COVER
Dia de los Muertos The Essential Dishes & More
day of dead party photo
Dia de los Muertos The Essential Dishes & More
edited and compiled by Anna Dambacher
Contents 7 Introduction 11
Pan De Muerto
13
Guacamole
15
Queso dip
17
Black Bean Soup
21
Mole Negro
23
Tamales
25
Sugar Skulls
27
Churros
29
Calabeza en Dulce
33
Champurrado
35
Traditional Margarita
39
Credits
Introduction November first begins the Dia de los Muertos celebrations with All Saints Day, in which deceased children are honored and remembered. November second is All Souls Day, which is in honor of the adult dead. Dia de los Muertos represent the days that celebrate the deceased and enjoy their memories. The spirits of the dead are believed to visit their families during these days and the families prepare an altar for them to put their favorite dishes. The families place these dishes out for them because it is believed that the dead will need nourishment after their long journey to their families.
This cookbook is composed of various recipes that include Day of the Dead essentials, such as Pan de Muerto and sugar skulls. The dishes included are great for Day of the Dead celebrations and for fiestas year-round.
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Pan De Muerto also known as bread of the dead or dead man’s bread, Pan De Muerto is a traditional Mexican sweet bread that is eaten during the Day of the Dead. It is offered as nourishment to the deceased after their journey from the “other side”.
Ingredients
Directions
5 cups of all purpose flour
Put flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and cinnamon.
½ cup of sugar
into a large bowl.
½ cup of milk
Mix ingredients together and put aside.
½ cup of butter ½ cup of water 4 eggs 2 packets of yeast 1 tsp. of salt
In a saucepan heat milk, butter, and water on medium heat until butter has melted. Pour the contents of the saucepan into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Add the eggs and mix them in thoroughly.
Glaze Ingredients
½ cup sugar
/3 cup fresh orange juice
1
2 tbsp. grated orange
Keep mixing while you slowly add the rest of the flour. You should keep adding flour until it’s soft and just slightly sticky.
Transfer the dough to a floured board and knead for ten minutes until smooth and stretchy.
Put the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise and double in size. This should take about
ninety minutes. If you put the bowl in a
warm location it will help the dough rise.
Glaze Directions Boil sugar, orange juice and orange zest in a saucepan for two minutes.
Lastly, glaze the bread when it is fresh out of the oven and after glazing, sprinkle the loaves with some sugar.
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Guacamole
How to: cut an avocado
a dish of mashed avocado mixed with chopped onion, tomatoes, chili peppers, and seasoning. It is a Mexican classic, and is great for parties and celebration.
Ingredients
Directions
2 ripe avocados
Finely chop red onion, chop the garlic fine,
½ medium red onion 1 tsp. garlic 1 jalapeño chile 2 tbsp. fresh cilantro chopped 2 medium tomatoes 1 tsp. fresh lime or lemon juice
¼ to ½ tsp. salt and pepper
seed and mince jalapeno chile, chop
cilantro into fine pieces, chop tomatoes, juice limes and or lemons.
Put the onion, garlic, chile and cilantro in a bowl. Using the back of a heavy spoon, grind the ingredients together until the
juices mix and they begin to form a paste. Cut the avocados in half and scoop out the center in big chunks with a spoon.
Add to the bowl and mix well, mashing the avocado slightly but keeping it chunky.
Add diced tomatoes, lime juice and salt to taste. Mix gently, and serve.
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Queso Dip also known as Chile con Queso, is a Mexican appetizer that is made with chili peppers and cheese. This white creamy dip goes well with tortilla chips.
Ingredients
Directions
1 cup monterey jack cheese
Put all ingredients in a double boiler on
or 1 cup asadero cheese 1 cup chihuahua cheese 4 ounces green chilies
Âź cup half-and-half milk
medium heat until melted and well blended. Stir occasionally and serve with fresh tortilla chips.
2 tbsp. onions 2 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. salt
1 serrano pepper 1 tbsp. fresh cilantro
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Black Bean Soup Black bean soup is a classic dish in Mexican cuisine. It’s a comforting and hearty soup that is made to celebrate the memories of the deceased.
