Dear John:

You can make beef chorizo (one of the best Mexican food companies in the country, Supremo, offers it), though it's not my favorite. There's something about the sweetness of pork that's perfect with the spices.
(If I were in your situation, I'd finely chop some bacon to put in the ground pork you buy; the chorizo will taste a little smoky, which you might or might not like, but it will definitely be juicier.)

About that recipe: It isn't in any of my books, but I'll be posting it on the our web site in the near future. Keep an eye out.


Sincerely,
Rick

Dear Kimbw:

Typically flour tortillas, which are eaten only in the far northern part of Mexico and in a few specialty restaurants in other parts of that country, aren't pressed out with a tortilla press. The tortilla press is used only for corn tortillas which, not containing flour, aren't elastic. One press on the corn dough and the tortilla flattens out and stays flattened. Most cooks who specialize in flour tortillas use a small rolling pin (it looks like a fat dowel). It's like rolling out pie dough, though tortilla dough is a little more resilient and will take a little more coaxing.

Good luck on your next batch.


Sincerely,
Rick

Dear John:

In Mexico City, it's been popular over the past few years to serve ravioli with a roasted poblano cream sauce. What you do is to roast and peel one or two poblanos, then blend them with the milk or cream that you're using for your sauce. I like to put a little garlic and thyme in the sauce as well.




Sincerely,
Rick

Hi Leticia,
Our annual Frontera Farmer Foundation event takes place at our restaurants, Frontera Grill & Topolobampo, 445 N. Clark Street in Chicago. Sunday, June 11...market will begin at noon, the special dinner that evening. All the proceeds go to the foundation, which in turn goes to our farmers in the form of capital improvement grants for their farms. Thanks for your support.


Sincerely,
Rick

Hi Kesha,
Our 4th Annual Frontera Farmer Foundation will be on Sunday, June 11th. We hope to see you there again. It will begin with clearing out the restuarant and turning it into a Farmer's market--each farmer will be paired with one of our chefs and if you were there last year, then you know the kind of food that we can come up with when our farmers provide us with fabulous ingredients.
Following the market, we will then have our "Dinner Like No Other"...never before seen dishes made with ingredients from all local farmers. It is really not to be missed.
Thanks for you support.


Sincerely,
Rick

Dear Betty:

Wow! Recipes for two kinds of tamales and pozole would take up pages and pages of this blog. Besides, the recipes for tamales need photos or drawings to make them clear. To have really good success, what I think you need is a copy of Mexico--One Plate at a Time. You'll find fool-proof recipes for all of those dishes. If you're just looking for a tamal refresher, I'll pass along that my favorite (and classic) tamal batter is made from 10 ounces rich-tasting pork lard (1 1/4 cups), 1 1/2 teapsoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 pounds (about 4 cups) fresh coarse-ground corn masa for tamales, and 1 to 1 1/2 cups of chicken or pork broth. (I beat the lard, baking powder and salt until it's light and fluffy, then beat in the masa in three additions alternating with the broth. For the lightest tamales, a small drop of the batter should float in a cup of cold water and it should look like cake batter.) When I make the sweet tamales, I substitute butter for the lard (or at least part of it) and milk for the broth (or sometimes pureed pineapple goes in for the broth).

Pozole is another whole story. I'll just say that for really special occasions, I always cook the pozole corn from scratch rather than using canned (you can buy pozole corn to cook--meaning that it's already been briefly cooked with the mineral lime to remove the outer hull--from a tortilla factory if you ask for nixtamal; or buy dried pozole corn from loschileros.com. Cooking the corn with a pigs head will give you the most authentic (and full, delicious) flavor.


Sincerely,
Rick

Dear Janet:

I'm assuming that you're putting together a festive-but-nice dinner. For me that means an appetizer, a soup, a main course and a dessert. So here goes, with recipes from Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen: I'd start with the shrimp seviche with roasted cactus (page 88)--one of my all-time favorite appetizers; then I'd serve the chipotle-spiked roasted garlic soup (page 120) and follow with either the bacalao-stuffed chile (page 360) because bacalao is traditional for Christmas Eve, or the chile-seasoned pot-roasted pork (page 378) because roasted pork leg is traditional for Christmas Eve, too. The deluxe version of tres leches cake would be wonderful for dessert (page 394)


Sincerely,
Rick

Dear Nils:

Congratulations on the new baby! Being a dad is the most rewarding thing I've ever done. But trying to balance everything that's going on in my life is the most difficult part of my work. I have an amazing group of co-workers who help me keep everything growing ... plus I try not to be involved in everything all the time. Sometimes I'm focussing on TV, other times very intensely on my restaurants or books, other times just on my family or some personal persuit. (I wrote a lot about all this in the introduction to my latest book--Mexican Everyday--that's just hitting the bookstores now.) I still have to keep all the balls in the air, but one is usually getting more attention than the others for a short time.

