2 minute read
EVERYDAY MEXICAN RECIPES BY RICK BAYLESS
Chef Rick Bayless wants to encourage you to cook more. And he wants to make it easy for you. That’s why he has written a second book, More Mexican Everyday, about simple, seasonal cooking. While Bayless is a nurturing and low-key instructor, the appeal of this book and its non-recipe recipes lies in how smartly they fit into modern day-to-day life.
Today’s home cooks have a long wish list for everyday meals: simple, easy, flexible, healthy, flavorful and more variety. Many cooks are clamoring for vegetable-centric main dishes, allergen-free options, kid-friendly choices and to gain more knowledge as to how to plan meals from their local farmer’s market. At the same time they need to be convinced to try new things.
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Bayless is exceptional at covering the above list by taking a very un-chef like approach. Simple techniques are demonstrated in the first chapter with his own hands. The ingredients are heavily vegetable focused, health-minded and flexible. Plus he wants us to clearly understand how to bring out the best flavor of each component.
There seems to be only one aspect where he talks more like a chef than a home cook, but it is for an important reason. He earnestly tries to explain how to understand cooking with the “five flavors” (sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami). A valuable lesson indeed, but a less experienced cook may still be puzzled by the difference of “sour” and “bitter.”
Bayless has evolved to be a master (not to forget he was the first Top Chef Master) at making vibrant, good-for-you meals approachable. In the beginning, he offers three main steps to becoming a better cook who is not a slave to recipes and he stays with that philosophy throughout all the chapters. Bayless selflessly refrains from promoting himself, leaving his only agenda to help you get pleasure out of cooking more...every day.
*find the recipes on page 74
Everyday Mexican Recipes by Rick Bayless
Roasted Sunchoke Salad with Creamy Garlic Mojo and Herbs
