Salsas That Cook : Using Classic Salsas To Enliven Our Favorite Dishes - Softcover

Bayless, Rick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0684856948 ISBN 13: 9780684856940

Publisher: Scribner, 1998

Synopsis

From America's leading authority on definitive Mexican cooking comes a brand-new collection of recipes based on six classic, versatile salsas, each featuring the flavor of a diffferent chili.

Salsas That Cook is a breakthrough in contemporary American cooking. Here, Mexico's classic salsas get put to work in our kitchens in the same way we use a variety of international condiments, from teriyaki sauce to balsamic vinegar, to enliven and redefine the flavor of many American favorites. While most of us have enjoyed salsas as chip dips, salsas show great versatility when weaving complex flavor into simple dishes, from pasta to potatoes to meats, fish and vegetables.

Salsas embody the essence of Mexican flavor: the lusciousness of slow-roasted tomatoes, the full-flavored spice of chiles, the fragrance of cilantro and the mellow sweetness of garlic. Rick Bayless, the country's leading progenitor of real Mexican cooking, writes the six salsa recipes with such detail and personality that even beginning cooks will turn out masterful creations.

The uniqueness of this book, though, is in the way these six salsas are used. Here they give their pizzazz to chile-glazed roast chicken, grilled pork tenderloin and seared sea scallops with jalapeño cream. Familiar Mexican favorites have always used salsas for vitality, and many are here, from tangy guacamole to tortilla soup and grilled chicken tacos. In Salsas That Cook, the magic of Mexico transcends all borders.

About this title

About the Author

Rick Bayless is the coauthor of Authentic Mexican and Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen, for which he won the IACP Cookbook of the Year Award. He is also co-owner, with his wife, Deann, of two award-winning restaurants in Chicago and is a partner in Frontera Foods.

Reviews

Bayless (Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen, winner of the 1997 Julia Child Cookbook of the Year Award) courts the many cooks short on time with recipes that incorporate six salsas (such as the Roasted Jalape?o-Tomato Salsa or Chipotle-Cascabel Salsa with Roasted Tomatoes and Tomatillos), which can be prepared either in advance and refrigerated or purchased (Bayless recommends his own brand). Mexican-inspired dishes like Open-Face Quesadillas with Mushrooms, Olives, Salsa and Greens and Chilaquiles (tortilla casserole) with Spinach, Zucchini and Aged Cheese naturally work well. Also particularly successful are more familiar dishes to which salsa adds zip: Chipotle Mashed Potatoes, Slow-Grilled Turkey Breast with Mediterranean Salsa, Smoky Glazed Ham for a Crowd. The inclusion of salsa in every dish is usually a harmless gimmick; although in the introduction Bayless claims these dishes are quickly assembled by those who have salsa on hand, some entrees like Robust Beef Brisket with Red Chile and Winter Vegetables require long periods in the oven. Bayless offers sweet desserts that complement the spicy entrees like Frontera's Chocolate Pecan Bars and Texas Sheet Cake. Good Cook alternate.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Bayless, chef/owner of Chicago's Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, is also the author of Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen (LJ 11/15/96) and the now-classic Authentic Mexican (LJ 12/86). His latest book is less ambitious than either of these but more conducive to spur-of-the-moment cooking, for here are 60 easy recipes that get their bold flavors from prepared salsa?preferably prepared ahead at home, using one of the six recipes Bayless provides, but in most cases, high-quality store-bought will also do the trick. He encourages readers to think of salsa as a flavoring ingredient, not just a condiment, and he adds it to Green Chili Crab Cakes, Peppery Pan-Seared Steaks, and even Macaroni and Cheese. Bayless says these are the kind of dishes he cooks for casual entertaining, and his inviting recipes should inspire others to do the same. For most collections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scribner
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0684856948
• ISBN 13: 9780684856940
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128