Ingredients
Directions
1 lb. dry black beans
Sort and rinse beans. Place the beans and
8 cups cold water 2 tsp. of salt
½ red onion quartered 4 whole garlic cloves 8 apazote leaves or two heaping teaspoons of oregano
water in oven.
Bring to boil. Boil for two minutes. Remove from heat and set aside for a thirty minutes.
Next, add salt, onion, garlic and apazote and bring to boil.
Lower heat to a simmer and cook for two hours and then enjoy.
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Photo by Alison Bastie
Mole Negro A dish that is very intricate and time consuming but, a Day of the Dead must. Mole Negro has a very rich taste and lovely aroma.
Ingredients
Directions
1 lb of ancho chiles
Toast ancho, guajillo, and cascabel chiles
½ lb guajillo
in a heavy skillet until skins blister. Remove
½ lb dried cascabel chile
Place tomatoes and green tomatoes in a
2 lbs tomatoes chopped 1 lb Mexican green tomato 4 slices white bread 1 cinnamon stick 4 to 5 cloves 4 to 5 whole peppercorns 1 sprig fresh thyme 1 pinch of cumin
from skillet and stem and seed chiles.
saucepan and bring to boil. Drain and blend in blender.
In a large saucepan, heat corn oil over low heat. Cut four slices of white bread, into pieces and fry until golden brown.
Add a cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns, thyme, cumin, sesame seeds, peanuts,
almonds, raisins, plantains, and walnuts. Stir ingredients together. Add more corn
oil, to coat ingredients lightly. Add chopped
½ cup sesame seeds
roasted onion and minced roasted garlic.
½ cup shelled peanuts
Continue to fry on low heat for twenty
½ cup blanched almonds ½ cup small raisins 1½ plantains, chopped
½ cup walnuts 1 small onion 1 small garlic clove 1 corn tortilla 1 piece unsweet chocolate
minutes. Add tomato mixture. Remove from heat and set aside.
Place corn tortilla over open flame and cook until burnt. Cut and set aside.
In a medium frying pan, fry roasted chiles
and burnt tortilla pieces for a few minutes. Combine tomato, spice, and nut mixture
with chile mixture in large saucepan. Add
chocolate piece and cook until melted. Add
½ cup chicken stock
half a cup of chicken stock to mixture and
3 tbsp. of vegetable shortening
ingredients have combined completely.
stir. Place into blender and puree until all Plate and enjoy.
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Tamales Tamales are a sweet and savory food made with masa dough and wrapped in corn husks. It is a tradition among some families to make tamales together as a Day of the Dead activity.
Ingredients
Directions
3½ lbs of pork shoulder
Place the dried cornhusks in a pan or dish and cover with warm water, allowing husks
10 cups of water 1 medium onion quartered 3 garlic cloves minced 3½ tsp. salt 4 cups red chili sauce
¾ cup shortening
6 cups masa harina 1½ tsp. baking powder 50 dried corn husks 8 inches long
to soak until soft. Softening cornhusks can take four hours.
With an electric mixer, beat the shortening until light and fluffy. Beat in the dry
ingredients and liquid. The finished dough
should resemble a thick, creamy paste that is easy to work with.
Next, fill the tamales. Remove the husks from the water, drain and pat dry.
Top each husk with two tablespoons of
the masa dough, spreading dough into a
rectangle that runs close to one of the long sides of the husk and spread about one
tablespoon of filling lengthwise down the center of the dough on each husk.
Wrap the tamales, fold the long end of the husk so it slightly overlaps the dough.
Next, roll the husk around the dough and filling.
Tie the cornhusk’s ends to keep the
condensed steam away from the dough
this keeps the bundles intact. Steam the
tamales. Pour at least one inch of water in the bottom of the steamer.
Cover and reduce heat to medium-low.
Steam the tamales until the dough pulls
away from the cornhusks and is spongy and cooked through and then enjoy.
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Sugar Skulls Sugar skulls are made as decorations for the altars of family’s loved ones. Most sugar skulls are just for decoration, but the recipe given below is edible.
Ingredients 4 cups of sugar 4 tsp. of meringue powder 10 tsp. of water
You may add 2 extra tsp.of water later
Directions Mix sugar and water together in a bowl.
Press as firmly as possible into mold. Try to make the back of the mold as even as possible.
