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What pops into your mind when you think of Mexican food? Probably the first thing you thought of was a taco, burrito, or enchilada. These dishes from Mexico are popular all over the world. They can also be made easily with a variety of ingredients. It does not matter if you have chicken, pork, beef, or seafood in your refrigerator… all of them will work for these familiar recipes.

Most everyone has made tacos at home, but how many make enchiladas? The recipe really is not too difficult at all. Heat up a corn tortilla in hot oil. Roll it around a filling and set it in a baking dish. Fill it with cheese, meat, beans, vegetables, or eggs. When the baking dish is full, pour enchilada sauce over the top, and sprinkle on some of your favorite cheese. Bake it in the oven until done. It is easy to find enchilada sauce at the store if you do not want to whip up some of your own.

Tamales are very popular in Mexico and anywhere there are Mexican communities. A tamale is made by stuffing a masa, or corn dough with a filling of your choice. The whole thing is then wrapped in corn husks or plantain leaves and steamed until done. They are truly delicious. Typical fillings may include meat, cheese, chilies, or even fruit. Some cities in the southwest are known for their tamale festivals and cooking contests.

Burritos can be filled with beans, meat, eggs, cheese, or a combination of them all! The tricky part with a burrito is folding it so the filling stays put. Once you have mastered the folding, you will find that burritos are the perfect portable food. You can fill them with leftovers or anything you want and you are ready to go.

If you are unfamiliar with cooking Mexican food, do not worry. There are many recipes that are simple and delicious to make. These days, most grocery stores will carry a wide variety of ingredients and spices needed for cooking Mexican food. If you think that all Mexican food is hot, you are wrong! Many recipes are not spicy at all. Even if you want to make one that is somewhat spicy, you can control how hot it gets.

You do not have to be stuck with the most common recipes, either. Mexican casseroles are easy to make and can give you the flavors you are craving. Layering your favorite ingredients will create a delicious dish. Use whatever you have on hand, like beef, potatoes, onions, carrots, and herbs. Do not forget to spice it up with a few chilies and some cheese.

Check online and you will find a myriad of Mexican casserole recipes to choose from. These simple dishes are perfect for a night when you need a delicious meal that is also fast and easy. You will soon be enjoying delicious Mexican food from your own kitchen.

Once you have gained some confidence in cooking this cuisine, you can branch out and try some of the more authentic recipes. Try some Mexican soup, a casserole, or a delicious rice dish. Your family will love this.

The great thing about Cinco de Mayo is that every family makes their favorite Mexican foods to celebrate with and traditional Cinco de Mayo food is whatever you want to make. There are no traditional foods associated with these festivities so you can make whichever Mexican dishes tantalize your taste buds. http://www.MexicanFoodRecipes.org When it has to be Real Authentic Mexican Food

Dinner parties are a pretty versatile social event. They allow you to entertain people around your house and show off your culinary prowess, making your favourite dishes and allowing friends, family and colleagues to experience them too. When you start planning an event such as this, there are so many elements to consider: from the food you serve, the wine you will drink, the table layout you will use and, maybe the most important, what you want the tone of the evening to be.

One tone that you may decide on is really formal, and where the guests are the epitome of importance. One way of carrying out this theme is to re-enact a silver service dining experience.

Generally carried out in the most formal restaurants and in some homes across the country, silver service is not used that much anymore, but is an extremely good way of working at meal times and can be very fun to try out. With meals such as Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner, you may find that you naturally carry out a silver service style. That is that you bring all of the food out to the table in tureens, on platters or in bowls, and then each person will be given the quantity that they want. The difference being, that someone will go around and actually serve each guest, or else have the plate passed to them so they can fill it up, rather than people helping themselves to the portions they desire or the main food (e.g. the cooked joint of meat or whatever makes up the body of the meal). The tradition goes that the serving will start with the person directly to the left of the host, and then go clockwise.

