It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year... Green Chile Time!

Fresh from the Hatch Valley
For those who live in Colorado, there is nothing, truly nothing, more magical as fall approaches to catch the wafting smell of green chiles roasting over an open fire. You can keep your chestnuts... this girl is green chile crazy!

Arguably the best chiles come from the Hatch valley in New Mexico, and as September and October close in you start to see the chile stands pop up. The good ones have the New Mexico department of agriculture flags, and the really good ones sell not only green chiles, but also 100 pound bags of pinto beans and fireworks. I'm not kidding!

Years ago, I used to kid myself that 1/2 a bushel was enough to carry us through the year. Then we started to up it to one bushel* (see notes below for info on bushels, freezing and peeling). Then two. And this year, we found ourselves hauling home a whopping 4 bushels, including hatch chiles ranging from hot to extra hot and Big Jims to boot. Next to new car smell, there really isn't anything better than car-full-of-four-bushels-of-freshly-roasted-chiles smell!

Jeep-load of Green Chiles

Using Green Chiles

If you ask my husband, green chiles can be used in ANYTHING. See previous post featuring green chiles and bacon! Green chiles are great in casseroles, stews, eggs, quiches... you can even stuff chicken breasts (ala chicken cordon bleu) or make a fantastic chicken with creamy green chile sauce (ala chicken fricassee).

Big Jims or Anaheim chiles are the best chile (in my humble opinion) for making rellenos. Again, roast and peel, stuff, and either batter and fry or roast open-faced with a variety of fillings. Stay tuned for a future blog post about that!

Awesome Chicken Green Chile
It's a perfect fall day in Colorado... which will make for an even better evening of homemade green chile!

1 onion
3 very ripe tomatoes (preferably romas)
9 - 12 green chiles, peeled and seeded to your preference**
1 quart chicken broth
2 - 3 chicken breasts, roasted & shredded***
4 T each melted butter and flour
shredded cheese, sour cream, and fresh tortillas
olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano

1. Chop your onion and saute it in olive oil with salt, pepper, and a few teaspoons of oregano until just softened.
2. Chop and add the tomatoes, and let them cook down.
3. Add your green chiles, and stir and let cook until fragrant (3 - 5 minutes).
4. Deglaze the pan with a small amount of the broth (or you can use wine, ooh la la la!) and then pour in the remainder of the broth.
5. Bring to a boil and simmer partiallly covered for 30 - 45 minutes.
6. When ready to finish and serve, mix together your butter and flour and create a smooth roux. For a richer flavor, you can do this on the stove, but do not let it get too dark. Save that for the gumbo!
7. Add in your shredded chicken, cook until warmed through, and stir in the roux. The green chile will be rich and silky, and ready to be topped with shredded cheese, sour cream, and served with a side of warmed tortillas.

Delicioso! This recipe is great for a crowd, can easily be doubled or tripled. Be prepared to serve seconds! Whatever you do, don't forget to save the leftovers... it gets thicker and better, and is fantastic on scrambled eggs or in a breakfast burrito!

notes


Ready to freeze!

* I've found that generallly a bushel equates to one dozen bags holding one dozen chiles each. Of course this is a huge generality as the chiles vary year to year in size. When bringing home this many, I will typically pack 9 - 12 chiles in a quart-sized freezer bag, and then pack 2 - 3 of these in a larger freezer bag. Always freeze them skin on, as the freezing process makes the skins MUCH easier to remove after thawing.

** Seeding the chiles cuts the heat. I typically start by seeding half of them and seeing how hot the green chile gets. The roux will temper the heat, if just slightly.

*** I prefer to use bone-in, skin on chicken breasts. I will buy 3, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and oregano. Roast for 40 minutes at 425, and allow them to cool a bit. This really makes a difference in the flavor, adding a great layer of richness to your base.

Limoncello, Mission Accomplished? Sort of.

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that by the time I've gotten around to updating you on the progress of the Limoncello Project, it's been packaged, gifted, and long consumed! Needless to say, the Limoncello Project was a huge hit and one that we will be reproducing in very short order. A few things we learned:

- Double recipes are key. Let's face it, one bottle of vodka just ain't going that far when you package it in cute little 9 ounce bottles.
- The longer the limoncello sits, the mellower it gets. This goes for both in the steeping process and post-filter.
- This is a process we'll be trying in several other processes. A few ideas to get you going: coffee beans and vanilla beans, or perhaps rosemary?

