The Hell Men Don't Eat Quiche

After three weeks or so of no blogs here is a “two-fer” today.  Thought this might be good sometime over the upcoming holidays (or anywhere anytime).  I have always appreciated the combo of roasted green chiles and eggs in about any form so this caught my eye.

Southwest Chile Relleno Quiche

This Southwest Chile Relleno Quiche recipe and photos are courtesy of Cynthia Detterick-Pineda of Andrews, TX. Check out more of Cynthia's Southwest Recipes.

Savory Southwestern Pie Crust (see recipe below)*
1 pound lean ground beef
1 whole onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, finely diced
4 or 5 large long green New Mexico chile peppers, roasted and peeled
1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1/4 cup sliced green onions, include green ends (or not)
1 1/4 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
4 eggs slightly beaten
1/4 cup half & half cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
Optional: Pico de Gallo and Sour Cream

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare the Savory Southwestern Pie Crust.

While the crust is in the refrigerator, sauté the onion in large fry pan over medium heat until translucent and slightly brown.  Add the chopped garlic and cook about 1 minute then add the ground beef and cook until almost done (most of the red is gone).  Remove from heat and set aside.

Once the crust is chilled, remove from refrigerator and roll it into the shape of your baking dish, making it approximately 1-inch larger than your baking dish. Place it in the ungreased baking dish and gently conform it to the sides. Crimp it around the top so it will keep the filling from going over and under the quiche.

Split the long green chiles lengthwise and arrange them along the bottom of the pie crust evenly.

Layer the ground beef mixture, Monterrey Jack cheese, sliced olives, and green onions (if using) over the ground beef mixture. Repeat the layers, alternating Monterrey Jack with the Sharp Cheddar, until all the ingredients are used or the mixture has come up to the top of the baking dish.

NOTE: Reserve the 1/8 cup of sharp cheddar cheese to top at the end of cooking time.

Whisk the eggs, half and half cream, milk, salt, and pepper together; pour over the top of the entire dish, allowing it to soak in. 

Place in the oven and bake uncovered for 40 minutes. 

During the last 5 minutes cover the top with the remaining 1/8 cup sharp cheddar cheese and allow to melt. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before cutting and serving. Cut into squares and serve with condiments of your choice. 

Pico de Gallo and Sour cream go well with this dish.

Savory Southwestern Pie Crust

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground chile powder
1/8 teaspoon ground garlic powder
6 tablespoons butter, slice by tablespoon and chill well
2 tablespoons lard, sliced by tablespoon and well chilled*
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup ice water

* Additional chilled butter may be substituted for the lard.

Place the butter and lard in the freezer while you get together the other ingredients and set up your food processor.

Add the flour, chile powder, garlic powder, and salt to the processor and pulse to mix, approximately 3 to 4 times. Add butter and pulse and additional 5 to 6 times until texture looks like a coarse meal. Add lard and pulse another 3 to 4 times.

Through the chute of the food processor, add a 2 teaspoons of the ice water, and pulse 4 to 5 times. Repeat this, only adding 1 teaspoon at a time, until the mixture becomes the size of small peas. Place mixture in large zip-top bag, squeeze together until it forms a ball, and then press into a rounded disk and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Even with Lipstick, a Pig is Still a Pig

A good chile should have an intense pleasant aroma and taste separate from the “heat”.  It should be naturally sweet and flavorful first then a smack in the lips and pallet with a degree of heat characteristic of the particular chile variety- not added chemicals.

Chiles are grown not only to market fresh, wet processed, or dried but also to extract natural capsaicin.  The capsaicin is used in everything from pepper spray, to hot sauces, to bird food (keeps the squirrels out and the birds can’t taste it).  Capsaicinoids are attributed to many medical benefits and it’s common for people to experience pleasurable and even euphoric effects from eating capsaicin-flavored foods. 

Unfortunately, sometimes it is also added in the processing of otherwise bland chiles in an attempt to “hop them up a bit”.  Anyone who has ever done a side by side taste comparison between a natural New Mexico chile and one of these products will tell you it doesn’t work.  All they get is a bland chile that burns your mouth.

