcuts

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Knorr Suiza Tomate, Pollo, and Costilla...couldn't cook without'em. I use the tomate most often--in fact, only today I made a caldo de repollo with the tomate as the base.

Delicioso.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

DoDi2

Nov 10, 2006, 3:05 PM

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Re: [esperanza] Mexican culinary shortcuts

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Making mole from scratch is a joy, except for the most time consuming and unpleasant step which is toasting all those chiles until they get very dark, and then drying the result overnight, and then soaking them in the early morning.

It's not much fun unless you enjoy teargasing yourself.

So I do all the preparations from scratch.. making the house smell wonderful.. but at the end I add some Don Rogelio and Dona Maria, or some real mole paste (when someone brings a supply of it back from mexico) instead of the ground chile.

The result turns out very very good and even experianced Oaxacan mole eaters can't tell the difference, although it leans a bit more toward poblano than negro so leave out adding raisons/chocolate/or other sweetners.

lajollamis

Nov 13, 2006, 10:10 AM

Post #5 of 10 (1928 views)

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Re: [DoDi2] Mexican culinary shortcuts

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Hi all! Been watching this board for almost a year, enjoying al the wonderful input. Thanks to all of you.

I love to cook Mexican, and I grew up eating my Mom's Mole Poblano, so I will jump in here. Since she was from Mexico City, she used to use Clemente Jacques Mole Poblano en Polvo adding a dab of peanut butter (Peter Pan she swore), chicken stock made from Knorr chicken stock cubes, and would always add a dash of sugar to pull the flavors together. She then insisted that one must very, very slowly simmer the sauce, stirring frequently, for at least an hour to take the edge off of the chilis. I do the same now, but since I have not been able to find the Clemente Jacques polvo anywhere we have been in Mexico for over a decade, I use Don Rogelio (preferred-less bitter) and add just enough sugar to smooth out the flavors, but not make it sweet.

She also used this sauce for a dish called Revoltijo de Camarones. She would simply add a well drained can of Del Monte spinach and fresh, luscious, shelled and deveined, jumbo shrimp, even with the chicken broth. She would add a bit more sugar to this dish to bring out the sweetness of the shrimp. When fresh spinach was available, she would wash it thoroughly and coarsely chop, and cook it in the sauce. Not hard to make y muy, muy bueno.

Either dish, can be sprinkled with lightly toasted sesame seeds for a rich flavor.

Buen Provecho!
Maria Luz (aka: Mary Lou)
Live life well!!!

Lavanda

Nov 22, 2006, 12:18 PM

Post #6 of 10 (1880 views)

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Re: Mexican culinary shortcuts

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Maizena for atole- when I do from scratch it
always sticks to the bottom of
the pot and scorches. The minute it is scorched even a teeny bit, yu have to throw it all out!

And consomate (maggi or knorr
suiza for rice.

And I always keep a few cans of
refried beans n hand for
emergencies. Canned refrieds
take much better when lard is
listed in the infredients. The
most tasty IMHO is Costena.

!! Viva Mexico, warts and all !!!

Kimpatsu Hekigan

Nov 22, 2006, 6:52 PM

Post #7 of 10 (1861 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Mexican culinary shortcuts

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¡Mi dulce Jesús!

The first ingredient listed on all of the Knorr-Suiza "caldo" products is sal yodatada ("iodized salt")! Down the list at the No. 4 or 5 spot is almost always glutamato monosódico ("monosodium glutamate" = MSG)!

In Knorr "Caldo de pollo," carne de pollo and grasa de pollo come long after sugar and beef fat in the list of ingredients. I swear this stuff is a health hazard!

I know, I know, making my own chicken stock from scratch would side-step this problem, but that hours-long process hardly qualifies as a "culinary shortcut"!

Isn't there any brand of chicken bouillon sold in Mexico that's less than 50% sodium?!?

OK, many thanks for listening to my rant...

-- K.H.

Before enlightenment: Chop wood, haul water.
After enlightenment: Chop wood, haul water.

song_of_joy

Nov 22, 2006, 7:58 PM

Post #8 of 10 (1854 views)

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Re: [kimpatsu_hekigan] Mexican culinary shortcuts

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I no longer use a red clay pot to cook beans... Now I use the crockpot.

It's also great for guayabate -- I just toss fresh guavas, sugar and cinnamon in the slow cooker.

Not to mention chicken in achiote, chamorro, falda de res.

drfugawe

Dec 8, 2006, 9:13 AM

Post #9 of 10 (1786 views)

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Re: [kimpatsu_hekigan] Mexican culinary shortcuts

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Have to agree with kimpatsu_hekigan re the bouillon cube thing. For awhile I was using a sauce "base" that I got from my local restaurant supply store, simply because of taste, but then I read a review in "Cook's Illustrated" mag (Mar. '06) where they discuss the current "revolution" going on with concentrated bases. Seems that most bases (maybe the dry cubes too) use hydrolyzed vegetable protein to enhance flavor - but that introduces "metalic" off tastes. But the best tasting bases now are using "yeast extacts" (a more expensive addition) as their flavor enhancer.

However, taste is only part of the issue - sodium is arguably even a bigger concern. And if you think of sodium as salt (i.e., tasting of salt), be aware that sodium does not have to taste overwhelmingly of salt to be there! So, often you are not aware that your TBS of whatever contains 800+ milligrams of sodium! What makes this even a bigger problem is that if you are using your sodium rich whatever to make a cooked-down sauce, you are concentrating not only the sodium, but the off-flavors as well.

Now for the good news. The Cook's Illustrated article identifyed a US brand of sauce base (Redi-Base; <http://www.redibase.com/>
that not only tasted best (among those tested), but included "chicken" as its first ingredient and yeast extract among the top few ingredients. Additionally, Redi-Base is one of the few US companies making sauce bases in low sodium options, raising an interesting question, "Will low sodium sauce bases taste as good as high sodium ones?"

Please know that I have not yet tasted the low sodium Redi-Base products, but I have ordered some, and will be happy to let you know my reaction when I do. Also, the Cook's Illustrated article noted above did not address the sodium issue, they were simply interested in taste.

I would encourage those of you who love food to try a sauce base (they come in Chicken, Beef, Ham, Seafood, etc.), first in a high sodium type (most easily found), and then if the high sodium content concerns you, try a low sodium type as well. I think you will be surprised just how much better tasting they are than the old fashioned bouillon cubes.
Enjoy,
John
_________________________

"Self-respect: the secure feeling
that no one, as yet, is suspicious."
H.L. Mencken
____________###

lajollamis

Dec 9, 2006, 9:11 AM

Post #10 of 10 (1750 views)

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Re: [drfugawe] Mexican culinary shortcuts

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Thanks so much for posting the Redi Base site info. I have had jars of beef and chicken base in my refrigerator for many years and prefer them in some dishes, over all else. I can hardly wait to order some!

Mary Lou
Live life well!!!