This was a fantastic gift which sadly we just didn't have enough to give. I'm unsure how necessary the initial filtering of the vodka was so we'll be testing a new batch to see if we can skip that part using fairly decent vodka (with grain alcohol I'm quite sure you simply don't have an option). The filtering after the steeping process is absolutely essential and transforms a quite frankly rather funky concoction to a delightfully clear and delicious treat.

We are embarking on Limoncello 2013 this weekend... And I promise to give better posts this time on the finished product.

Seasoning Your Molcajete: Meet Sid Delicious!

Earlier this summer, our dear friend presented me with a gift: a molcajete. A traditional mortar and pestle hailing from Mexico, the molcajete is not only a great way to make some killer salsas and guac, but it's an incredible serving vessel! A molcajete is traditionally a three-legged bowl in the shape of a pig or another animal. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Sid Delicious.

 

There are some strings attached, however, before you head down the molcajete path: you have to season it. After heading to the blogosphere and getting some good advice, I got started! Forwarned is fairwarned: this process takes time and patience. Make it a family project, set your molcajete out and let everyone take turns over a few days. If you try to get this little guy seasoned in one day, you'll get a nice arm workout and some seriously skinned fingers... so take your time.

Seasoning Your Molcajete
Lots of rice
Lots of garlic
Cumin (seed or ground, doesn't matter)
Table Salt
Time and Patience

First, I took Sid and soaked him in the sink for several hours. I'm not sure the technicalities behind it, but it fills your kitchen with a nice wet stone smell (think fresh rain) so I'm all for it. Dry him out, and toss in about 1/4 C of rice.

Grind and pound the rice until you end up with a grey-ish powder. Dump, repeat. You will do this more times than you thought possible... but once the inside of the bowl is nice and smooth, you'll never have to do it again-- just season it occasionally to keep him happy (see below). You will also start shyly (don't want to hurt Sid!) and perhaps carefully cradling him, trying to prevent the rice from flying wildly into the air, on your counters, and across the kitchen floor. After your third or fourth dumping of ground, grey rice, you'll decide Sid can't really feel that much and you'll got at it with gusto. Let the rice fly! You've got more! Pound away-- this is volcanic rock, people! You're going to beat it into submission one rice kernel at a time. Don't be shy, and don't worry about the flecks of grey and black rock that fall off-- better now than in your guacamole! Eventually, the inside of that bowl will become soft and smooth and you'll be ready to proceed. Until then, try not to skin your knuckles off.

Once your rice powder is consistently white, toss in about 5 or 6 garlic cloves, 1/2 t cumin, and about 3 tablespoons of coarse salt. Grind and stir until it turns into a nice smooth paste, and you can dump and wipe it out. You can add in some cilantro if you like, but what you want to do now is start to create a solid sheen in the rock. Akin to seasoning grandma's cast iron skillet, you're putting a nice layer between whatever delectable items you'll be making in your molcajete and the stone. This will also protect it from when you have to do a quick rinse to wash little bits of avocado and onion out of the smoothed nooks and crannies.

You'll want to season it after every few uses; you'll grow to love doing it (it's quite soothing, really, and a pleasant treat after all that pounding with the rice and skinning of the knuckles) and it will keep Sid happy, fragrant, and always ready for your next salsa.

Colorado Cherry Compote

A glorious part of early summer in Colorado is the incredible harvest of sour cherries. Our yellow lab used to be known to stand out under our cherry tree and nibble the lowest fruits like a baby deer!

Our good friends had an absolutely amazing harvest this year from their backyard tree and asked if there was anything we could do with it. I've made a lot of jams and jellies and thought this was a challenge just perfect for the 7th Avenue Cook! I asked for a nice big bag of several pounds of cherries and pulled out my canning jars and pot.

Colorado Cherry Compote
Ingredients:
3-1/2 - 4 pounds sour cherries
4- 3/4 C sugar
1 box pectin

Jars, lids and screw caps for enough containers to accommodate 6-7 cups of compote.

Thoroughly wash and stem the cherries. In order to pit them, you can either head to your local ACE hardware (the best place to find stuff you were sure they don't make anymore) and pick up a cherry pitter OR you can amuse yourself by putting your hands and fingers to work. I chose the latter and aside from the rather hypnotic and zen-like state such repetitive work can put you in it's a quick job. Just pop off the stem and crush the cherry in your fingers-- the pit pops right out. You don't have to worry about the integrity of the cherry, as you'll be chopping them anyway, but you do want to do it over a bowl to catch all that yummy juice that squirts out. Did I mention you should wear an apron, too? Um, yeah. Definitely an apron.