As far as holding my own in a sports conversation with Skip ... can anyone hold his own in a sports conversation with Skip? Personally, I don't even try (and I'd suggest you not try either unless you have a masochistic streak). Maybe that's just the bullied younger brother in me talking.

Being able to release our shows on HD channels has really opened a lot of eyes. We're think it's pretty cool, too.

And about Iron Chef. We were pretty proud of what we did, even though the "judging" is a little WWE-like, if you get my drift. But the whole experience was really cool.

Good luck with that baby.




Sincerely,
Rick

Hi S&D:
I will be doing all demonstrations from my new book (Mexican Everyday)--including being on-air on the Milwaukee Public Television Station. I am looking forward to all the events that are planned. As far as the luncheon--my chef friends are taking care of that for me--cooking from the new book. So I will find out when you do!


Sincerely,
Rick

Dear Ramona:

In PV, I like Tino's, though it's not really in the town. It's in Pitiyal, about 20 minutes away. For me, it's the best seafood in the area. In town, I like Arrayan (classic Mexican sauces), the stalls above the crafts market, the little night-time street stall called Carboncito (tacos al pastor only) and, of course, a nice meal at Cafe Des Artistes--fusion, modern Mexican.

When you go to Tequila, there are little spots to eat, but none of them really stand out to me. So stop at a place that looks charming and have a good time. If you're going to visit distilleries, each one of the biggies (Sauza, Cuervo, Herradura) has a nice tour, but Herradura stands out for ambiance and well-preserved antique equipment. Very picturesque.

For real artisanal production, make an appointment to visit El Tesoro distillery near Arandas. You can contact them through http://www.eltesorotequila.com/sitemap/


Sincerely,
Rick

Hi Adele,

I have a great recipe for Pozole Verde in my first book, Authentic Mexican. Try it and let me know what you think! Thanks for writing


Sincerely,
Rick

Dear Clark:

There is actually a really good selection of grilling baskets at Amazon.com in their "Outdoor Living" section. There's a basket that's similar to the one I brought back from Mexico. I've also seen those baskets in a number of hardware stores (during the grilling season) and at Mexican markets (though what I've seen there hasn't been very heavy duty).


Sincerely,
Rick

Dear Bill:

Yes, with my partners at Frontera Foods (our prepared foods line that you'll find in natural foods and well stocked grocery stores), we've opened Frontera Fresco at Marshall Fields. We feature huaraches (they're large, oblong, thick tortillas that are grilled and spread with black beans, a choice of other toppings and a fresh salad), a slew of quesadillas and those wonderful crusty sandwiches (more like submarines) known as tortas. Try the Torta Cubana with smoked pork, bacon, avocado, marinated tomatoes and chipotle salsa--it's dynamite. The place is a simple kiosk on the seventh floor. And don't miss the chocolate pecan pie bars and handmade tamales.
PS. I like any kind of food, as long as its fresh, tasty and made with spirit.


Sincerely,
Rick

Dear Misty:

Perhaps what you means is a typical Mexican earthenware olla. It's glazed on the inside (but not the outside), and it has a bulbous on the bottle, narrowing to a smaller opening that ingeniously traps much of the steam--meaning that water has to be added rarely to the simmering pot. Many Mexican cooks swear they can taste the difference between beans cooked in a metal saucepan and those cooked in the earthenware pot. I have to say, I think they're right. The beans cooks more slowly, gently, evenly, and they taste more "beany," a little earthier.

Those pots are rarely available in cookware shops in the United States. I have seen them, however, in a number of my local Mexican grocery stores. If you find one, be sure to fill it with water, set it over medium to medium-high heat and let it boil until there's only about 1/2 inch of water left. Pour out that water, then start your pot of beans, never setting it over high heat. Some cooks recommend rubbing the outside of the pot (the unglazed part) with a cut clove of garlic to help mitigate the "raw clay" smell that fills the kitchen.


Sincerely,
Rick

Dear Ana:

It's simple: Just cut the backbone out of a chicken, open it out flat, pound it until you've flattened the breast bone, then pour on a marinade made from ground ancho powder (1 1/2 tablespoons), oregano (1 teaspoon), a pinch of cloves, a little Mexican cinnamon, a couple cloves of garlic (crushed), vinegar (3 tablespoons), orange juice (1/4 cup) and salt (1 teaspoon). Grill slowly, skin-side up, until it reads about 160 degrees on an instant read thermometer (skewer it deeply into the thigh)--about 45 minutes or so.


Sincerely,
Rick