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Author Topic: Best Mexican and Indian cookbooks?  (Read 8853 times)

Offline WDE97

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Re: Best Mexican and Indian cookbooks?
« Reply #15 on: August 20, 2012, 10:02:40 am »
My favorite Indian cookbook is Curried Favors by Maya Kaimal Macmillan. Lots of fantastic recipies from all over India (though the focus is Southern India) and very easy to understand. I love Indian food, cook it at least once a week, and this is my go-to cookbook.

http://www.amazon.com/Curried-Favors-Family-Recipes-South/dp/0789206285/ref=pd_sim_b_57
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Offline roguejim

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Re: Best Mexican and Indian cookbooks?
« Reply #16 on: August 28, 2012, 01:51:17 pm »
Diane Kennedy's Cuisines of Mexico, and Mexican Regional Cooking.  I don't have her Tortilla Book.

As for the "lard" recommendations, good luck finding good lard that isn't the white, tasteless crap sold everywhere.  Diane Kennedy has a recipe for making your own.

Offline brushvalleybrewer

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Re: Best Mexican and Indian cookbooks?
« Reply #17 on: August 28, 2012, 04:16:17 pm »
As for the "lard" recommendations, good luck finding good lard that isn't the white, tasteless crap sold everywhere.  Diane Kennedy has a recipe for making your own.

Do this. It's so easy. Next time you get a pork loin, get it from the grower at a farmer's market. Ask them not to trim it. Trim it yourself and render the trimmings. Back fat is easy to work with. I run mine through the meat grinder and throw it in a Dutch oven on the side burner while I'm doing ribs.  8)
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Offline majorvices

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Re: Best Mexican and Indian cookbooks?
« Reply #18 on: August 28, 2012, 05:14:44 pm »
Not sure if it is still in print but the book that taught me how to cook Mexican food is "The Border Cookbook, Authentic Home Cooking of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico" by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison. Awesome tamale, tortilla, creme freche, chilli, enchillada and soups recipes. Highly recommend "Terlingua Bowl of Red" chili recipe which is made with smoked chuck roast. Some of the best mexican food you ever did put in your mouth.

Offline Pawtucket Patriot

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Re: Best Mexican and Indian cookbooks?
« Reply #19 on: August 28, 2012, 07:42:31 pm »
As for the "lard" recommendations, good luck finding good lard that isn't the white, tasteless crap sold everywhere.  Diane Kennedy has a recipe for making your own.

There's a pig farm not too far outside the Twin Cities that renders fresh pork lard into quart-sized mason jars.  I haven't had time to go out there to get some yet, but it's on my list of things to do before summer is over!
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Offline gmac

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Re: Best Mexican and Indian cookbooks?
« Reply #20 on: August 28, 2012, 08:11:59 pm »
I ended up getting the Bayless and the Jaffrey books.  Based on a cursory glance, I'm liking the Bayless, not so sure on the Jaffrey yet.  I think I'll make some stuff out of the Bayless first.

As for lard, I'm pretty sure I can find some mennonites around here that render their own lard.  Otherwise, it's probably gonna be Tenderflake (the white crappy kind).


Offline redbeerman

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Re: Best Mexican and Indian cookbooks?
« Reply #21 on: August 29, 2012, 05:35:32 am »
As for the "lard" recommendations, good luck finding good lard that isn't the white, tasteless crap sold everywhere.  Diane Kennedy has a recipe for making your own.

There's a pig farm not too far outside the Twin Cities that renders fresh pork lard into quart-sized mason jars.  I haven't had time to go out there to get some yet, but it's on my list of things to do before summer is over!

And while your at it Matt, stop off at the hospital and have a few stents put in your arteries. ;)
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Offline nateo

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Re: Best Mexican and Indian cookbooks?
« Reply #22 on: October 20, 2012, 08:57:19 am »
My wife made tamales for my birthday recently. She tried a few tweaks from the usual recipe. One was getting freshly-ground masa from a tortilleria, and the other was rendering our own lard.

The lard we got was probably ground fatback, but was just labeled "lard." We got it at a Mennonite grocery for like $2. Apparently the unrendered, raw fat is commonly called "lard" too. As you render the lard, you get less and less pure lard, and more pork flavor. If you're using the lard for pastries that might be an issue, but for tamales the pork flavor is fine.

The bad thing about using fresh masa is you can't infuse the masa with flavorful broth. It's already about as wet as it needs to be.

Overall, I'd say using fresh lard and fresh masa is maybe 10% better, but if you have to render the lard yourself or grind the masa yourself, it's not worth it, to me. 
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Offline Pawtucket Patriot

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Re: Best Mexican and Indian cookbooks?
« Reply #23 on: October 20, 2012, 12:04:04 pm »
As for the "lard" recommendations, good luck finding good lard that isn't the white, tasteless crap sold everywhere.  Diane Kennedy has a recipe for making your own.

There's a pig farm not too far outside the Twin Cities that renders fresh pork lard into quart-sized mason jars.  I haven't had time to go out there to get some yet, but it's on my list of things to do before summer is over!

And while your at it Matt, stop off at the hospital and have a few stents put in your arteries. ;)

Ha!  But lard just goes so well with my already high blood pressure and high cholesterol.   ;D
Matt Schwandt | Minneapolis, MN
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