Once your cherries are ready to go, get your canning equipment set up and ready to go-- jars cleaned and heated (I do a quick load in the dishwasher and just let them stay in there until I'm ready) and water filled and boiling in your canning pot.

Prepare your cherries with a quick run through a food processor. Don't puree-- you really do want some nice solid pieces of cherry in there, so get it in small bits but not smooth. Place your cherries in a sauce pan and add 1/2 C water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

Stir in the pectin, and bring to a full rolling boil. This takes a little while, particularly at altitude, so use this time to ensure your canning equipment is good to go (jars hot and clean-- I put them through the dishwasher and let them sit in the hot air until I'm ready to go). Once it's really boiling, add your sugar and watch that pot! Bring it to a full boil again, and let it stay there for one minute. You may need to reduce the heat slightly and stir in order to prevent it from completely boiling over.

After it's boiled for a minute, turn off the heat and skim the foam off with a large spoon. At this point, you fill your jars, top them, and process according to your altitude's needs. This recipe will make a very liquidy compote-- perfect for ice cream topping, drizzled over goat cheese or brie for an appetizer, or an excellent add-in to plain yogurt.

Summer will live in your pantry all year long!

I Scream, You Scream... Or, How I Lost 30 Pounds Eating Ice Cream

Now that I've got your attention, I'll come clean. I did not lose 30 pounds eating ice cream, are you kidding me??? While you don't know me, both I and my husband are well aware of the fact that I'm still carrying around about 16 additional pounds since our trip to Thailand last fall (how do you resist two weeks of panang curry? Come on!). But-- stick with me here-- I actually believe that owning an ice cream maker will be good for us. Seriously!


Making your own ice cream at home isn't just a self indulgent way to blow another 30 bucks on a kitchen appliance and a good excuse to always have heavy cream in the refrigerator! Making your own ice cream allows you to have a lot more control over what's going in your freezer and eventually you. For low-carb fans, homemade ice cream is a bastion of guilt-free indulgence: heavy cream is lower in carbs than most other dairy products, and you can easily replace the sugar in your recipe with Splenda or another sugar-free sweetener. Fresh fruit sorbets and other creative tricks can help you come up with a way to still indulge but not rocket the bathroom scale to the basement! Check back with me in another 30 days and I'll let you know how THAT's going. In the meantime, let's talk GINGER ICE CREAM.


I will shortly be dedicating another blog post to the 2nd Annual 7th Avenue Cocktail Competition. For now, I'll refer to one of the winning entries of 2012: the 7th Avenue Ginger Surprise, which made it as one of our top entries because of the creative rim: a glass swiped with fresh lime juice, and dipped in a blend of finely chopped coconut and crystallized ginger. WOW! I decided to take it to the next level and treat our friends to the 7th Avenue Ginger Surprise Ice Cream in its honor. Special thanks to our friends at www.epicurious.com for the base inspiration for this custardy-frozen delight.


7th Avenue Ginger Surprise Ice Cream

Fresh and Crystallized Ginger

Ingredients:
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C finely chopped fresh ginger root *note 1
2 T water
2 C half and half
1 C heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and seeded *note 2
1/2 C + chopped crystallized ginger *note 1
4 extra large egg yolks
Finely chopped coconut flakes




- Place the sugar, ginger root, and water in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a low boil over medium high heat; basically you are making an intense gingery-syrup for your custard. Add the half and half and cream. Depending on how thick, silky, and gelato-like you want your ice cream, you can play with these amounts. More cream, more gelato-like in characteristics. Most people don't know that gelato is actually much higher in fat than ice cream. But I don't see any Italians complaining! They also live on a diet based on carbs, bread, cheese and wine. Life is unfair, but I digress. 


- Allow the half and half, cream and ginger syrup to come to a low simmer. Meanwhile, separate out your eggs and give them a quick whisk. Once your cream and syrup mixture is simmering, slowly poor it into your eggs while whisking vigorously. If you add it slowly enough and whisk fast enough, you won't end up with scrambled eggs or curdling. But if it curdles a bit, you'll still be okay. Hang tight.


- Return the whole batch back into your sauce pan (the ginger will clump weirdly both going into the eggs and back in the pan, but don't worry about it). Now, pull out a thermometer you would use if you were steaming milk, and slowly bring your mixture up to about 170 degrees. Don't allow it to boil, and stir almost constantly to keep it from clumping or sticking.


