Sunday, September 13, 2009

Bayless: He's definitely lower maintenance


Much culinary activity to report. Let's start with Friday

Author: Rick Bayless
Book: Mexico, One Plate at a Time
Recipes cooked: green tomatillo salsa, classic guacamole, tortilla soup, mushroom and cheese quesadillas, rustic cajeta apple tarts with berry salsa
Score: 7.5

Only one complaint: Tomatoes, get out of my guacamole. You may be vine-ripened and heirloom and FROM MY VERY OWN GARDEN but your presence is not always welcome. You don't belong in green salad either. Your proper place is beneath a slice of fresh mozzarella, or in a BLT with lots of mayonnaise. 

Mushrooms, on the other hand, do amazing things for a quesadilla.
 
That pretty item at top is the rustic cajeta apple tart, one of Rick Bayless's friendly Mexican-inspired desserts, as opposed to the scary authentic Mexican desserts preferred by Diana Kennedy. 

I already know who wins this contest between Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless, and probably so do you, but I'll proceed with testing for a few more weeks. It's not exactly a hardship, and the kids are really happy. 
 

6 comments:

  1. No tomatoes at all in your guac? Or in your salad? Not even a few for interest?

    I don't know you at all, do I?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Perhaps not. Tomatoes in salad: watery. Tomatoes in guacamole: ditto.
    But Utah peaches are the best!
    That, we might agree on.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You want to use a fleshy tomato for the guac (and also for salsa). I recommend Romas for the purpose.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tomatoes are good for salsa. I don't know if they always harm guacamole, but they're unnecessary. What guacamole needs is a very good tortilla chip.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I completely agree with tipsy about the tomatoes in guac & salads- too watery and distracting. They don't RUIN things, or anything as dramatic as that, at best they just don't add, and at worst they are mildly unwelcome, both of which seem sad, because i love tomatoes- they're one of my favorite foods, so it seems wrong to put them in such a no-win situation.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tipsy, you're always saying how Mexican food is impossible to style, but those cajetas look pretty damn delicious. And I'm dying for some smooth green tomatoless guacamole. Admit it, tomato defenders: when you scoop up a wet tomato chunk with your chipful of guac, you sort of wish it wasn't there.

    Blog on!

    ReplyDelete