We are fortunate to be involved with growers and producers of New Mexico chile whose products are naturally flavorful first and the heat level depends solely on the chile variety selected and not chemical additions.

Red chiles are also used to extract the red oils which are used as food coloring and in things like lipstick.

Chile Colorado

I made this last weekend and it is really, really good.  I guess, as with anything you cook, a lot is going to depend on the red chile you use. I tried some red chile flakes (which are like broken up pods) that were samples from Biad Chile Products.  I will probably get some more.  They have flakes, then crushed (like you see for pizza), coarse ground, and powder.  Probably get flakes and powder.  Looking at other sources as well.

CHILE COLORADO
Ingredients:
9 New Mexico dried red chiles - washed, with stems and seeds removed (or 2-3 oz flakes)
3 cups water
5 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed of fat
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
3 tablespoons oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 cups beef stock or water
Preparation:
Cover chiles with 3 cups HOT water and steep for 30 minutes to soften. Strain into a bowl, reserving the cooking liquid. Place the chiles and some of the liquid into a blender and puree until smooth. Add more liquid as necessary to form a smooth sauce. Pass sauce through a fine mesh strainer to remove any seeds and the tough skins. Add the cooked onions (see below) and puree again.  Set aside.
Cut the roast into 1 to 2 inch chunks. In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dredge the beef chunks in the seasoned flour; set aside.
Heat oil in a large heavy pot and brown the meat and remove from the pan. Don’t over crowd the pan and you may need to do this in batches.  Reduce the heat and add the onions, and sauté until translucent.  Remove the onions to the blender and puree with the chiles.  Add flour and garlic to the oil in the pot and cook roux 1-2 minutes (don’t burn the garlic).  Add chile/onion mixture and cook about a minute more but be sure not to burn as the chile will taste bitter.  Add the meat back in the pan with the rest of the ingredients and salt and pepper to taste.  Add beef stock to just cover beef chunks, or to personal preference. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to lowest setting, and simmer covered for 3 hours, or until meat is tender. If necessary, adjust with more stock during cooking.

Note: Makes 12 servings.  Serve with tortillas and if you have to; chopped onion, sliced green onion, shredded cheddar cheese, and/or sour cream.

Fat. Happy, and Satisfied

Well I couldn’t be happier with the chiles starting with the packaging.  The chiles in the one pound packages are “displayed” side by side with the stems on the same side and frozen flat for easy stacking in the freezer.  You can tell that someone had some pride in what they were trying to present.  Yeah, yeah, I know you don’t eat the package but I thought it was nice that they didn’t just grab a handful and cram them in the sack! 

As advertised the chiles were good size, perfectly roasted, meaty, and fragrant.  Out of the 5 or 6 pounds I have consumed in the last 24 hours I found one or two chiles that were slightly over roasted with browning of the flesh.  I ate them.  They were good.  So far I have eaten them straight up (whole, chopped, medium, and hot), in a ham and feta cheese omelet, medium chopped on a hot dog (actually two), two pots of chile sauce with pork (one hot one medium), and in a fried egg sandwich.   The flavors are a little more intense for both varieties when they are chopped in the soup. 

The medium Joe E Parkers are initially sweet followed by a little tingle on your tongue and lips.  The hotter Big Jims still allow the great chile flavor to come through without just cauterizing your mouth.  Both are fragrant and delicious.  With both, the sensation of “heat” subsides fairly quickly leaving one fat, happy, and content (and not reliving the meal for the next four hours- if you get my drift).  The perception of heat is very subjective and some will find the medium to be as hot as they want and some will think the hot is mild.  These aren’t intended to compete with a Hell Fire Double Habanero Latte.   

Tomorrow the rest of the pork shoulder will be slow cooked and shredded for burritos.

It is Chile Day

Well the chiles are in and I have been dreaming about cooking up some sauce with pork and stuffing myself on smothered burritos. I think a big pot of the hot and one mild would be appropriate.   Have some deliveries to make for people that waited patiently for the chiles arrival and then its going to be football and chiles.  I think I will start the day with a stacked enchilada smothered and topped with a couple eggs, burrito for lunch, and Mike’s Famous Burger for dinner or maybe the green chile mac and cheese.  Or maybe both.

