A couple of weekends ago, Josh and I attended the 1st Annual Denver Chile Festival at a fireworks warehouse. With about 12 other people.... Okay, there were more than that, but not many. Perhaps the 2nd annual festival will have a better attendance. The festival centered around the Hatch Chiles, the popular chiles which come from Hatch, New Mexico and apparently no where else. I was excited to go because I know of these chiles from my Aunt Vicky and Uncle Jack. The years they spent in New Mexico introduced them to this culinary delight, and they are lucky enough to be able to get them a couple weeks a year in Houston.
At the festival, there were salsa cookoff samples, pork and gren chile samples, smoked ribs and brisket sliders outside. There were also about 8 large chile roasters on the side of the building with young men in t-shirts and tank tops roasting your chiles right in front of your eyes. When you walked into the building, there were hundreds of bushels of chiles for purchase by the bushel, half-bushel, or double bushel. There were many varieties including Poblano, Anaheim, and Hatch chiles ranging from mild to XX hot. I appeared to be the only person who thought it was odd to have propane torches going like crazy outside the fireworks warehouse--HELLO!?!
We chose a half-bushel of Hot Hatch Chiles, paid for them, and by the time we got outside again, our chiles were in the roaster, going round and round, in a beautiful chile roasting dance. When the skins were blackend from the huge propane torches, they were dumped into large, super thick plastic bags with images of dancing chiles with sombreros on, and tied shut.
We didn't go straight home, choosing instead to swing by a grocery store on the way home. FYI--my car STILL smells like roasted chiles. When we got home, we sorted the chiles into bags to freeze. We opened the bag and I took each chile out one-by-one, pulled the blackened skin off, removed the hard stem end, and put it into a freezer bag with about 10 of its friends. One bag we set aside specifically to be "stuffing" peppers. These were the largest, most perfect of the peppers which I cleaned the seeds out of also. We got 8 quart size freezer bags out of that half bushel, and as much as I would have loved to have twice that amount--since they are only available one time a year--it would have taken FOREVER to clean them all.
One suggestion about the handling of these things--DON'T TOUCH YOUR EYES!!! Even after you have washed your hands. Don't do it! No I mean it! You will regret it!!!
Anyway, once I had all these chiles, I felt the need to put them into everything that weekend. Josh and I like spicy food on the hot side. Not so hot that you can't taste the other ingredients, but heat is good! When adding the heat in any of these recipes, you know your own tastes best, so go with that. Canned and frozen Hatch chiles tend to be the mild variety, so can be used quite liberally, and these are the ones most often found in supermakets all over the country. If you have fresh chiles you want to use, no matter what variety, remember that the hottest parts of the chile are the seeds and veins. If you want flavor instead of high heat, remove those bits and just use the flesh.
Hatch chile and sausage chili
1 lb. Italian sausage
1 medium onion diced
3-5 cloves garlic minced
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can crushed tomatoes
2 tsp cumin
1 tbls chili powder
1 bay leaf
3-5 Hatch chiles diced
Saute onions and sausage in skillet on medium heat, until sausage is cooked through. In the last few minutes, add garlic so it cooks but does not burn. Put skillet contents and all other ingredients into a crockpot set on low, and let cook for 6-8 hours. Remove bay leaf before serving.
Chili pie
1-1 1/2 lbs pizza dough
3 c prepared chili
sliced or shredded cheddar cheese
shredded Parmesan cheese
Roll out 2/3 dough and fit into pie plate or casserole. Pour chili into bottom crust and cover with cheese. Roll out remaining crust and place on top. Seal edges and cover top with Parmesan--press cheese lightly into crust. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool a little before serving.
Hatch Chile Queso
3 tbls butter
3 tbls flour
1 1/2 c milk at room temp
1 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 c shredded jack cheese
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
1-3 roasted Hatch chiles, diced
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low/medium heat. Add flour, stir until completely incorporated and cook for 5 minutes to cook out raw flavor of flour. Slowly whisk in milk, cayenne and garlic powder, and heat until thick, stirring regularly. Add cheeses in small handfuls, stirring each addition until completely melted in. Add chiles, make sure it is hot all the way through, and then enjoy.
Hatch Chile Chicken
Chicken thighs skin removed
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 med onion sliced
3-5 cloves garlic minced
2-3 Hatch chiles diced
2 tsp cumin
1 tbls crushed dried oregano
salt and pepper
Put all ingredients in a slow cooker (Crock Pot or otherwise) and cook on low all day while you are at work.
Heat a can of pinto or black beans with some garlic powder and chopped Hatch chiles.
Place a chicken thigh on a plate, smother with tomato/onion sauce and serve beans on the side. Eat it all using your hands and fresh tortillas.
21 October 2009
Slowing it down a bit
I LOVE the autumn!!! I really do. This is my favorite time of year, and here in Colorado, it is easy to see coming. Leaves start to turn and fall from the trees, the air gets a chilly zing to it, and that wonderful scent of damp and decaying leaves mixes with smoke from fireplaces to remind you that the holiday season is starting.
This is my favorite time of year for cooking also. I don't know if it is due to the fact that it is no longer a million degrees in the house, thereby making it comfortable to have the stove and oven on, or if the cooling weather is telling my system that it is about to be cold and I need to fatten up so as not to waste away during the cold winter months.... Right.
