COVER
Dia de los Muertos The Essential Dishes & More
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day of dead party photo
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Dia de los Muertos The Essential Dishes & More
edited and compiled by Anna Dambacher
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Contents 7
Pan De Muerto
9 Guacamole
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11
Queso Dip
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Black Bean Soup
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Tamales
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Mole Negro
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Sugar Skulls
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Churros
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Calabeza en Dulce
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Champurrado
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Margaritas
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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 represents days that celebrate the deceased and enjoy their memories. The Day of the Dead is not meant to be scary or spooky. 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 loved ones 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 favorites, such as Pan de Muerto and edible sugar skulls. These dishes are essential to celebrate the life of the deceased. Also included are some Mexican favorites often placed out for loved ones.
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Pan De Muerto Pan de Muerto, also known as bread of the dead or dead man’s bread, 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 the following ingredients into a
½ cup of sugar ½ cup of milk
½ cup of butter ½ cup of water 4 eggs 2 packets of yeast
large bowl: flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and cinnamon.
Mix ingredients together and put aside.
In a saucepan heat the milk, butter, and
water on medium heat until the butter has melted.
1 tsp of salt
Pour the contents of the saucepan into the
Glaze Ingredients
Add the eggs and mix them in thoroughly.
bowl of dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Keep mixing while you slowly add the rest
½ cup sugar
/3 cup fresh orange juice
1
2 tbsp grated orange
of the flour. but you should keep adding
flour until it’s soft and just slightly sticky. Transfer the dough to a floured board and
knead for 10 minutes until it is 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 90 minutes.
If you put the bowl in a warm location it will help the dough rise.
Glaze Directions Boil sugar, orange juice and the orange zest in a saucepan for two minutes.
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.
Ingredients
Directions
2 ripe avocados
Finely chop red onion, chop the garlic fine,
½ medium red onion 1 tsp garlic 1 jalapeno chile 2 tbsp. fresh cilantro chopped 2 medium tomatoes 1 tsp. fresh lime or lemon juice
Ÿ 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. If you like, refrigerate before serving.
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Queso Dip
Ingredients
Directions
1 cup monterey jack cheese
Put all ingredients in a double boiler and
or 1 cup asadero cheese 1 cup chihuahua cheese 4 ounces green chilies
Âź cup half-and-half
2 tablespoons onions 2 teaspoons ground cumin
heat on medium.
Cook until melted and well blended, stirring occasionally.
Serve with fresh tostadas or hot flour tortillas.
½ teaspoon salt
1 serrano pepper 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro
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Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
Directions
1 lb. dry black beans
Sort and rinse beans. Place the beans and
8 cups cold water 2 teaspoons salt
½ red onion quartered 4 whole garlic cloves 8 apazote leaves or two heaping teaspoons of oregano
water in a large Dutch oven.
Heat to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside for ½ hour.
Add salt, onion, garlic and apazote. Bring to a boil.
Lower heat to a simmer and cook for 2 hours and then enjoy.
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Tamales Ingredients
Directions
3½ lbs of pork shoulder
Place the dried cornhusks in a pan or dish
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
and cover with warm water, allowing husks
to soak until soft. Softening cornhusks can take 4 hours.
Make the dough. With an electric mixer,
beat the lard or shortening until light and
fluffy. Beat in the dry ingredients and liquid as directed in the recipe. The finished
dough should resemble a thick, creamy paste that is easy to work with.
Then fill tamales. Remove the husks from
the water, drain in a colander, and pat dry. Top each husk with 2 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 1 tablespoon desired filling lengthwise down the center of the dough on each husk.
Wrap the tamales, for each tamale, 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.
Prep the steamer. Tamales are cooked in
a steamer. Or create your own steamer by
using a Dutch oven fitted with a vegetable
steamer basket or a metal rack inside. Pour at least 1-½ inches water in the bottom of the steamer.
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Mole Negro
Ingredients
Directions
1 lb of ancho chiles
Toast ancho, guajillo, and cascabel chiles
½ lb guajillo
from skillet and stem and seed chiles.
½ lb dried cascabel chile 2 lbs tomatoes chopped
in a heavy skillet until skins blister. Remove
Place tomatoes and green tomatoes in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Drain and
1 lb Mexican green tomato
blend in blender.