Serving in this way puts the emphasis on the guest and makes them feel that little bit more special. There are other techniques that are associated with silver service, but not all of them need to be applied for a dinner party experience. If you want to though, then this can take it to the next level of formality. For example, a designated fork and spoon are generally used to serve up the components from the platters, and these were originally made from silver (hence the name ‘silver service’).

Keeping the utensils silver is something that most households will not be able to maintain when hosting a silver service style party, but you can easily mimic it with stainless steel to stay in keeping with the theme. The table layout will also have to be specific for silver service. You can look up guides, but just remember simple rules, like putting the wine glasses diagonally for each place, in the order of use. A water glass will also need to be at the front.

Clear places from the right, the opposite way to how the food is served, and just remember to provide entertainment for your guests too. It is a formal way of dealing with hosting, but there is no need for it to be boring because of this, so make sure your guests have a good, fun time and can leave feeling pampered.

Looking for the perfect cutlery to accompany your silver service standards? Then take a look from Oneidas range to find the luxurious cutlery that suits your needs.

With more people working longer hours in order meet the demands of the business many things we use to take for granted, such as family dinning has been sacrificed. When you look back at your own eating habits where do you usually end up visualising yourself? With most people your first thought would be getting takeouts and eating it with room the move or on the sofa, the second place is in bed. If you are one of these said people then it might be time you pull out the cutlery and dinning sets and force you family down to eat together. Statistics have shown that eating together is one of the qualities that well bonded families share, so if you have ever wanted to build that trust in your partner and your family then this may be a subtle step forward.

Cutlery and dinning sets are one of many things that are overrated in families, when friends are invited over for dinner the first thing they tend to notice is both the quality and the style of the dinning sets used. Although they will not openly say it, if your dinner plates are old fashioned, warn or scratch it leaves a bad example and shows that you either do not take pride in your cooking or just don’t have a sense of taste.

So what does a real dinning set consist of? The main thing is obviously the plates. We tend to overlook the style and type of dinner plates simply because the food goes on it and when the food has been eaten the plates are usually removed from the table. However, the dinner plate creates the foundation for the presentation of the food, even the most basic foods can look professional and more complex when presented on the right dinner plates. If you truly want to make a good impression then go for both modern and a colour that is not basic white but stills fits in with the colours of your dining room.

The second thing that reflects your personal tastes is the cutlery you use. As you expect your cutlery needs to match your dinning set, however, it is essential you have the main sets that match he food you actually cook. As you would expect you need a knife, fork, spoon, but what about pea spoons, tea spoons, steak knives and so on? Either way you should look at what you usually cook and see what you actually need, if you do cook a full range of foods then one option is simply to buy all the types. When you go shopping you can always ask a member of staff to help you pick out the most bought or the most stylish cutlery, there’s not really a style of fashion for cutlery, however, it’s always best to get both light in terms of weight and light in terms of style. By doing this the lightness implies expensive (silvers lighter than steel) and that you have a sense of style without becoming impractical.

Cutlery and dining sets may seem like the last thing you need but as earlier stated, by sitting together as a family you create a stronger connection and when inviting friends, bosses or co-workers the type of cutlery you use is important to the impression that person creates of your personal life, so take pride in your cutlery by choosing styles and colours that show your style and personality.

If you are seeking a long lasting, traditional cutlery set then head over to Viners and choose from their huge range of different styles.

Coffee used to be well, just plain coffee. You could order it with cream and/or sugar and that was pretty much the extent of the considerations. Now, the variation of terms bandied about is endless: organic coffee, gourmet coffee roasters who use only gourmet coffee beans, dark roast coffee, French roast and Arabica beans. There is also the place of origin: Ethiopia, Kona, Mocha, Sumatra and Uganda. Given the current rate of global warming, Tundra can’t be far behind.

