Review
"Canadians pen 'Chile Peppers for Dummies.' Canadians? Yes, Toronto natives Mary Lou and Jim Creechan effectively created such a reference. It's the ultimate capsicum read and decisive chile experience. Its 188 pages are jammed with facts and anecdotes, history, lore, recipes, shopping lists, Web sites, miscellaneous tidbits, plus chile charts and a recommended reading and fiesta list." —Las Cruces (NM) Sun News
Book Description
Chile peppers are the essential ingredient in Mexican and southwestern cooking, but with endless varieties, names, types, and heat scales, chiles can be a challenge. To meet that challenge, Mary Lou and Jim Creechan have prepared a practical guide that tells how to roast, peel, and prepare chile peppers for authentic Mexican salsas, stuffers, and seasonings. This handy guide focuses on the most common chiles available in supermarkets, grouping them for easy use, recognition, and substitution. You'll read about the small, hot snappies generally used in salsas, the larger, milder stuffers, the smoothies, and the seasoners. The authors provide practical preparation tips, handy hints, classic recipes, and information on their personal favorites. Beginning with Chiles is the ultimate capsicum read for novice and connoisseur alike. Notes, comments, and anecdotes reflect the historical, cultural, and mythical significance of chiles, while recommended readings, chile charts, chile fiestas, and web sites are provided for the more adventurous readers. Versatile, practical, and informative, it's a total chile experience for all chile aficionados, seasoned or otherwise.
RECIPES Jalapeños: Salsa Mexicana / Salsa Verde / Hell's a Poppin' Jalapeño Salsa / Jalapeño Cream Sauce / Mango Jalapeño Salsa / Guacamole / Jalapeño Cream Cheese / Shrimp Supreme / Topopo Serranos: Pico de Gallo / Salsa Verde with Tomatillos / Chilaquiles Verdes / Island Salsa / Serrano Pesto / Ceviche / Shredded Fish / Black Bean Relish Habaneros: World's Hottest Table Salsa / Simply Habanero / Habanero Table Salsa / Salsa Habanero y Col / Habanero and Mango Salsa / Habanero Mayonnaise Stuffer Recipes: Rellenos Batters / Rellenos Classico! / Chiles Rellenos Casserole / Chiles Rellenos with Shrimp and Chipotle Mayo / Chiles Stuffed with Tuna / Chiles Rellenos con Maiz / Chiles Rellenos de Picadillo / Chiles en Nogada Rajas / Chile con Queso / Chile Verde / New Mexico Green Chile Salsas Smoothie Recipes: Basic Red Chile Sauce / Cheese Enchilada / Chicken Enchilada / Red Chilaquiles / Basic Ancho Sauce / Ancho Paste / Ancho Sauce with Orange Juice / Smoky Chile Pesto / Creamy Ancho Sauce / Dark Red Chile Sauce / Ancho and Tomatillo Salsa / Mango-Ancho Salsa / Stuffed Chile Anchos / Salsa Pasilla Seasoner Recipes: Hot Salsa de Chile de Arbol / Oaxacan Peanuts / Red Chile Oil / Tomato-Chiltepin Salsa / The Chiltepin Challenge / Chile Cheese / Crispy Chile Potatoes / Rice Rico / De Arbol-Ancho / De Arbol-Tomatillo / Homemade Chorizo Powder / Jaime's Special Seasoning Chipotle Recipes: Homemade Chipotle en Adobo / Chipotle Purée / Tomato-Chipotle Salsa / Pineapple-Chipotle Salsa / Chipotle Mayo / Chipotle Cream Sauce / Chipotle Dressing / Chipotle-Zucchini / Albondigas en Chipotle / Salsa de Chipotle
From the Publisher
Although there many books about Southwestern and Mexican cooking, this book keeps the beginner in mind. The book provides an overview of Fresh and Dried Chiles, and focuses on those which are most commonly available. Its basic premise is that one can learn to make traditional salsas, stuffers and sauces by beginning with the chile. It provides 75 classical and straightforward recipes, practical handling and preparation advice and tips, and a wealth of cultural and historical information about chiles. The authors have lived in Tucson, Arizona, Los Angeles California, Mexico City and also in Western and Eastern Canada. They have an excellent overall understanding of how chiles are used and also present this information with a concern for teaching the reader about how to use chiles.
From the Author
Why us? When we first became interested in chile peppers, we looked for a cook book that would provide general information about the most common chiles, basic descriptions of their characteristics, and some simple tips about preparation. We also tried to find a collection of straightforward recipes which would highlight the flavour of chiles, use widely available ingredients, and which would be easy to use. In other words, we were looking for a book like 'Beginning with Chiles'. It would have made our introduction to the chile experience a whole lot smoother. We hope our book will do that for you.
As chiles become more widely available north of the Rio Grande, friends and acquaintances often ask us which chiles to buy and how to prepare them. They want a general understanding of how to use them in recipes, and they want to know what flavours and textures they add. In this book we answer those basic questions, keeping in mind the historical traditions and cultural context from which they come. Hopefully, our personal anecdotes and informational notes give you an appreciation of how much this food and culture are intertwined.
Chile peppers are such an integral part of our personal daily diet we can't imagine a world without them. We've been reading and working with chiles for many years and yet we continue to unearth fascinating facts about this exotic food. It's always possible to do something wonderful with a chile- whether it's a simple salsa or a complex mole. And despite the availability of more sophisticated kitchen utensils, the basic preparation techniques are unchanged. Chiles are exotic and exciting, much like the culture from which they come. They've been apart of our world for many years. We hope Beginning with Chiles will make them a part of yours.
From the Back Cover
Five years ago the unthinkable happens! A Canadian, from Edmonton, Alberta, wins the hottest cooking competition of the year. Sponsored by Chile Pepper Magazine, the one time only recipe contest attracts thousands of entrants from the United States and Canada. Overwhelmed with submissions, the popular magazine takes months to reach a decision. When the winner is finally announced, it's not an American from chile pepper land, as you might expect, but rather a mild mannered sociologist from the prairies of central Alberta. Dr Jim Creechan captures Best of Show and along with it considerable fame- a Canadian Press article, a CBC interview on As It Happens, a feature article in the Edmonton Journal, interviews on local radio and TV shows.
That happy event is the catalyst for our book- Beginning With Chiles: How to roast, peel and prepare chile peppers for authentic Mexican salsas, stuffers and seasonings. We've been connoisseurs of Mexican and Southwestern cuisines for many years but the Chile Pepper Magazine award publicized our expertise in this area and generated considerable interest across Canada. Many food experts have declared the 1990's the decade of the chile pepper. Our experience certainly confirms this.
'Beginning With Chiles' approaches the complexities of Mexican and Southwestern cooking in a very unique way, focusing on the soul of Mexican cuisine- chile peppers. It introduces readers to the most commonly available chile peppers, fresh and dried, takes them through the preparation process and then provides easy recipes to get them started. In addition we draw on our unique personal experiences to provide interesting cultural and historical anecdotes, recommended cookbooks, internet sites and other resources. As you can see 'Beginning With Chiles' is much more than a regional Mexican cookbook.
About the Author
Mary Lou Creechan has lived and traveled in the Southwest and Mexico. She is co-owner of RRRico's catering in Toronto. Jim Creechan has lived and traveled in the Southwest and Mexico and is a sociologist at the University of Alberta and, in his spare time, a prize-winning cook.
