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By Rashda Khan
Rashda Khan is the food columnist for the San Angelo Standard-Times and is the 2015 president of the San Angelo Writers’ Club. She also writes fiction as award-winning author Mina Khan.
You can find her on the following social networks:
Website/Blog: Stories by Mina Khan
Lone Star Book Reviews
of Texas books appear weekly
at LoneStarLiterary.com
Cappy Lawton has designed, developed, and operated twenty-nine restaurants throughout Texas. After studying business and engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and having a successful career as a corporate engineer, he entered the restaurant business. Lawton and his wife, Suzy, love food and travel and have spent many years traveling throughout Mexico. Today the Lawtons and their son own and operate three restaurants in San Antonio: La Fonda on Main, Cappy’s, and Cappyccino’s.
San Antonio native Chris Waters Dunn holds a graduate degree in creative writing from the University of Denver. Dunn worked for decades in Nashville as a songwriter and record producer. As Chris Waters, he wrote dozens of hits, including nine #1 country songs. Dunn retired from the music business to pursue a second career in culinary studies, graduating with honors from the Culinary Institute of America.
COOKING/TEXAS
Lawton, Cappy, and Chris Waters Dunn
Trinity University Press
978-1-59534-751-0; 264 pages with color plates, recipes, glossary, and restaurant history; hardcover, $39.95
Aug. 17, 2015
Enchiladas: Aztec to Tex-Mex is easily my favorite cookbook released this year. The tome, which comes with a collection of gorgeous full-color photographs, provides you an education in everything to do with enchiladas.
I like to know the story behind my food, and the cookbook provides offers insight into the evolution of enchiladas, a dish that is a favorite on Mexican menus. The authors take us from pre-Columbian to modern times and along the way teach us not only about an iconic food, but also about how cultures influence each other.
However, Enchiladas: Aztec to Tex-Mex also proves to be a valuable and practical aid to the home cook. It starts off with a helpful “How to Use This Book” section, and then is organized into three broad categories: Ingredients, Fundamentals, and Recipes.
In the first section you’re introduced to traditional Mexican ingredients like the different types of chiles, tomatoes, and tomatillos, nopales (cactus pads), cecina (Mexican salted beef), and more.
The fundamentals section covers culinary processes essential to Mexican cuisine, like fire roasting fresh chiles; making tortillas (different types) as well as working with store-bought ones; poaching and simmering meats for enchilada fillings; and garnishing tips, among other things. My favorite was the enchilada assembly information.
The last section contains an entire gamut of recipes (with valuable step-by-step instructions) with pork, beef, poultry, seafood, and dairy. It has regional favorites, and also vegetarian and Tex-Mex enchilada recipes. Some recipes are more complicated than others, but you can pick according to your skill level. As you become more comfortable in the Mexican kitchen, you can still finds recipes in here to interest, engage and explore.
This is a wonderful cookbook to keep on your keeper shelf and share as a gift.
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