Then, there is Fair Trade coffee. Fair Trade certification originated in the Netherlands in 1988 after a significant drop in wholesale coffee prices around the world. During that period, there was an excess supply of coffee beans over demand. The price on world markets had plummeted so low that coffee farmers around the world were unable to earn anything close to a livable wage. By 1997, several other labeling certifications had evolved: Fair Trade Foundation, TransFair USA and Rattvisemarkt. They merged to become The Fair Trade Labeling Organization or FLO, which has been extended to include many types of agricultural products.

In order to attain Fair Trade Certification for coffee, wholesale importers must adhere to certain standards. They must provide credit to farmers as well as offer transitional assistance to those who choose to produce an organic coffee bean crop. They must provide safe working conditions for all workers, pay a fair wage, allow no child labor and invest the Fair-Trade premiums they receive into development projects such as medical care, environmental projects, training and scholarships. In return, they are guaranteed approximately $1.30 per pound for raw coffee beans as opposed to selling on the world market. When the world market price is higher (as it is now), they receive a premium above the market rate. Those growers who convert to organic farming methods receive an additional $.20 per pound. Since Fair Trade eliminates intermediary steps between the producer and consumer, often the retail price is quite similar.

Fair Trade has its critics. The elimination of the middleman has removed many jobs from the market. Many believe that the Fair-Trade label allows the retailer to mark up prices significantly, without a corresponding additional benefit to the growers. Also, the $1.30 per pound price was established in 1990 without regard for inflation. Now that global corporations such as McDonald’s, Starbuck’s and Proctor and Gamble have begun to promote the Fair-Trade brand, smaller businesses oriented around labels such as “Fair Trade”, “Organic” and “Locally-Grown” are losing marketing ground. Clearly, there is little opportunity for price competition between a local coffee shop and Wal-Mart selling organic, Fair-Trade coffee beans. However, taking these elements into consideration, few can effectively argue that Fair-Trade has not been beneficial to small farms in remote parts of the world.

Ultimately, Fair Trade coffee has leveled the field at least to some degree. In the regions where coffee is grown, there is more access to education and health care. Many of these services were previously non-existent. Children of farmers are now in school instead of working on the farms. As the demand for organic fair-trade coffee has increased, the economic motivation has also raised the number of growers of organic coffee beans, helping to preserve fragile ecosystems. Fair-Trade is not perfect, but is certainly a small price to pay for such overwhelming benefit to some of the world’s poorest nations. The next time you are drawn by that smell of roasting coffee beans, consider choosing Fair Trade coffee.

For order Organic Fair Trade Coffee and Organic Coffee Beans visit at RoyaleCoffeeCompany.Com.

Since centuries coconut oil has been used for cooking. Researchers have recorded the tremendous health benefits derived from coconut oil. In 1981, Prior et al concluded; coconut oil lowers cholesterol and it directly stimulates the thyroid function. In the presence of adequate thyroid hormone, LDL-cholesterol gets converted to essential anti-aging steroids, pregnenolone, progesterone and DHEA. Consequently, these hormones are responsible for healthy heart, and fights against cancer, senility, obesity and chronic degenerative diseases. Such huge benefits are derived from processing of the coconut kernel. Due to its high nutritional value, it is used as an important ingredient in toiletries like soaps, skin creams, hair oils, shampoos and body lotions.

Due to its low calorific content, it’s consumed by body-builders and jocks. Being light it’s easily digestible and prevents constipation and irritable bowel syndrome. Effective in treating diabetes since it has the ability to control blood sugar by improving the secretion of insulin that regulates and utilizes the blood glucose levels. Patients with kidney stones and gall bladder diseases must consume the oil because it dissolves kidney stones and prevent from recurring.

An effective ingredient for the immune system as it contains many helpful lipids and acids that regulate the body’s defense mechanism. Antimicrobial lipids, lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid that have antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties. It fights harmful bacteria like listeria monocytogenes and heliobacter pylori, and harmful protozoa like giardia lamblia. When applied externally on an open wound or infection it accelerates the healing process and simultaneously protects the sensitive area from dust, bacteria, fungi and virus.

