jjares reviewed A Texas Mexican Cookbook: Delicious Texas Recipes and Mexican Recipes for a New Style of Tex Mex Cooking (2nd Edition) on + 3270 more book reviews
Boy, do I have mixed emotions about this book. The photos are extraordinary. There are a variety of recipes that I found intriguing. I was eager to try several. HOWEVER, the amount of salt is beyond stunning. One recipe called for 6,378 mg. of sodium. (p. 38, Sweet Honey Chicken) Really? The American Heart Association recommends no more than 2300 milligrams (mg) a day and urges adults to move closer to the ideal limit of no more than 1500 mg/day.
The fat in these recipes tends to be high also. Of course, Tex-Mex isn't noted for being Lean Cuisine. Still. Authentic Southern Corn is 359 calories and 204 of those calories are fat. In Rancho Minestrone Beef Soup, a serving is 617 calories, with 302 calories of fat. The sodium per serving is 1593 mg. I just chose these two recipes randomly.
On the positive side, the recipes are very clear and doable. In the upper right corner, prep time, total time, servings/recipe, calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, and protein are all listed. Occasionally, the calories are given in grams instead of calories. Generally, fat, carbohydrates, and protein are given in grams, not in the more useful 'calories' or percentages of the serving.
There are two recipes I plan to try later today: Honey & Beans Latin Salad and Texas Classic Armadillo Eggs. I will adapt the Honey & Beans by not adding corn (all corn is genetically modified in America and I don't use it anymore in recipes). The amazing thing is that there is no sodium in this recipe.
In the Texas Classic Armadillo Eggs, I plan to lower the fat content by shredding low-fat, ham (instead of using pork sausage, which is notoriously high in fat). To lower the sodium content, I plan to make my own seasoned coating mix with no-salt seasonings.
Since I've moved to the wrong side of 65, sodium count and fats are a consideration for recipes. I found two recipes I really want to try and found ways to make them better for my health.
Update: Trying both recipes mentioned above; they were delicious as adapted. You may be afraid to try the Armadillo Eggs because of all the jalapeno peppers. I put the jalapenos in the bottom of a sprayed Pyrex pan and added the cream cheese mixture to the tops of individual jalapenos. That step is critical because the cream cheese absorbs most of the jalapeno's heat. Then, I put the chopped ham and cheddar cheese mixture over all of the jalapenos (not individually, just over the whole pan of jalapenos). Finally, I poured the bread crumbs/chili powder/cumin mixture over the whole thing and cooked for 30 mins. They weren't too spicy, but delicious.
After this, I raised my evaluation to 3.5 stars. They would be OK for special treats but a steady diet of these recipes would not be healthful to me. Overall score = 3.5 stars.
The fat in these recipes tends to be high also. Of course, Tex-Mex isn't noted for being Lean Cuisine. Still. Authentic Southern Corn is 359 calories and 204 of those calories are fat. In Rancho Minestrone Beef Soup, a serving is 617 calories, with 302 calories of fat. The sodium per serving is 1593 mg. I just chose these two recipes randomly.
On the positive side, the recipes are very clear and doable. In the upper right corner, prep time, total time, servings/recipe, calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, and protein are all listed. Occasionally, the calories are given in grams instead of calories. Generally, fat, carbohydrates, and protein are given in grams, not in the more useful 'calories' or percentages of the serving.
There are two recipes I plan to try later today: Honey & Beans Latin Salad and Texas Classic Armadillo Eggs. I will adapt the Honey & Beans by not adding corn (all corn is genetically modified in America and I don't use it anymore in recipes). The amazing thing is that there is no sodium in this recipe.
In the Texas Classic Armadillo Eggs, I plan to lower the fat content by shredding low-fat, ham (instead of using pork sausage, which is notoriously high in fat). To lower the sodium content, I plan to make my own seasoned coating mix with no-salt seasonings.
Since I've moved to the wrong side of 65, sodium count and fats are a consideration for recipes. I found two recipes I really want to try and found ways to make them better for my health.
Update: Trying both recipes mentioned above; they were delicious as adapted. You may be afraid to try the Armadillo Eggs because of all the jalapeno peppers. I put the jalapenos in the bottom of a sprayed Pyrex pan and added the cream cheese mixture to the tops of individual jalapenos. That step is critical because the cream cheese absorbs most of the jalapeno's heat. Then, I put the chopped ham and cheddar cheese mixture over all of the jalapenos (not individually, just over the whole pan of jalapenos). Finally, I poured the bread crumbs/chili powder/cumin mixture over the whole thing and cooked for 30 mins. They weren't too spicy, but delicious.
After this, I raised my evaluation to 3.5 stars. They would be OK for special treats but a steady diet of these recipes would not be healthful to me. Overall score = 3.5 stars.
