Cookbook Countdown #95 -- cactus paddle salad nopales salad And Cooking Club #9

My friend Louise hosted Cookbook Wednesday for years, but  she is not feeling so well, so it is suspended for now.

I am not taking up the weekly commitment, (with a Mr. Linky, etc)  I just have one of my cookbooks to 'count down' and I am going to do it on Wednesday and think of how great Louise's blog is and hope she is up to par soon!

Months of Edible Creations!

This is cookbook number 95!

You can see them all so far if you click here.

This indispensable cookbook, an instant classic when first published in 1989, is now back in print with a brand-new introduction from the most celebrated authority on Mexican cooking, Diana Kennedy. The culmination of more than fifty years of living, traveling, and cooking in Mexico, The Art of Mexican Cooking is the ultimate guide to creating authentic Mexican food in your own kitchen, with more than 200 beloved recipes as well as evocative illustrations.

The dishes included, favorites from all the regions of Mexico, range from sophisticated to pure and simple, but they all share an intrinsic depth of taste. Aficionados will go to great lengths to duplicate the authentic dishes (and Kennedy tells them exactly how), but here too is a wealth of less complicated recipes for the casual cook in search of the unmistakable flavors of a bold cuisine.

Kennedy shares the secrets of true Mexican flavor: balancing the piquant taste of chiles with a little salt and acid, for instance, or charring them to round out their flavor; broiling tomatoes to bring out their character, or adding cumin for a light accent. By using Kennedy’s kitchen wisdom and advice, and carefully selecting produce that is now readily available in most American markets, cooks with an appetite for Mexican cuisine–and Kennedy devotees old and new–can at last serve and enjoy real Mexican food.

My thoughts?

It's a great cookbook ---  a serious cookbook.  There is no flash in this cookbook--it's mostly text and very few photos.  It's for serious cooks who want to make good authentic Mexican food.

I'm glad I own this, but I don't really use it.

Truth be told, I am just going to ask and watch my daughter-in-law and her mother when I want authentic Mexican Home cooking.

But this one is a good reference to have on your shelf.

Now, what did I make from this cookbook? 

Well....

It was my COOKING CLUB get together again and our theme was Mexican Street Food.

The Cooks/ The Characters:

Before you go any further--- my cooking club posts just keep getting longer and longer each time. I can't seem to leave any photo out.

So, just take this as a warning.

  I was assigned salad.

Mexican street food salad?  I wasn't sure there was one.  When my daughter in law and her family make a salad, they use lettuce and tomatoes and dress it with fresh lime juice.

I was stumped.

Then Sally, who was the host this month ( on the far right) and also teaches English as a Second Language to adults at the community college, told me that her students had suggested 'nopales"  or "cactus salad".  It's pretty authentic.

Or she said they mentioned  "jimaca salad".

So, what did I do?

Made 3 salads of course!

Nopales

Jimaca

Black bean salad

And my 3 cookbooks were:

And the rest of the street food......

Nopales (cactus) salad

Jicama/Mango and Black Bean salad-- from me

Homemade tomatillo salsa -- from Sally

HA!  That doesn't look homemade, but I swear it was! ??

Shrimp ceviche tostado -- from Gina

Corn (street corn---the best!)  from Debbie E.

Tres-leches cupcakes -- from April

Carne Asada and frijoles and Mexican slaw --from Sally and Shelly

Cucumber Jalapeno and Blueberry Basil

Margaritas!

A great time was had by all!

As usual.

The Handyman is seen in a Sombrero?

He never, EVER plays along like that.

Maybe it was the margaritas?

In every Cooking Club post I talk about how much I love these people and how much fun we have--so I won't do that again. Just know that it's so.

When all is said and done--this was a really healthy meal. Not a bunch of cheese and sauces and sour cream which is more Americanized Mexican cooking...this was authentic.

So... are you ready for the Nopalitos?

Diana Kennedy says:

Salads as such do not play an important part in the Mexican kitchen, where there are so many fresh garnishes, pickles and sauces to accompany the food.  However, a salad of nopalitos, a popular food in the marketplace, does rank high. Cooked green beans or chayote can be substituted.

