Recipe Decoder

Key to Times Style

Unless otherwise indicated, make the following assumptions in Times recipes.

Butter: Unsalted (sweet).

Eggs: Large.

Flour: All-purpose.

Fruit and vegetable sizes: Onions and other items are assumed to be medium.

Milk: Whole.

Oil: Vegetable oil (canola, peanut, safflower, etc.).

Sugar: Granulated.

Glossary

Mince: To chop extremely fine.

Pasilla chile: A slender, blackish, fairly hot dried chile. In Michoacan and California, however, the mild ancho chile is often called pasilla, so to get the true pasilla you have to ask for chile negro or chile pasilla de Mexico.

Toasting chiles: Toasting dried chiles in a dry, heavy pan over medium heat gives them a rich flavor and takes less than a minute. Seeds and stems are usually removed before the toasting.