Warm autumn spices, hearty soups, hot satisfying meals have been abounding in our house, partially because it is the fall season, and partially because I have been working some crazy hours from home. One of my favorite things has been to throw things into the slow cooker in the morning and let it do its own thing, enjoying the tantalizing smells emanating from the kitchen. Everything gets cleaned up in the morning after chopping and dicing and slicing, and I just have to serve what comes out of it when I am ready.
A couple of recipes from the Hatch Chile post were done in the slow cooker, and I mentioned quite a while ago that the pasta sauce I make can be done that way also, leaving very little chance of setting your house on fire should you feel the need to leave in the course of the many hours it takes to make it. I think there are probably a lot of recipes that can be adapted for the slow cooker, and in a world where everything is speeding up constantly, it is nice to be able to sit, relax, and enjoy food that took a long time to cook, but didn't really impede your day much. Talking with my girlfriend Cara yesterday, she spoke of her Crock Pot with the reverence that only a mother of 5 could have.
If your proteins and veggies are done in the slow cooker, it is a simple thing to make a pot of rice, pasta, or some quick potatoes to round out a meal. With the pea soup below, throw a rustic loaf of bread in the oven to warm while making a quick salad to go along with it. For an interesting salad, I like to use the produce that is harvested this time of year. A bed of spicy arugula topped with chopped apples, toasted walnuts, dried cranberries and sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese (which you have on hand because you want to put it on your soup) is great with a little olive oil and vinegar drizzled over the top.
Spilt pea soup--the meaty kind
1 small bag split peas--approx. 2 1/4 c
6 1/2 c water
1 onion chopped finely
2 stalks celery chopped finely
4 cloves garlic minced
2 smoked ham hocks
1 bay leaf
2 teas dried thyme
salt and pepper
Sort through the peas and remove any weird crap that does not resemble a pea. Rinse them well. Put all ingredients into a slow cooker and press GO. I like to add just a little salt and pepper at the beginning, and once it is finished cooking and ready to serve, add more to my personal liking. I also remove the ham hocks at this point, pull the meat of the bone, shred it and put it back in the soup. Even if the soup looks a little watery when you think it is done cooking, give it a good stir to break up the soft peas, and it instantly begins to thicken.
Ladle it into bowls and sprinkle some grated parmesan on top. Quite literally, easy-peasy.
Now, this recipe makes enough to feed Cara's family, or myself and Josh on the day when we wind up with three unexpected guests. On the days when we don't have unexpected guests, some of the leftovers go to work with Josh for lunch, and some of it winds up in the freezer for another day. Honestly, is there anything better than curling up with a book and a steaming bowl of soup on a chilly day? Oh yeah, doing it in front of a fireplace.
This is my favorite time of year for cooking also. I don't know if it is due to the fact that it is no longer a million degrees in the house, thereby making it comfortable to have the stove and oven on, or if the cooling weather is telling my system that it is about to be cold and I need to fatten up so as not to waste away during the cold winter months.... Right.
Warm autumn spices, hearty soups, hot satisfying meals have been abounding in our house, partially because it is the fall season, and partially because I have been working some crazy hours from home. One of my favorite things has been to throw things into the slow cooker in the morning and let it do its own thing, enjoying the tantalizing smells emanating from the kitchen. Everything gets cleaned up in the morning after chopping and dicing and slicing, and I just have to serve what comes out of it when I am ready.
A couple of recipes from the Hatch Chile post were done in the slow cooker, and I mentioned quite a while ago that the pasta sauce I make can be done that way also, leaving very little chance of setting your house on fire should you feel the need to leave in the course of the many hours it takes to make it. I think there are probably a lot of recipes that can be adapted for the slow cooker, and in a world where everything is speeding up constantly, it is nice to be able to sit, relax, and enjoy food that took a long time to cook, but didn't really impede your day much. Talking with my girlfriend Cara yesterday, she spoke of her Crock Pot with the reverence that only a mother of 5 could have.
If your proteins and veggies are done in the slow cooker, it is a simple thing to make a pot of rice, pasta, or some quick potatoes to round out a meal. With the pea soup below, throw a rustic loaf of bread in the oven to warm while making a quick salad to go along with it. For an interesting salad, I like to use the produce that is harvested this time of year. A bed of spicy arugula topped with chopped apples, toasted walnuts, dried cranberries and sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese (which you have on hand because you want to put it on your soup) is great with a little olive oil and vinegar drizzled over the top.
Spilt pea soup--the meaty kind
1 small bag split peas--approx. 2 1/4 c
6 1/2 c water
1 onion chopped finely
2 stalks celery chopped finely
4 cloves garlic minced
2 smoked ham hocks
1 bay leaf
2 teas dried thyme
salt and pepper
Sort through the peas and remove any weird crap that does not resemble a pea. Rinse them well. Put all ingredients into a slow cooker and press GO. I like to add just a little salt and pepper at the beginning, and once it is finished cooking and ready to serve, add more to my personal liking. I also remove the ham hocks at this point, pull the meat of the bone, shred it and put it back in the soup. Even if the soup looks a little watery when you think it is done cooking, give it a good stir to break up the soft peas, and it instantly begins to thicken.
Ladle it into bowls and sprinkle some grated parmesan on top. Quite literally, easy-peasy.
Now, this recipe makes enough to feed Cara's family, or myself and Josh on the day when we wind up with three unexpected guests. On the days when we don't have unexpected guests, some of the leftovers go to work with Josh for lunch, and some of it winds up in the freezer for another day. Honestly, is there anything better than curling up with a book and a steaming bowl of soup on a chilly day? Oh yeah, doing it in front of a fireplace.
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