3 cups cooked napales, cut into squares (I just bought a can of them)

3 T finely chopped white onion

1/2 cup loosely packed finely chopped cilantro

1/2 t Mexican oregano

2 T fresh lime juice

sea salt to taste

3 small tomatoes, unskinned, sliced

1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro

1/3 cup crumbled fresco cheese

1/3 cup purple onion rings

3 canned jalapenos cut into quarters lengthwise

1 avocado, peeled and sliced

Inner leaves of romaine letter for serving.

Mix the nopalitos with the next four ingredients and set aside to season for 30 minutes.  Stir well and adjust seasoning. Spread the nopoalitos  over the platter. Decorate with the tomato slices and top with cilantro, cheese, onion rings, jalapeno strips and slices of avocado.

Mango, Jicama and Cucumber Salad

From the Muy Bueno cookbook

2 small yellow mangos, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 red or green mangos, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 medium jicama, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 to 3 T lime juice

1/2 t Tajin (chili spice)

Dash of cayenne pepper

salt to taste

In a mixing bowl, combine the mangos, jicama, and cucumbers. Add lime juice. Sprinkle with chili powder/tajin, cayenne pepper and salt.

Toss well, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

This was really good!

And Sally might kill me, but really...

what are the odds?

Sally and Paul... the perfect hosts!!

Paul never fell asleep at the wheel---unlike Sally.

(except for when she was making homemade corn tortillas, homemade salsa, homemade margaritas, homemade beans, homemade Mexican chocolate, and on and on..... just kidding of course about her falling asleep, but seriously, what are the odds that almost every picture I took of her, her eyes are closed?)

Cooking Club #9 was the best one yet!

And these cooking club meals were all good too... Just click on the link to see.

Cooking Club #1   Meals your mom used to make

Cooking Club #2  Cajun Cooking

Cooking Club #3 -Let's all go to Hawaii

Cooking club #4  American Regional Cooking--Great Lakes Region, featuring SUPPER CLUBS.

Cooking Club #5  Famous Chefs

Cooking Club #6  Meatball madness--or something round

Cooking Club #7  Breakfast for dinner

Cooking Club  #8  Slow cooking  

Cooking Club #9  Mexican Street Food 

Happy Eating!

See you next time.

Next up for the Cooking Club?

December -- Christmas cookies of your heritage or tradition and a reading of "A Christmas Carol"

Homemade Hot Buttered Rums and Tom and Jerrys.

January --  A Thai cooking demonstration (where someone teaches us and we watch and eat)

Cookbook Countdown #94 -- Spicy Lemon Crescents

My friend Louise hosted Cookbook Wednesday for years, but  she is not feeling so well, so it is suspended for now.

I am not taking up the weekly commitment, (with a Mr. Linky, etc)  I just have one of my cookbooks to 'count down' and I am going to do it on Wednesday and think of how great Louise's blog is and hope she is up to par soon!

Months of Edible Creations!

This is cookbook number 94!

You can see them all so far if you click here.

The Cookie Bible is the essential guide to baking cookies. It presents comprehensive guidelines for foolproof baking, with kitchen-tested advice and solutions to common baking problems. The 320-page hardcover cookbook features 162 cookie and brownie recipes, from classic drop cookies to elegant holiday cookies.

Whether you're an experienced baker or just getting started, The Cookie Bible can guide you through the process step by step with indispensable information about ingredients, equipment, and techniques. Detailed instructions and helpful how-to photos teach the basic techniques.

First of all---why do we need crescent shapes?  I feel I can't make a decent crescent shape.

2nd --  I spent $12 on cardamom.  Now I have to find a lot of recipes with cardamom in them to justify spending that much for cookies.

3rd --  my good cookie baking pan got ruined and I am having to use a substitute pan and I'm not a fan. Things bake differently.

Having said all that, the cookies were fine.  A little short-bread cooking with a taste of lemon and a little bit of spice.

Would I make them again?

I should, since I have a whole spice bottle full of cardamom!