Cover the back of the molding tray with
Large batch ingredients 10 lbs. of sugar
½ cup of meringue powder
7 tbsp. of water
a cookie sheet. Gently flip it over. Press lightly on the top of the silicone tray sections to loosen the skulls.
Preheat your oven to two-hundred
degrees. Put the cookie sheet inside the oven for ten minutes.
Buy colored icing and decorate the sugar skulls. Then serve.
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Churros A churro, sometimes referred to as a Spanish doughnut, is a fried-dough pastry. They are great for a fiesta or just a sweet snack.
Ingredients
Directions
1 cup water
Combine water, butter and the salt in a
½ cup butter ¼ tsp. salt 1 cup all-purpose flour 3 eggs beaten Vegetable oil for frying
¼ cup sugar ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
saucepan and bring to a boil over high
heat. Then stir in flour. Reduce the heat to low and stir until the mixture forms a ball. Remove the dough from the heat, while
stirring, gradually beat the eggs into the dough.
Then spoon the churro dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large tip. Squeeze a four
inch strip of dough into the hot oil. Fry the churros, turning them once, until golden brown, about two minutes per side.
Heat about two inches of oil in a heavy,
high-sided pot over medium-high heat until the oil reaches three hundred and sixty
degrees. Mix the sugar with the cinnamon on a plate and reserve.
When the churros are just cool enough to handle, roll them in the cinnamon-sugar and serve.
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Calabaza en Dulce A dish of candied pumpkin that is often enjoyed in celebration of the Day of the Dead.
Ingredients
Directions
4 to 5 lbs of Pumpkin
Cut the pumpkin into medium two and a
8 Cinnamon sticks Juice of 1 Orange 4 cups water 2 lbs Piloncillo
you can use brown sugar
half to three inch squares or triangles.
Remove seeds and strings. With a sharp
knife make diamond designs over the pulp. Put the sugar in a pan with the cinnamon, orange juice, and water. Bring to boil and stir until the piloncillo has dissolved.
Place the first layer of pieces of pumpkin
upside down so they absorb as much juice as possible.
The second layer should be with the pulp upwards. Then cover and simmer.
When ready the top of the pumpkin pieces
should look somewhat glazed, and the pulp soft and golden brown.
Let cool and serve with the syrup. You can also add cold evaporated milk.
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Photo by Alison Bastie
Photo by Alison Bastie
Champurrado This comforting, chocolatey Mexican drink will warm you up in late fall and is a celebratory drink in Day of the Dead festivites.
Ingredients
Directions
4 cups of milk
Put the milk in a saucepan with the
½ chocolate tablet ½ cup of corn flour 1 cinnamon branch 2 piloncillo cones
chocolate tablet, one cinnamon branch
and two piloncillo cones. Bring to boil over high heat.
When the milk boils, reduce to low heat and cook the saucepan ingredients for
about four minutes, until the chocolate and the piloncillos have dissolved. Stir constantly.
Place the dough that was prepared in the saucepan and stir constantly.
Cook the champurrado for about ten
minutes, until the dough is well cooked and the champurrado has a thick consistency. Stir constantly.
When the cooking is done discard the cinnamon branch and enjoy.
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Traditional Margarita The Margarita is a well-known drink in Mexican culture. It is often made to celebrate any occasion.
Ingredients
Directions
2½ ounces of silver tequila
In a mixing glass add all ingredients except
1 ounce of fresh lime juice 1 tbsp. agave nectar 1½ tbsp. water lime for garnish sea salt for rimming the glass
the salt and lime garnish. Cover the glass and shake very gently.
To salt the rim of your glass, drag a cut
lime around the rim and then gently dip the rim in a saucer filled with salt.
Fill the glass to the top with ice. then Add
cocktail mixture to a cocktail shaker filled
with ice and shake until well chilled. About thirty seconds.
Strain contents of shaker over the ice in
the glass and garnish with slice of lime and serve.
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Š Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0
credits http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/history/a/dayofthedead.htm http://flavorsofthesun.blogspot.com/2010/11/images-from-day-ofdead.html http://gomexico.about.com/od/dayofthedead/tp/muertos-foods.htm Š Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0 s Whole marigold flowers with magenta mano de leon (cockscomb flowers) Photo by Alison Bastie http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_tango_guacamole.jpg
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