Due to its antifungal, antiviral and antibacterial properties, it destroys viruses that cause influenza, measles, hepatitis, herpes, cytomegalovirus, SARS and even HIV. It kills bacteria that cause ulcers, throat infections, urinary tract infections, pneumonia and gonorrhea. Demolishes fungi and yeast that cause candidiasis, ringworm, athlete’s foot, thrush and diaper rash. Again, very effective in treating skin diseases like psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema and other dermatological infections.

Since it contains short and medium-chain fatty acids, plays a vital role in slicing extra flab.

Being rich with anti-ageing properties it reduces the occurrence of injuries in arteries, and prevents arteriosclerosis. Also, maintains the health of the heart.

Coconut oil is supposedly the best nutrition for healthy scalp and lustrous hair. It moisturizes the scalp, hence prevents dandruff and lice in addition to regular hair growth. An effective remedy for treating headaches and relieving stress and mental fatigue.

You can prepare delicious salads in coconut oil. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

One egg

4 tbsp cider vinegar

1/2-tsp salt

1/2-tsp dry mustard

Spike or other seasoning to taste

Method:

Add the above ingredients to your blender. Slowly dribble 3/4-cup coconut oil and 1/4-cup extra virgin olive oil. Blend until smooth. And add to the mayonnaise. Your thick, creamy and sumptuous salad dressing is ready in a jiffy!

The nutritional, psychological, physical and absolute wellness benefits verify the traditional belief that coconut is “The Tree of Life”. Abandoning unhealthy lifestyles and reverting to natural foods can guarantee a reverse of many diseases manifesting our body.

Irsan’s passion is to write on variety of subjects. Please visit her latest website at cuisinart coffee grinder which contains reviews on krups coffee grinder and other information about coffee grinders.

For countless years we have been told to pair red wine with red meats and save white wine for choices like fish and poultry; but these archaic guidelines aren’t able to take into consideration the wide range of foods and produce available today with their multitude of varying flavours.

There is definitely much more to food and wine pairing than just taking the type of meat into consideration. However, finding the right type of wine to compliment your meal doesn’t have to be a complicated or bothersome endeavour.

While the “rules” for food and wine pairing have been relaxed quite a bit in recent years, it nevertheless remains a highly subjective process. Experimenting with your tastes and expressing your own personality are recommended as excellent ways of finding a wine that will make the perfect match for your meal.

With any type of meal, regardless of its ingredients or preparation methods, the ultimate goal is to find a pleasing balance between the wine and the food.

Wine should never overpower the flavour of food, and vice versa. All wines taste differently when drunk without eating anything and the right match can greatly help to enhance the taste of food. Components of wine like acids, sugars and tannins interact with foods to bring about a variety of tasteful sensations.

Although you want a balance of sweetness between the food and drink, be careful when matching foods sweeter than the wine to avoid overpowering or masking flavours.

Sweet foods will intensify the astringency of wines, causing them to taste stronger and drier. Salty foods, on the other hand, can help to tone down the bitterness of a wine causing it to taste considerably sweeter. And for acidic foods, choose equally acidic wines, or a very light, sweet choice to complement the meal.

Alternately, you may also want to consider pairing opposites, such as a sweet dessert wine along with a hot, spicy dish. Opposites do attract in this instance as the very different flavours help to cleanse the palate making it easier to fully enjoy each separately but also together.

For the best match, aim to balance flavour intensity equally pairing lighter bodied wines with lighter dishes and fuller bodied varieties with heavier, richer foods.

Matching flavours is another guideline to follow, such as pairing earthy wines like a pinot noir with a hearty mushroom soup. Dishes with meat as its main ingredient or those with creams are best suited for fuller bodied wines with up to 15% alcohol content whereas simpler dishes, perhaps with fewer or lighter ingredients, will call for wines with lower alcohol content somewhere in the seven to 10 percent range.

If you find that you are really at a loss pairing a meal with a certain wine, it would be difficult to go wrong using geographic location as a starting point. Using regional foods with their respective wines, as in Italian dishes with wines from the same country, often results in a rather tasteful pairing.