But I probably won't---not because they weren't good--they were, but drop cookies are so much easier. I feel this isn't an everyday cookie, but a special occasion cookie, so maybe I'll wait for a special occasion.

Spicy Lemon Crescents

1 cup butter--softened

 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar--divided

1/2 tsp lemon extract

1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

2 cups cake flour

1/2 cup finely ground almonds, walnuts or pecans (I used almonds)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1 3/4 cups M&M's chocolate mini baking bits

Preheat oven to 375F.  Lightly grease cookie sheets; set aside. In large bowl cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar; add lemon extract and zest until well blended.  In medium bowl combine flour, nuts, cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg; add to creamed mixture until well blended. Stir in M&M's. 

Using 1 T of dough at a time, form into crescent shapes; place about 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. 

Bake 12-14 minutes or until edges are golden.  cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets.  Gently roll warm crescents in remaining 1 cup sugar.

Cool completely on wire racks.

Store in tightly covered container.

I picked up the Cookie  Bible at a Goodwill thrift store, while perusing with my mother in law.

It's  a good one--lots of good cookie recipes.

And that is my 94th cookbook!!

Cross another one off!!

Cookbook Countdown #94 -- The Fannie Farmer Baking Book

My friend Louise hosted Cookbook Wednesday for years, but  she is not feeling so well, so it is suspended for now.

I am not taking up the weekly commitment, (with a Mr. Linky, etc)  I just have one of my cookbooks to 'count down' and I am going to do it on Wednesday and think of how great Louise's blog is and hope she is up to par soon!

Months of Edible Creations!

This is cookbook number 93!

You can see them all so far if you click here.

Goodreads says:

A superb collection of more than 800 recipes drawn from both America's rich past and new culinary discoveries. It's the Bible of baking, considered by many as the most thorough baking book on the market. The highly readable, easy-to-follow text explains the whys and hows of baking and makes it easy for even the beginner to achieve delicious results in the kitchen. Line drawings throughout.

I say:

Good cookbook! As Goodreads said--superb collection of everything you've ever wanted to bake--and even things you didn't know you wanted to bake, like:

Coffee-Rum Chiffon Pie

and

Orange Marmalade Tarts

and

Raspberry Liqueur Pound Cake

Because now I really REALLY want to bake all these things. 

Oh for the time!!  There is never enough of it to do all the things you want to.

What I chose to make this time  was,

Canned-Cherry Macaroon-Crumb Pie.

This was an easy-peasy pie to make.

A pie of good contrasts--a crunchy macaroon topping over tender fruit.  Be sure to use a good crisp macaroon to make the crumbs.

Canned-Cherry Macaroon-Crumb Pie

Basic pie dough for a 9-inche pie shell.

(I used my pat-in-pan pie crust recipe, because of my fear of pie crusts)

1 cup lightly packed macaroon crumbs

2 T flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

4 T butter

4 cups canned sweet cherries, well drained

Droplets of lemon juice

Pre-bake your pie crust.

Combine the macaroon crumbs, flour, brown sugar and vanilla in a bowl, and stir to mix them well.  Cut the butter into bits and drop into the macaroon mixture.  Using your fingertips, work the butter into the crumbs as though you were working fat into flour to make a pie crust.  Let the crumbs fall back into the bowl and continue this mixing until all the butter and dry ingredients have been worked together. 

Set aside.

Line the pie crust with the well-drained cherries and sprinkle with drops of lemon juice.  Spread the crumbs evenly over the cherries. 

Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350F and continue baking for 25 to 30 minutes more, until the crumb topping is crisp and brown.

**I used 1 can of sweet cherries and 1 can of cherry pie filling

Thanks Larry Storm for challenging me to use ALL my cookbooks.

Even if it is just one recipe at a time.

(no sarcasm intended in the thanks!  well, maybe a little bit)

This challenge is not to be confused with the Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown--that one is all the recipes from a homemade cookbook, with recipes contributed by me and my friends.

This one is---just making sure I make at least one thing from each cookbook I own, to justify the cost of each and every one I own.

It's a hard life---all this cooking and eating.