What makes Chimayó® chiles special?

Unlike some mass produced, hybrid, or genetically modified products Chimayó® chile seeds are handed down from generation to generation producing a distinctive local variety generally known as a landrace (or native chile).  A landrace is a plant species with unique features that has developed by natural processes and adapted to the specific environment in which it is grown.  Variations in terrain, irrigation practices, soil, climate, and other factors along with individual selective seed propagation produce distinct qualities or individual “farmer varieties”.

Once this chile has ripened, dried, and been ground into powder form called molido (milled), the aroma produced is a characteristic simultaneous mix of sweetness, richness, and spiciness that is not overbearingly hot.  The flavor is complex and distinctive.  Native Chimayó® chile has medium heat and a smooth robust flavor with chocolate-like base tones.  If aged properly this chile’s flavor is refined like a fine wine.  The more common chiles do not improve with age.  Chefs often use less Chimayó® to achieve the same desired results.  Authentic Chimayó® chile powder has a distinct pottery red-orange color as opposed to the more common chile which has a more brick red color. However, the only sure way to identify it is to look for the registration mark and certification number on the label. 

Similar to the use of term “organic”, the name “Chimayó® “is now a US Patent and Trademark registered certification owned by Chimayó Chile Framers, Inc and restricted to only products that are certified as authentic.  Buyers should be aware that “Chimayo like”, “Chimayo blend”, and “similar to” are product descriptions that are not true Chimayó.  In fact products using the name without certification are in violation of the farmer’s trademark rights.  Of all the native chiles, those from Chimayó have long been considered the standard in New Mexico, and have commanded the highest prices.  As one New Mexican writers put it, “…Chimayó is to chile as Havana is to Cigars.”  The Chimayó® powder at the Chile Man’s site is authentic certified Chimayó®.  

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Spain is a Long Way from New Mexico

Aimlessly wandering about the net today I came across a picture of an unbelievable pizza with Padron peppers from Delancey in Ballard and I got curious about the little beauties.  The most famous produce of Padrón region of Spain are its peppers which today are also grown in Virginia for the Harris family of La Tienda.  Traditionally, these peppers are served seared in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt.  Most taste sweet and mild but some are hot which gives a little excitement to the experience.  Usually, the peppers grown later in the year towards August or September contain more capsaicin and are hotter than the ones of June and July.  I can’t wait to give these a try.

 La Tienda, the best of Spain seem like very nice folks and what a fabulous selection of artisan and small family products from firms in Spain.  This is from La Tienda.com, About Us:

“Whenever possible, we seek small family-run businesses in Spain, many of whom are continuing food-making traditions that go back generations. In addition, we are sensitive to issues concerning sustainable agriculture and fisheries, and to the ethical treatment of animals. We hope to help our Spanish neighbors stay connected to the land and their traditions. In turn, we hope that you will enjoy in your home the authentic flavors of Spain that have enriched our lives.”  Chile Man will be dropping a couple bucks here.

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How Bout this at Your Next Tailgate

I think I am going to start a series on game food- tailgate or otherwise.  The first two nominations are Mike’s Famous Burger, Mike’s Famous Green Chile, your favorite burro or enchilada smothered in Mike’s Famous Chile (my ideas later), or this:

Green Chile Mac and Cheese

This makes me weak and “drooly” just thinking about it. This came to me via a nice lady, Hanna, at bouffe e bambini and looks like it was originally posted on Epicurious.  This makes two casseroles- one hot, one not or whatever combo you want.  Remember it is your football and you make the rules.

Yield: Serves 8 adults plus 10 children (or me and my brother-in-law)

Active time: 30 min

Total time: 1 hr

Ingredients:

For bread crumbs:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs

1 cup roasted, peeled, and chopped New Mexico green chiles (or 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped chipotle chiles in adobo)

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 pound macaroni

2 pounds extra-sharp Cheddar (preferably white), grated

Make bread crumbs:
Heat butter and oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then cook garlic and bread crumbs, stirring, until crumbs are golden. Transfer to paper towels to drain and season with salt.

