INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

When cornmeal is called for, use yellow or white, coarsely or finely
ground.  CUMIN:  This is the powerful, sometimes dominating spice so
often  used in traditional southwest cooking.  Recipes may call for
whole  cumin seed or ground cumin.  DUCK:  This bird is considered
"game" less and less, perhaps because  it is widely available, frozen,
in supermarkets.  Wild duck, indeed,  tastes gamy, and in fact the
flesh of water fowl may take on a  distinctly fishy taint. Commercially
bred ducks, though, are well fed  and succulent.  FRIJOLE:  Spanish for
BEAN.  See Beans.  GAME:  Americans tend to consider the following
animals game: Buffalo,  Duck, Goose, Pheasant, Quail, Rabbit, and
Venison.  Generally  speaking, farm-raised game animals haven't had to
scratch for a  living and so is meatier and has a flavor somewhat less
"gamy".  It  is traditional to serve any game with foods upon which it
feeds.  For  example, serve game birds with berry sauces and wild rice.
GROUND RED CHILIES:  This is pure chili powder from finely ground
dried red chilies.  It is not blended chili powder.  GROUND RED PEPPER:
From ground dried cayenne chilies, this is often  called "cayenne
pepper".  See Chili, Cayenne.  GUAVA:  These yellow-green fruits with
pale faintly pink flesh are  about the size of a plum.  They are
intensely fragrant when ripe.  Guava paste is only one of the fruit
pastes beloved of Hispanics,  often served with cream cheese as
dessert.  The fruit is cooked with  sugar until thick, then canned or
shaped into blocks.  HOMINY:  These corn kernels have been soaked and
lightly cooked so  that the outer coating can be removed.  INSTANT CORN
FLOUR TORTILLA MIX (MASA)  This commercial product is the  shortcut in
making fresh corn tortillas.  It is fresh corn MASA that  has been
dried and ground.  JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE (Sunchoke)  This knobbed root
keeps well in the  refrigerator or other cold place.  Jerusalem
artichokes discolor after  peeling.  Dip them in acidulated water as
the flesh is exposed.  Enjoy  Jerusalem artichokes ray in salads, or
broiled, sauteed, mashed or in  a gratin.  JICAMA:  The flesh of the
jicama root is often compared to that of the  water chestnut, both for
flavor and crunch.  Jicama is related to the  sharp-tasting turnip but
is so mild in flavor that, when eaten raw,  it is usually sprinkled
with lemon or lime juice and chili powder.  After the brown fibrous
skin has been pared away, jicama flesh does  not discolor. Look for
smallish jicama, which will be sweet and moist.  JUNIPER BERRIES:  The
fruit of an ever green, juniper berries give  gin its distinctive
flavor.  They are sometimes used to flavor game  dishes. These
blue-green berries are purchased dried.  Add them  (sparingly) whole to
saucy foods for subtle flavor or slightly  crushed for more impact.
LARD: This has been perhaps the most frequently used cooking fat  south
of the boarder since it was introduced by the Spaniards.  For  tender,
flaky pastries, lard can't be beat.  It is little known that  lard, for
all its reputation, has approximately half the cholesterol  of butter.
MANGO:  The skin of this oval fruit is washed in gold, pink, red, and
parrot green.  The flesh is deep yellow, juicy and richly perfumed.
Mangoes have flat, oval pits.  To slice the fruit, free it from the
pit in large pieces.  MASA:  Literally "dough" in Spanish.  MASA is
cornmeal dough made from  dried corn kernels that have been softened in
a lime (calcium  hydroxide) solution, then ground.  Fresh MASA is
commercially  available in Mexico, but it is tricky to work with and
dries out  quickly.  MASA comes finely ground, for tortillas, and
coarsely  ground for tamales.  It is easier to use instant corn flour
tortilla  mix when making tortillas.  NOPALES:  These leaves of the
prickly pear (nopal) cactus are firm  crunch pads.  Let size be your
guide in buying them; the smaller the  pad, the more likely it is to be
tender.  Use tweezers to remove  spines, a sharp paring knife or
vegetable peeler to remove their  bases.  With a flavor similar to
green beans, NOPALES are eaten both  raw and cooked.  From Betty
Crocker's "Southwest Cooking". File
ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/food/mealmaster/recipes/sowest1.zip

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