Ultimately, you will know you’ve found the ideal match when you enjoy either the similarities or contrasts of flavours, texture or body, intensity, and of course, taste.

Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who writes for a number of UK businesses. For wine merchants & importers he recommends Alexander Hadleigh, a leading expert in Matching Food With Wine.

There is a reason why chocolate is often associated with matters of the heart. Gifts of chocolate are a very common way to express love. In addition, we often eat chocolate to pamper ourselves when we feel sad, lonely, or need extra care and attention. For many of us, chocolate is like a beloved friend who has a special place in our hearts. Finally, chocolate is something that takes away our cares and lightens our hearts at least for a little while because of its intoxicating and luscious taste.

On a purely physical level, chocolate is packed full of nutrition that is good for the heart. Take a look below at some of the amazing heart-healthy benefits of chocolate:

Antioxidants minimize the damaging effects of free radicals in the body. Free radicals are the natural byproducts of cell metabolism and cause oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is believed to be a main contributor to the aging process and the onset of many diseases including heart disease. There is a scale that measures the antioxidant value in food called the ORAC scale. ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. “Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened” is very near the top of the scale which means that it has a very high ORAC rating.

Magnesium is essential to maintain normal heart rhythms and chocolate is a useful source of magnesium. Most Americans do not get enough in their diets. Some studies suggest that low levels of magnesium may be linked to heart disease and high blood pressure.

Cocoa butter is the fat in chocolate that makes it melt in your mouth and taste so good, but it is not a kind of fat that is harmful to your heart. The majority of fat in chocolate is stearic acid which has a neutral effect on cholesterol.

Theobromine is a stimulant similar to caffeine and it is found in chocolate. It has the effect of dilating the blood vessels and lowering blood pressure in humans but don’t feed it to your dog. Dogs lack the enzymes necessary to metabolize the high quantity of theobromine in chocolate.

Flavonoids reduce the stickiness of blood platelets and chocolate does contain flavonoids. When blood platelets are less sticky, the chance of a blood clot are reduced.

Several of the components of chocolate have also been linked to mood enhancement like phenylethylamine, anandamide, MAO inhibitors; however, research has not yet been able to confirm this effect.

The quality of chocolate does matter if you want to eat chocolate that is good for your heart. Look for chocolate that lists cocoa as the first ingredient on the ingredient label. Your best bet is to purchase chocolate with a cocoa content of 70% or greater. Make sure there is no added milk due to its saturated fat content. In addition, opt for chocolate that contains only natural ingredients. Experiment with the less processed raw cocoa or cacao nibs because they will contain more antioxidants.

Although chocolate has many health benefits, it is still important to eat it in moderation. Chocolate contains sugar and calories. Too much sugar in the diet can raise triglycerides. In addition, the calories in chocolate can lead to weight gain and may even prevent you from eating other healthy, low calorie foods because you have filled up on chocolate.

In small quantities a few times a week, however, chocolate can be a healthy way to satisfy a sweet craving.

Sandra is The Heart-Healthy Food Coach and owner of Simply Living Healthy. She received her nutrition training from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. To order a FREE special report “Top 3 Secrets to Reduce Your Cholesterol Fast” visit http://www.cutcholesterolnow.com

Farmed Salmon: I am sure you have heard about Omega-3 fatty acids and how we get too few in our diet. Omega-3’s are essential for heart health and for emotional and mental well-being. You may not be aware, however, that farmed salmon contains a lot fewer Omega-3 fatty acids compared to wild salmon. In addition, farmed salmon is much more likely to contain PCB’s and dioxins if care is not taken at the facility where the salmon is raised.