Make macaroni:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Melt butter in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan over moderate heat, then add flour and cook, whisking, 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, cream, and mustard and simmer, whisking occasionally, 3 minutes.

Cook macaroni in a 6- to 7-quart pot of boiling salted water until just tender. Drain in a colander and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in white sauce, cheese, and salt to taste.

Fill a 1 1/2-quart shallow casserole with half of macaroni mixture. Stir chipotles into remaining macaroni. Spoon into another 1 1/2-quart shallow casserole and sprinkle both with bread crumbs. Bake casseroles in middle of oven 30 minutes, or until bubbly.  Better yet make one with medium chiles and one with hot- just a suggestion. 

Nice lady Hanna’s note to the cooks: Macaroni and cheese may be made 2 days ahead, put into casseroles, cooled completely, and chilled, covered. Do not add bread crumbs until ready to bake. (Baking may take longer than 30 minutes.)

My note: Don’t forget to wash it down with a very cold suitable beverage.  Is it Saturday yet!
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The Chile Man is really Cometh-ing Now

Frozen roasted green chiles are available on the web with freight rates that will make your nose bleed.  So next week I am bringing in to a cold storage facility in Kent initially about 3,000 lbs of roasted whole and chopped chiles (medium or hot) that can be ordered and paid for on my website, www.mikeschiles.com for a much more reasonable price.   I will then deliver them or hopefully arrange a time and place where many orders can be picked up at once and we can celebrate the arrival of some good green to Seattle.  Absent that I will deliver them individually to unofficial NM chile cult members or they can be picked up at my house.  Pass the word.  Spread the joy.  If you can’t handle the delivery fee get a few friends and order together and I waive the delivery fee (I can do that because I am the Chile Man and the Chile Man can do damn near anything he wants to do with his chiles).  Well, nothing dirty or anything. 

Cookbooks

Here is a list of some great cookbooks that use real New Mexico chile products in the recipes (and if they don’t then substitute the good stuff from www.mikeschiles.com  so your dish doesn’t taste like garbage):

The Border Cookbook: Authentic Home Cooking of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico

Cheryl Alters Jamison (Author)

The Rancho de Chimayo Cookbook: The Traditional Cooking of New Mexico

Cheryl Alters Jamison (Author)

El Paso Chile Company's Texas Border Cookbook

W. Park & Norma Kerr (Author)

Best of the Best from New Mexico Cookbook: Selected Recipes from New Mexico's Favorite Cookbooks (Best of the Best Cookbook)                     

Gwen McKee (Editor), Barbara Moseley (Editor), Tupper England (Illustrator)            

The Great Chile Book                      

Mark Miller (Author), John Harrisson (Author), Lois Ellen Frank (Photographer)                      

Coyote Cafe              

Mark Miller (Author)    Owner, Cyote Café, Santa fe

Green Chile Bible: Award-Winning New Mexico Recipes                        

Albuquerque Tribune (Author)             

The Red Chile Bible: Southwestern Classic & Gourmet Recipes             

Kathleen Hansel (Author), Audrey Jenkins (Author)                 

The Santa Fe School of Cooking Cookbook                                   

Susan D. Curtis (Author), Valerie Santagto (Photographer), Susan Curtis (Author)                               

The Tequila Cook Book                               

Lynn Nusom (Author)                          

Cafe Pasqual's Cookbook: Spirited Recipes from Santa Fe                                  

Katharine Kagel (Author), Barbara Simpson (Photographer)                            

Green Chile Fans Unite

Mike's Chiles has officially launched!  I still have a few glitches to work out on the site, but the important information is there and I'm ready to take orders.  If you live in the Seattle area, help me spread the word to all the New Mexico chile heads you know.  Maybe we can form a group, but then we would need a name for the group, and then someone would want to be the head of the group and everything would go to shit.  I guess I will be the head of the group located in my mind and I will call myself the Chile Man.  Pretty clever I think.