- Strain your custard through a seive into a large bowl. Remember when you were worried about scrambled eggs? If anything curdled, it will get caught now, along with all of the fresh ginger and the stringy bits that go with that. After straining, gently stir in your vanilla bean seeds or extract. Don't go crazy, it will all get mixed up in your ice cream machine! 


- Chill your custard. Cover it with plastic wrap-- layer the wrap directly on the liquid, so you don't develop a skin on the top. Let it sit in the back of the fridge (mine nestled in comfortably between some nice feta and a chilled bottle of champagne) for anywhere from 3 hours to overnight. Once it's chilled completely, put it into your ice cream maker and let it go wild. Add as much or as little of the crystallized ginger as you like about 5 minutes before you finish mixing, and reserve additional for yourself and your friends to sprinkle on top (yes, I'm sorry, you will need to share). 


- Garnish with the remaining chopped crystallized ginger mixed with your chopped coconut. An homage to our friend whose cocktail inspired an ice cream!


I'll be heading out in another hour or two to enjoy some of our 7th Avenue Ginger Surprise Ice Cream on our patio; nothing goes better with a sunset than a post dinner, homemade ice cream. Cheers to summer!




Note 1


The Savory Spice Shop in downtown Denver is my source for the crystallized ginger. They have two types-- one is darker and much spicier than the lighter yellow one. I used the lighter yellow one for this recipe, however my mind does wander in thinking about an application for a darker, spicier ginger ice cream. Perhaps over a nice pumpkin tart? Will explore in the fall. On the fresh ginger root, don't worry about getting it too thin or two thick while grating-- I grated mine very coarsely and put it through my mini food processor to get it a little smaller, but it will all be strained out before turning to custard, anyway.


Note 2


When I travel, I love picking up local ingredients. While in Tahiti a while back, I bought a ton of vanilla beans. These have kept exceptionally well in a sealed spice jar and add a great bit of interest in baked goods and ice creams because of the pretty little black flecks. If you don't want the expense of using fresh vanilla beans, use 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, instead. 

Chipotle Black Bean Stacks

We are planning a small cocktail party for this weekend... still trying to somehow come to grips with the fact that summer is nearing it's end and we are ushering in September grandly.

To celebrate, I've created a fun menu for a small gathering that will have multiple international influences-- some Greek spanikopita triangles, hummus and toasted pita, pesto pasta with chicken, and chipotle black bean stacks, which I'll talk about here.

 

I first made these for a neighbor's baby shower earlier this year, and nearly blew the brains out of one of the  guests at this otherwise tame little soiree. The chipotles pack a punch, that's all I'm saying. And I'm not a fan of baby showers. BUT... I digress.

Ingredients:

1 can black beans

1 small onion

2-3 chipotle peppers, in adobado sauce (see above)

1 bell pepper

Approximately two cups of chicken broth

dash of oregano, salt and pepper

Small, round tortilla chips (or, as seen in photograph, a package of phyllo dough)

1 C cotija cheese (or any nice dry mexican cheese, see previous post)

Cilantro and sour cream to garnish

Now, I started out making these just as I do my cuban-style black beans, when I realized I didn't have any bacon. Bacon is an integral part of the process here, as it adds that meaty-smoky-punch that really makes this stand out from just another black bean salsa. Sans bacon, I burrowed through my cupboard and came up with an even better solution-- chipotle peppers! A fantastic, smoky, spicy alternative that really took this over the top.

To get started, finely chop your onion and bell pepper,  and gently saute them both in a bit of olive oil with the oregano and salt & pepper. When they are both fairly well cooked (softened, onion golden and just browning in spots), toss in your black beans and your diced chipotles.  Stir it all together, and at this point you'll want to start adding the chicken stock about 1/2 a cup at a time, letting it cook down so the beans take on the liquid and start to dry ever so slightly. You want to cook in the nice flavor of the stock, which really just ties the sweetness of the onion and pepper, the spice and smoke in the chipotle, right into the black beans. It's really amazing. Once you have added and cooked down all your broth, your beans will be just a little dry but still clump nicely on a spoon. Pull it off the heat, cover it, and let it hang out until you're ready to start layering.

Now-- at this point, if you are using the phyllo, start by slicing layering two sheets of phyllo dough (with a little melted butter sprinkled in between) and cutting them into small squares (small meaning approx 3 inches square). These squares you can nestle right into a mini-cupcake tin and bake them up in a 350-degree overn until they start to just brown on the eggs and are crisp throughout; and here you have your own little cups for the black beans. Delightful, and flaky! To be fair, you can make the phyllo cups at any time, before or after.