Instant Oatmeal: Oatmeal has been touted as a heart-healthy food because it can help lower cholesterol; however, instant oatmeal is not the best oatmeal choice. If you want to have a healthy heart, it is important to keep your blood sugar levels relatively stable. Instant oatmeal is high on the glycemic scale and will raise blood sugar levels very quickly. if you want to eat oats, opt for steel cut oats instead. They are not as processed and will spike blood sugar levels less. Steel cut oats do take longer to cook so if you are short of time, choose old-fashioned rolled oats which are also better than instant.

Food with Added Trans Fats: Surveys show that most people know they should not be eating trans fats; however, most people do not know how to identify a trans fat on an ingredient label. Look for the words hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, or shortening on the ingredient label to determine if the food contains added transfats. If the food contains added trans fats, do not purchase it. Trans fats raise LDL (bad cholesterol), lower HDL (good cholesterol) and raise triglycerides.

Canned Tomatoes: Tomatoes are thought to be a heart-healthy food because they contain lycopene, beta-carotene, potassium, among other heart-healthy nutrients. Tomatoes, however, are often stored in tin cans which have a resin lining that contains bisphenol-A (BPA). Some studies indicate that BPA can increase a person’s risk for heart attack and diabetes. Tomatoes are of particular concern when stored in these containers because the acidity found in tomatoes causes BPA to leach out of the lining and into the food more readily. The effects of BPA on human health are still controversial; however, in my opinion enough research has been done that suggests BPA may be harmful that I would opt to limit my exposure as much as possible.

Most Store-Bought Frozen Meals: How many of you are eating microwaveable, frozen meals for lunch while at work? I know when I worked in the corporate environment, this was a very common practice. The problem is that most of these meals contain extremely high amounts of salt. One serving can contain as much as 25% – 40% of your daily salt intake. The average American consumes 3,375mg of salt per day well above the FDA recommended 2,300mg. High salt intake has been shown to raise blood pressure levels in some people. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease.

Whole Grain Bread: I bet you thought whole grain bread was good for you. Many people think they are eating well health-wise because they eat whole grain bread and whole grain cold cereal. The problem is that much of the whole grain found in bread and cold cereals has been pulverized. When this happens, the starch within the grain is flattened and ends up with a greater surface area. Your body breaks down this starch and converts it into glucose (your body’s blood sugar) much more quickly than when a whole grain is left intact. Your blood sugar levels will rise quickly and insulin will be released to manage the spike in blood sugar. For heart health, it is best to eat foods that convert to glucose in the body more slowly. Your best bet is to eat cooked whole grains or find a bread with as much of the whole grain still intact as possible.

Sandra Hoedemaker is The Heart-Healthy Food Coach. She received her nutrition training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in NYC. Visit http://www.cutcholesterolnow.com to order your FREE special report “Top 3 Secrets to Reduce Your Cholesterol Fast”.

The dream wedding cake is a vision of sheer loveliness with roses and beads, ribbons and curlicues, and all the stuff that makes wedding cakes a feast for the senses. But then disasters can happen to the best of them; here are useful tips to avoid a smashed wedding cake and other cake catastrophes of epic proportions.

The Expert is always the Best Choice

When you finalize your order for your wedding cake, the baker begins to schedule and plan your cake. With their experience with wedding cakes, they know better than risking your cake to chance so they start preparing your desired colors and trimmings. With their track record, they know what to do, and how best to do it. Know this – a confident baker knows his job so you can rest easy before your wedding day.

They can prepare the wedding decor months ahead of schedule and bake the cake weeks ahead of the wedding. The frosting is done three days ahead and a day before the wedding, the cake is done. Aha, so now you know that wedding cakes are not prepared a day before the wedding. So imagine the effort and the inspiration that goes into your wedding cake.

To ensure that you don’t have a disaster of a wedding cake, let an expert do the baking. Most of them expert bakers have vans to deliver the cake, not the backseat of their cars where disasters often strike. The experts can copy the cake perfectly because they have the right tools for job. So if an aunt bakes yummy cakes, there is no guarantee she can make an exact replica of your dream cake, unless she has been into baking for years and knows what it takes to bake wedding cakes.