Mike’s Famous Burger

Ingredients:

• Hamburger ground however you like it and from whatever cuts you like but I recommend 80/20 in the final mix and formed into 1/3 lb. patties
• 1-2 onions cooked slowly and caramelized
• Good (not crap) blue cheese dressing
• NuMex Heritage Big Jim (hot) or Joe E Parker (medium but hot enough to taste) chiles peeled, stems removed, and sliced lengthwise
• Cheddar cheese slices
• Good (not crap here either) rolls

 I season the ground meat with salt, pepper, and a little garlic salt.  Grill burgers and when almost done add sliced peppers and cheddar cheese on top and continue to cook until meat is cooked the way you want it and cheese is melted.  Spread rolls with blue cheese, add burger, and top with caramelized onions.  If you don’t cook the meat to a grey death, you will experience a total brain orgasm and juices will run everywhere.  This just makes me weak thinking about it.

OK here is the “most excellent” blue cheese that is not crap:

• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup cider vinegar
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 medium garlic clove, minced
• 4 oz blue cheese, crumbled
• Fresh ground black pepper

In blender, pour ¼ cup oil and ¼ cup vinegar.  Blend.  Add sour cream and blend.  Add the remaining oil and the seasonings; blend.  Add the bleu cheese to the mix and stir carefully.  Refrigerate.

This can be used as a dip as it is quite thick.

No Tomatillos Allowed

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MIKE’S GREEN CHILE
 
Ingredients:

• 2-3 lb pork roast, trimmed and cut in small cubes
• ½ cup shortening or oil
• 12- 14 Joe E Parker green chilies (medium heat) or Heritage Big Jims (hot) that have been roasted, skins and stems removed, and chopped in ¼” dice (or 1- 2 cups)
• ½ cup flour
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 8- 10 cups water or chicken stock
• Salt and pepper

Option 1:
Add finely diced small onion

Option 2:

Prepare as below but puree about 1/3 of the chiles with the onion and the water before adding the meat and the rest of the chiles back in.


Preparation:

Season the pork with salt and pepper and brown in heavy pot (do in batches). Set meat aside.  If you are using onion, add it now and cook until translucent.  Add flour to fat (and onions) and cook roux 2-3 minutes.   Add garlic and chopped chiles and cook briefly 1-2 minutes. Add water or chicken stock, and meat.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Can simmer for thirty minutes and eat but I like to cook it slow with a lid on for a couple hours on the stove on low or in the oven 300 degrees until the meat is tender and falls apart.

You can add more stock or water as necessary but when finished it should have the consistency of a thin gravy.

Use as soup with warm tortillas or to smother burritos, enchiladas, tacos, or anything else.

A Note on Terminology

Might as well get this cleared up right away so we are all on the same page. “Chile” is the most common Spanish spelling of the word in Mexico and parts of the US. It refers specifically to the plant and its fruit (chile pepper). However, “chile” can also mean chile sauce which is a soup (or gravy like sauce) made with either green or red chiles, with or without meat, and served alone or “smothered” on anything. “Chile” and “chili” are often pronounced slightly differently. The pronunciation of “chile” is more Spanish – “chill-ay”, “shill-ay” or “chee-lay”.

Green chile (sauce) is made with roasted chopped green chiles and red chile is usually made from chiles dried and ground into powder although it can be made with the fresh roasted red chiles as well. The red is merely the mature form of the green. As the chile turns red it retains the heat characteristic to the specific variety but tastes milder because red chiles are sweeter and the heat is not as noticeable. The red, however, are usually allowed to dry and used as pods, flakes, or powder with different degrees of heat.

The Chile Man Cometh…

When I moved to the Pacific Northwest I found I could no longer get the green chile I grew up with in Wyoming. I miss the smell of chiles roasting behind trucks filled with sacks of New Mexico's finest from the Hatch Valley and southern New Mexico. Driven by an inability to find a burrito smothered with green, I established Mike's Chiles to provide a source for all Seattle area transplants from the I-25 corridor and the local true believers (yes it could be a cult) that know that real green chile (sauce) has nothing to do with tomatillos. Anyone who has ever eaten true New Mexico green or red chile knows that it is mandatory on burritos and enchiladas and highly recommended on hamburgers, fries, eggs, and just about everything else.

To those that long for the overpowering aroma of roasting chiles on a fall day I offer a source for your capsaicin fix and a means to broaden the pallets of the yet “un-addicted”.