However, if you want more of a corn-flavor this time (I'm already using the phyllo for my spanikopita triangles) you can also go with a flat, small corn chip. Dollop each chip with a bit of your black beans, pressing down slightly so you can have a little landing pad for your grated cheese. Once the cheese is on, and elegant little touch is a sprinkle of chopped cilantro, and you are done! I serve with a small side of sour cream, for those who might want to cool the heat.

Enjoy!

Grilled chicken with Greek salad

As promised... one of my favorite standbys, for any occasion. It's actually one of my favorite things to prepare in advance and take to work for a delicious lunch: grilled chicken with greek salad. Again.. I know we're not crossing any culinary equators with this one, but it's fast, it's fresh and it's really delicious, so I thought I'd share. Plus, we have all those lemons in the fridge, you know.

And, as a shout out to my cooking pal Shan, I'm going to try to include full recipes from here on out.

What you need for...

The Chicken:

2-3 chicken breasts or 5-6 tenderloins

1/4 C olive oil

lemon juice, from two lemons

1-2 t oregano

dash of cayenne (if you like a bit of kick!)

salt & pepper

The Salad Dressing:

1/4 C olive oil

1/4 C red wine vinaigrette

1/2 t dijon mustard

1/2 t oregano

salt & pepper

dash of sugar or splenda (optional)

The Salad:

a few leaves of romaine lettuce

half a cucumber (I prefer the long, skinny english kind)

tomatoes (grape or pear tomatoes are particularly delish with this-- sweet and tangy!)

kalamata olives

feta cheese

roasted bell pepper

To Do:

Basically you want to start with your chicken; if using full breasts, slice them in half lengthwise so you end up with two thinner filets. If you have tenderloins, you are good to go. Toss them all in a bowl or large ziploc bag. In another bowl (or liquid measuring cup) put the lemon juice, olive oil, and spices and whisk them like mad. You don't need to get full emulsification, but thickening it a bit does help it stick to your chicken. Pour it over your eagerly awaiting chicken, roll up the ziploc tightly or wrap your bowl, stick it in the fridge, and fuh-gedd-aboudit. For any where from 30 minutes to a few hours, anyway.

When you are ready to serve, warm up the grill and get ready to toss that salad. This is where I typically will put my husband on grill duty while I toss everything together, but you can multi-task. Just watch the chicken like a hawk: when it's sliced thin like this, it grills quickly and goes from a delectable, moist little morsel (thank you, lemon juice!) to a hard little bark bite in just a few minutes. I mean, literally, a few minutes per side. So if you don't have back up, get your salad all good and pretty and toss the chicken on when you can give it your full, undivided, and loving attention. Isn't that nice?

I like to pull together the dressing first-- emulsification is more important here, because you don't want the oil separating and making your salad all oily on the bottom and herby and wet on top. To help this along, the mustard is a miracle worker. Also, if you like a more smooth dressing, you can add up to 1/4 t of sugar (I use splenda) to just take the tang down a notch. Toss all the ingredients into a bowl, and once again, whisk like mad. Some folks prefer to drizzle the olive oil in while whisking, but frankly I'm not sure I'm that coordinated, so I like to just put them all in a liquid measuring cup and hover over the sink so I can splash away. Hey, it works.

Chop your lettuce up, and toss it with the dressing. I think doing it this way gets nice coverage of the lettuce and then you can layer all your ingredients on top-- feta, roasted pepper, cukes, tomatoes, olives, you name it.

Now... a few words on your salad ingredients. There are some things that are just really, really worth getting right, and I feel most strongly about that with things that you eat so close to their natural state. When it comes to feta and olives, I simply don't mess around. For about the same price, you can go to a nice middle east market or greek market and get drastically upgraded feta and olives. At Melita's on Lincoln, you can get feta from France, Bulgaria, or Greece, and it is NOT the dried out, salty and texturaly weird stuff you buy at the your regular grocery store. This stuff is soft, smooth, brined, and out of this world. It will make or break your salad. So next time you're cruising around town, and you see a greek or middle east market (try Colorado Boulevard, near Iliff) pop in and buy a half pound of the feta-- it will literally cost you just a few bucks, and it will rock your world!

So... there you have it. We've used up two lemons from the limoncello experiment, and created a quick and delightful meal that you can take to work tomorrow and be proud to stick in the fridge. Just be careful that somebody doesn't snag it!

And if you're not eating at work, who am I to suggest that maybe a nice little shot of Ouzo might wash it all down rather nicely? Or, perhaps a nice sparkling vhino verde from Portugal? Then again, you could always do a nice light Prosecco....