4 slices white bread
In a large saucepan, heat corn oil over
1 cinnamon stick
low flame. Cut the 4 slices of white bread,
4 to 5 cloves
Add cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns,
4 to 5 whole peppercorns 1 sprig fresh thyme
into pieces and fry until golden brown.
thyme, cumin, sesame seeds, peanuts,
almonds, raisins, plantains, and walnuts.
1 pinch of cumin
Stir ingredients together. Add more corn
½ cup sesame seeds
roasted onion and minced roasted garlic.
½ cup shelled peanuts ½ cup blanched almonds ½ cup small raisins 1½ plantains, chopped
½ cup walnuts 1 small onion
oil, to coat ingredients lightly. Add chopped Continue to fry on low for 20 minutes. Add
tomato mixture. Remove from heat and set aside.
Place corn tortilla over open flame and cook until burnt. Cut up and set aside.
In a medium frying pan, fry roasted chiles
and burnt tortilla pieces for a few minutes. Combine tomato/spice/nut mixture with
1 small garlic clove
chile mixture in large saucepan. Add
1 corn tortilla
about ½ cup chicken stock to mixture and
1 piece unsweet chocolate
½ cup chicken stock 3 tbsp of vegetable shortening
chocolate piece and cook until melted. Add stir. Place into blender and puree until all ingredients have combined completely.
Next, heat vegetable shortening. Cook the
puree in the shortening, stirring constantly. Warm sauce for 30 minutes on low heat.
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Sugar Skulls
Ingredients 4 cups of sugar 4 tsp of meringue powder 10 tsp. of water
Directions Mix sugar and water together in a bowl. Press as firmly as possible into mold.
You may add 2 extra tsp.of water later
Try to make the back of the mold as even as
Large batch ingredients
Cover the back of the tray with a cookie
10 lbs. of sugar
½ cup of meringue powder
7 tbsp. of water
possible.
sheet. Gently flip it over.
Press lightly on the top of the silicone tray sections to loosen the skulls.
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit
Put the cookie sheet inside the oven for 10 minutes.
Buy colored icing and decorate the sugar skulls. decorate and enjoy.
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Churros
Ingredients
Directions
1 cup water
Combine 1 cup of water with the butter or
½ cup butter or margarine ¼ tsp salt 1 cup all-purpose flour 3 eggs beaten Vegetable oil for frying
¼ cup sugar ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
margarine and the salt in a 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 4- inch strip of dough into the hot oil. Fry the chur-
ros, turning them once, until golden brown, Chocolate dipping sauce :
1 tbsp cornstarch 2 cups milk 4 ounces dark chocolate chopped
¼ cup sugar
about 2 minutes per side.
Heat about 2 inches of oil in a heavy,
high-sided pot over medium-high heat until
the oil reaches 360 degrees F. 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 (in Spain churros are simply rolled in sugar.)
Chocolate dipping sauce In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 1 cup of milk. Combine the chocolate with the remaining cup of milk in a saucepan.
Stirring constantly, melt the chocolate over medium-low heat. Whisk the sugar and
the dissolved cornstarch into the melted
chocolate mixture. Reduce the heat to low and cook, whisking constantly, until the
chocolate is thickened, for about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk
until smooth then reserve in a warm place.
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Calabeza en Dulce
Ingredients 4 to 5 lbs of Pumpkin 8 Cinnamon sticks Juice of 1 Orange 4 cups water 2 lbs Piloncillo
( you can use brown sugar)
Directions Cut the pumpkin into medium (2½” to 3” 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 a 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. 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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Champurrado
Ingredients
Directions
1 qt of Milk
Put 1 qt of milk in a saucepan with 1/2
½ Chocolate tablet ½ cup of Corn Flour 1 Cinnamon branch 2 Piloncillo cones
Chocolate tablet, 1 Cinnamon branch and
2 Piloncillo cones.Bring to a boil over high heat
When the milk boils reduce to low heat and cook the saucepan ingredients for about 4 minutes, until the chocolate and the piloncillos have dissolved. Stir constantly.
Place the dough that was prepared in the saicepan and stir constantly.
Cook the champurrado for about 10 min-
utes, 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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The Margarita
Ingredients
Directions
2½ ounces of silver tequila
In a mixing glass add all ingredients except
1 ounce fresh lime juice 1 tbsp agave nectar 1½ tbs 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
30 seconds. Strain contents of shaker over the ice in the glass and garnish with slice of lime.
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Image credits Š Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0 s http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ofrenda_tradicional_ de_M%C3%ADxquic.JPG
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