Baked Chile Rellenos Casserole

Chile Rellenos are one of my favorite foods. Has to be without meat. Made with roasted Hatch Green Chile, or Poblano peppers. Definitely NOT made with bell peppers. There's no spice in them and I like spice. I've had them with all three peppers, Hatch, Poblano, and bell pepper at restaurants. Some stuffed with meat (the later two). Some with sauce, some without. SO many different variations. I prefer the New Mexican version.

Sopapillas

Sopapillas

Sopapillas are a New Mexican food that is much like Fry Bread. They are hollow because they puff up when fried. Almost like a roll in other parts of the country, they are served as such. They are served with meals, sometimes they are stuffed with taco meat, beans, etc. For a sweet treat they can be drizzled with honey. You can fill them with ice cream and top with chocolate sauce.
I spell sopapilla with out the "i" after the first a, that's just how I grew up seeing it spelled. Though I have seen it spelled sopaipillas. They are not strictly New Mexican, you find them in both Mexican and Spanish cuisines. But I grew up eating them in New Mexico.

Pressure Cooker Hatch Green Chile Sauce

It's Chile Season y'all! The girls and I went and picked up our annual stash of Hatch Green Chile this year. We have been so blessed to have a couple of local grocery stores that stock them.Two of which will roast them in big roasters like they do back in the 505. That's New Mexico. This year my oldest chose "hot", we ended up with 40 pounds. The girls helped me peel and deseed them all. 

Hatch Green Chile Sauce

New Mexico Hatch green chile makes the best sauce to smother over just about everything. But other roasted peppers can be used too, like poblanos.

Fall isn't just pumpkin season, fall is also Hatch Green Chile season and it's right up there with pumpkin to me! This sauce is versatile. I use to for eggs, enchiladas, dipping sauce, on steaks, shrimp tacos, on burgers, on chicken...
If you can't find Hatch Green Chile use Anaheim, Poblano, most any big green chile that is fresh.  This sauce can be made grain free, check the notes section.

Use this sauce for these amazing Green Chile Pepper Jack Enchiladas.

Green Chile Corn Chowder

I'm not sure I've ever made Corn Chowder before. This chowder was quite the gamble for me. It has both potatoes and corn kernels in it. I've tried to stay away from anything with corn kernels because the children don't really like just kernels, but they love corn on the cob. It's only recently that they have been eating potatoes (white/yellow) also. Unless it was fries/chips, mashed and drenched in gravy, or butter stewed they weren't too interested in potatoes. They love my Best Baked Potatoes now, and will eat oven roasted potatoes if they are seasoned well and crisp on the outside. I just never make a big deal about foods that don't have much nutritional value, and while white potatoes have some, they really are just starch. That, and I'm not a fan of potatoes either. Whoa... life story there. Sorry. Moving on. This chowder is just a little spicy, it's easy to make, even my children ate it! I can't say they loved it and asked for seconds, but potatoes and corn kernels you know? The bacon helped :P 

I wish I had fresh Hatch Chiles here but I don't. Last year I found some locally. No such luck this year, and I'm not sure I want to order online yet. Who knows. I may cave. As per the notes below use your favorite chiles. I found Hatch Chiles canned.
Make this chowder for those cool Fall and Winter nights that are coming quickly! It's a quick weeknight meal.

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers and 101 ways to stuff a pepper.

It's the holiday season, bring on the food, bring on the appetizers, bring on the bacon! I was thinking about these poppers. I think you could freeze them. I mean why not? Everything is cooked. Cook, cool, then freeze. When company stops in, pop them in the oven!
The original post for these is from 2008. But here it is in all it's Give Peas A Chance glory.

Here's one for Pepperoni Poppers, we love poppers around here!

Crab Stuffed? Fancy schmancy? Not really.

 The Original 2007 post.

How about on the grill?

Forget the jalapenos how about Grilled Rellenos? 

Your choice! Enjoy!

You Know What Time It Is??

No, not Hammer time...

It's Hatch Chile Season!
If you're a New Mexican or have been to New Mexico, you know all about Hatch Chile. It's a food group all it's own.

I so miss it. The crisp fall air, and the smell of fire roasted chile on the street corner. Sigh.

You can order it online and every once in awhile you can find it at specialty markets here in the DC area. Sometimes I have family send it to me.
In the south people ask "sweet or unsweet" when you order tea. In New Mexico, the question is

RED or GREEN?

What to do with this amazing chile? What not to do? Here are some suggestions.
When roasted, peeled, chopped,  mixed with fresh minced garlic, and salt I put it on anything and everything.  Fried eggs, burgers, subs, steaks, omelets, warm tortillas, top tacos, top Indian Fry Bread Tacos. Put it in stews, on top of fajitas, quesadillas. Top a pizza. Chop it up into scrambled eggs, rice pilaf, make salsas, sauces.

 Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

Red Chile Enchiladas

Grilled Chile Rellenos 

Green Chile Stew
Carnitas

Fry Bread Tacos

How to roast these bad boys at home and make Chile Rellenos

Those of you at "home" eat a Frontier roll for me, after the Western Omelet smothered in Green Chile sauce, of course.

Have you had Hatch Chile before?

Indian Fry Bread- Navajo Frybread

If you've never had Frybread/ Fry Bread you are missing OUT. YUM. Growing up in New Mexico, I was blessed. Perhaps I didn't feel that way at the time, about the "Land of Entrapment", I mean Land of Enchantment ;), but the gorgeous skies, the mountains, Hatch green chilies, well, the food in general. One food I love is Frybread. I love Frybread, topped with taco fillings, or with honey on top. It's chewy, has pockets of air in it. You can serve it along side a Green chilie stew, and it soaks up the stew when dipped in. Top with cinnamon sugar, or powdered sugar for a sweet treat.
When I was in college in NM, every once in a while the Native American students would make Indian tacos (that's what they called them) to raise money for their club. They would be out in the open air concourse. Huge bowls of dough. A table lined up with fillings. It smelled so good. Believe me when I say that whatever lunch plans you had before, no matter who you were meeting, your plans changed when you saw them out there. There was a line, but who cares. I stood line, that line and the line for the Spiced Chai at a food cart on campus, but that's another post.

This bread is simple to make, I'm not sure my recipe is "authentic" but it tastes like it is. I use powdered milk, but if you don't have it, just leave it out, it's not a huge deal at all. I love that you don't have to knead dough or wait for it to rise. It's a quick and easy bread to make.

Roasting Hatch Chiles at home and Chile Rellenos

 

I was born and raised in New Mexico, so Chile, Hatch Chile runs through my veins. I miss being able to get it anywhere, even McDonald's. I miss being asked "red" or "green" instead of sweet or unsweet. So my parents sent me some fresh chilies through the mail. I asked for green, they send green but after two days in a box they became red chilies. Oh well, still DELISH! My dad did say they were "Medium", no they were burn your mouth on fire hot. WHEW.

Let's roast some chilies shall we?

(By the way, you can roast jalapenos, bell peppers or any Chile this way)

Frontier...

During my time at the University of New Mexico, I am certain I did more eating and exploring the area around the campus than actual studying. The Frontier Resturant was an old favorite, it's open 24 glorious hours a day. There's nothing fancy about the food, the dishes remind me of a Furr's cafeteria or the kind of dishes they used at several of the nursing homes I have worked at. But who cares what the food comes on right? I always order the same things-
A Western omelet (three eggs, green Chile & cheddar cheese, served with tomato, hash browns & I get a flour tortilla), I smother the omelet in the green chilie sauce, coffee and a Frontier roll.
The Frontier roll is a cinnamon roll smothered in this buttery sauce that you know just isn't good for you. But who cares it's three in the morning and you need to get some grub on. This last time I went back for a visit the roll dissapointed me. It was still good but it wasn't as euphoric as I remembered them to be. Perhaps my tastes have changes, who knows. I will still eat Frontier rolls out of tradition of course, can't break that.

Cake Fetish...

Some mini's from Albuquerque's Cake Fetish.My favorite was the Velvet Elvis. Moist red velvet cake and a delicious cream cheese frosting. One of the best red velvet cakes I've had. Not dry and red dye #40 tasting at all.

Cupcakeology

Just two of the 6 cupcakes my brother bought us at Cupcakeology this afternoon. I usually am not a fan of frosting but their REAL butter butter cream is divine. I had a blueberry pancake cupcake. Vanilla cake with blueberries and a maple syrup butter cream. YUM. Pictured above are Mint Chocolate and Chocolate... which I just finished up while posting tonight. I will say that in this dry heat you should enjoy your cupcakes as soon as possible, they aren't extreamly moist as it is and dry out quickly. But they are a must try if you like cupcakes. Cupcakeology... you had me at "real butter" I had to go and I'm glad I did. I would have loved to try the Chai but you have to special order them.

I <3 Dim Sum

I love Dim Sum. The carts of food being rolled around. Good Dim Sum is hard to find unless you're in a major city. My parents have a decent Dim Sum place where they live. Pretty good selection. Pixie girl tasted her first pork filled Bao (above), Diva and Piglet tried some chicken feet (below) which is one of my favorites.

My favorite Crispy Chow Mein. This was very good here, although my mom still makes it best!

Not sure what this is called, but it's good. It's got all sorts of organ meats and tripe in there.