On one of our hiking ventures last year, Joe and I stopped at a roadside stand at Velarde, NM which is north of Espanola. Out front were baskets filled with fruit and vegetables for sale with chile ristras hanging all along the front of the building. What we didn’t know was there was a whole store inside an overhang that had all kinds of dried goods; they had a variety of dried beans, dried corn and red chile. We found jars filled with fruit preserves and salsa’s on shelves that looked so good! I ventured over to a table where we discovered packaged ground cornmeal in yellow, blue and red. I’d never come across red cornmeal before and was so intrigued that I had to have a bag. I had no idea what I would make with it but I knew I wanted to try it. It’s been a few month’s since then but I had an idea to make a savory cornmeal scone to eat alongside a pot of beans or soup. Since the cornmeal was red, I decided to enhance the flavor and color by adding roasted red chile and grated Oaxaca cheese. If you haven’t tried roasted red chile, it has a hint of sweetness while still maintaining the heat of the chile. Ever since I discovered roasted red, I’ve been experimenting with new ways to use it in recipes. I really love these scones and think think you would enjoy them too, drizzled with some red chile honey butter alongside a bowl of your favorite soup. I couldn’t decide if I wanted green chile stew or beans so I added some pinto beans to the stew and it was beyond delicious!!
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An Inspired Cook 