INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

With all the messages about Mexican and Southwestern cooking
that have been in the echo lately, I thought I would make this file
using the information that I found in a recent Betty Crocker Cookbook
called "Southwestern Cooking".  I hope that this will help you in
learning how to cook this good food.  <<Rich>>
ACHIOTE SEED:  The dried reddish seeds of the annatto tree give food a
bright orange-yellow tint when they are cooked first in hot fat; then,
the seeds themselves are discarded.  Sometimes they are ground to a
powder and stirred into such foods as butter for color.  They impart a
flavor that is gentle and hard to describe; like that of saffron, it
has an earthy quality.
ADOBO:  A piquant sauce of tomato, vinegar and spices.
ANISE SEED:  This small, elongated seed tastes sharply of licorice.
ATOLE BLUE CORNMEAL:  This is blue corn that has been dried, roasted,
and ground specifically to be used in make ATOLE, a cornmeal gruel.
Blue corn, unlike ordinary field corn, is always dried and ground
before use.  Cornmeal, blue, yellow, or white, can be used as a
thickener.
AVOCADO:  This fruit is ripe when the flesh under the leathery skin
yields to light pressure.  A hard avocado will ripen if left at room
temperature for two or three days.  The Haas or California type is
smaller and darker green than the emerald type grown in Florida, and
some say it is more flavorful as well.  Keep avocado flesh from
discoloring by brushing it with lemon juice as it is peeled.
BEANS:  It takes time to prepare dried beans, but the result is a
tender bean that is still firm.  Canned beans are sometimes mushy, but
they are convenient to keep on hand and are packed in liquid that adds
flavor to many recipes.  Dried beans keep almost indefinitely.  Before
cooking dried beans, rinse them well and pick them over for stones or
inferior beans.
  TYPES OF BEANS:
BLACK BEANS:  (frijoles negros, turtle beans) though small,
have a hearty flavor.  South American cooking makes great use of them.
With their dramatic dark purple-blue color, they lend themselves
nicely to garnishes.
BLACK-EYED PEAS:  (cowpeas) are the seeds of the cowpea, an
annual vine.  They are tan with a blackish stain, hence "black-eyed".
GARBANZO BEANS: (chickpeas) are Spanish in origin.  These
rounded beige beans have a nutty flavor.
NORTHERN BEANS: are white, relatively large and mild.
PINTO BEANS: (frijoles) are charmingly speckled with brown on
a pale or pinkish background.
RED BEANS: are favorites in the southern states.  Pinto beans
may be substituted.
BUFFALO:  This commercially raised red meat is lower in cholesterol
and fat than beef.  Unlike beef, it isn't marbled with fat.
Accustomed as we are today to tender cuts of meat, buffalo is best
enjoyed ground rather than steaks.
CAPERS:  These are the pickled, green buds from the prickly caper
bush.  They are somewhat smaller than raisins and are bottled in
brine.
CAYENNE:  See Chile.
CHAYOTE: (christophine, mirliton, vegetable pear):  Related to gourds,
chayote squash have none of their brilliant decoration.  Light green
skin encases firm flesh of an even paler green.  Chayote may be baked,
steamed, stuffed and sauteed.  A 1 lb Chayote makes a nice serving for
two or three people.
From Betty Crocker's "Southwest Cooking".
File ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/food/mealmaster/recipes/sowest1.zip

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