"mexican" news and stories

The news couldn't be more timely with Cinco de Mayo right around the corner.

According to the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a native Mexican diet full of soups, legumes, tomato-based sauces, meat and Mexican cheeses seems to help prevent breast cancer. Whether the foods and dished are topped with a chili or two wasn't stated, but Hispanic women believe it's the chili in Mexican food that may prevent breast cancer.

So with Cinco de Mayo coming up and resources featuring Mexican recipes, now might be a great time to add Alondigas Soup, bean-based dishes, and moles (might it be the chocolate?) to your recipe repertoire.

But don't let this be an excuse to gorge on greasy, deep-fried tortilla chips!

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While Mexico has got to be in my top five best countries for street food - tacos al pastor with pineapple and loads of cilantro at the market in Mexico City, huitlacoche (corn fungus) and squash blossom quesadillas in the park in downtown Cancun, steaming chicken tamales wrapped in wet green banana leaves sold out of an empty oil drum in Villahermosa - one of my very, very favorites has to be elote. I first tasted elote - corn on the cob slathered in mayonnaise and sprinkled with cotija cheese (like Parmesan) and chile powder, topped off with a squeeze of lime - in the city of San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas. Sold by an old lady who sat on the steps of the church with a vat of corn cobs floating in hot water and an economy-sized jar of mayo, it was sweet, sour, cheesy and spicy all at once. I was in love.

Here in Santa Fe, there's an elote cart that shows up from time to time in the parking lot of the defunct Pepe's Tacos, serving de-cobbed elote. The vendor layers corn kernels, mayonnaise, butter, cotija, lime and chile in a Styrofoam cup, served with a plastic spoon. Stir it all together and it creates a super-addictive spicy cream of corn soup. I find myself cruising the street outside Pepe's, like a scorned girlfriend staking out her ex's car (will it be there? Oh, I hope it's there!), three dollars already folded in my pocket just in case.

What are your favorite street foods? And where do you find them?

As you know, there is an enduring battle at breakfast time for me between Savory and Sweet. For almost all of my life, I've loved sweet breakfast foods, whether that was cold cereal in the form of Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Belgian waffle with sweetened fruit and whipped cream. However, savory has taken the lead in recent years, and it's everything I can do to keep myself from ordering the same egg white, vegetable, and cheese omelet.

Food blog What Did You Eat has put a break in the battle, if at least for one morning. Jalapeno Corn pancakes (a recipe from Ask.com) look like normal pancakes, and with a small amount of sugar in the recipe that "lends a subtle sweetness to the pancakes," may even taste like regular pancakes, but the addition of masa flour and jalapenos, makes these all kinds of spicy and savory. You could eat them as is (I don't think I'd add any syrup), or do like Sher did and throw a fried egg on top!

Over the next few days, we will be getting ready for Cinco de Mayo here at Slashfood, and I decided there is no better way to start the day than with coffee. Actually, make that Café de Olla, a Mexican-style sweetened black coffee. I first had this drink about ten years ago, and still make it periodically throughout the year. The flavor is bold and sweet, laced with the subtle flavors of cinnamon and anise.

Though I have come across many different ways to prepare this beverage, the following is a simplified version I've adapted over time. If any of you have any tips on making it better, please feel free to add your comments below. The full recipe can be found after the jump.

Caramel is my chocolate. Actually, I believe there is only one thing better than caramel really, and that is dulce de leche. Top it off with crispy, deep fried churros coated in cinnamon sugar and we have reached a whole new level of dessert heaven.

Ellie at Kitchen Wench recently received a jar of dulce de leche from a fellow blogger, and proceeded to whip up a batch of churros for dipping based on a recipe by Jane Milton in her cookbook 'Mexican'. Though churros are traditionally piped from a pastry bag using a star tip, (which forms the ridges along the churro surface) she didn't have one large enough so opted to pipe without a tip instead.

Since Ellie used a jar of pre-made dulce de leche, I'll leave you with my recipe for making it yourself, which you can find after the jump.

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