Plan B

Be prepared. Have an emergency plan ready in case you cake topples on the way to the reception area. Now what can this be? This is where your aunt comes in. She can bake you a colorful array of cupcakes in different flavors and arranged beautifully to replace your wedding cake. However, should disaster not strike, you still have mouth-watering cupcakes to serve your guests.

Having an emergency wedding cake is a practical option should you have a ruined wedding cake. A replacement cake may not be as lovely or as intricate as wedding cakes go but then again, there’s no time to weep over. So cheer up and be confident knowing you have another cake waiting in the wings. It may cost but then, what else can you do? Anyway, you can still serve that cake to family and friends the next day.

Should You Go for Cheap Wedding Cakes?

If budget is an issue, don’t go mooning for an elaborate cake you saw in another wedding. Cheap bakers cannot give 100% guarantee that they can do it. The problem is you can’t see the cake until your wedding reception and it would be jolting to see an alien-looking wedding cake, instead of bright pink roses you have you have orangey strange blooms and instead of a perfect tier you have the leaning tower of Pisa threatening to tumble any time. For your wedding cake, let the wedding cakes experts do the job. Your wedding cake is the centerpiece of the reception, so why scrimp now and cry later?

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Mexican rice is a dish that is served at every Mexican restaurant all over the world. This rice is flavored with tomatoes and spices and has become an expected dish with Mexican food. This has not always been true, however. Rice is not a native plant in Mexico. Rice was introduced to Mexico through the Philippines. When the Spanish discovered how well rice grew around Veracruz, rice became a permanent ingredient in Mexican cuisine.

In Mexico, rice is traditionally served at the midday meal. It may be served with either beans or fish. When you get rice and beans on your plate at a typical Mexican restaurant, this is not the same as what you would get in Mexico. Besides being used to make the savory rice you are familiar with, rice is also used to make desserts, cakes, and the popular Mexican drink, horchata.

Rice is often prepared in pilaf style in Mexico. Rice is browned first and then simmered in broth. Additional flavor is added from onions, chilies, and carrots that cook with the rice. Some regions in Mexico favor a creamier rice that resembles risotto.

A traditional way to cook rice in Mexico uses a clay vessel known as a cazuela. Rice cooked this way gets an earthy flavor. Soaked rice is drained and then fried until a golden brown. Liquid is then added to the vessel so the rice can simmer until it is tender.

Mexican rice should be fluffy. To make your rice turn out fluffy, rinse the uncooked rice in a colander until the water is no longer cloudy. Rinsing gets rid of excess starch that makes rice sticky. You can also soak your rice ahead of time. This helps lower your cooking time and helps the rice absorb more flavor from the broth and vegetables that are cooked with it. In Mexico, a long grain rice is the preferred variety, but medium grained rice works well too.

If you have leftover rice, it is easy to freeze it for another day. Pack the rice into thin layers on heavy duty aluminum foil. Seal it up and freeze it. They stack nicely in the freezer and are easy to reheat. Simply place the frozen packets in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for half an hour. No defrosting is needed.

Rice is the perfect side dish to many Mexican chicken recipes. You can also serve it with fish, tacos, or any other main dish that you would prefer. Season it with olive oil, chilies, and carrots for a nice, rich flavor. It does not take too long to make and it will taste wonderful with almost anything. Try some soon and see what you think.

Knowing how to make Mexican rice will really fill out your menu when you choose other Mexican entrees. The recipe is easy to do once you learn it. It makes a wonderful change instead of potatoes or pasta. It is a great choice when you want something different. Many people rate Mexican food as one of their favorites; when you can add this and other Mexican dishes to your menu, your family will cheer.

The great thing about Cinco de Mayo is that every family makes their favorite Mexican foods to celebrate with and traditional Cinco de Mayo food is whatever you want to make. There are no traditional foods associated with these festivities so you can make whichever Mexican dishes tantalize your taste buds. http://www.MexicanFoodRecipes.org When it has to be Real Authentic Mexican Food