Posted at 8:33 am by NativeNM, on January 22, 2013
As I sit here writing this I’m finishing off the last little bit of my Chile de Arbol salsa. I made this salsa as part of an upcoming recipe for Chipotle Burritos. But as it turned out this salsa became an addicting side salsa with chips. I love the flavor of arbol chiles which gives the salsa an after burn that keeps you coming back for more. I love making this in a molcajete because with each ingredient you see a new layer of flavor emerging along with an earthy aroma in the background.
Posted at 8:55 am by NativeNM, on January 18, 2013
Hockey is back!! After a long collective bargaining dispute between the NHL owners and players they have finally resolved their differences and on Saturday night my Detroit Red Wings will be back on the ice. Half a season was lost due to the dispute while fans were left out in the cold. Joe introduced me to hockey when we moved to Michigan in 1990 and I was immediately hooked. We were only in Michigan for 3 years but I’ve followed my beloved Red Wings throughout the years and celebrate the beginning of each season with a big platter of wings. They have become my traditional send off to my favorite team, “The Detroit Red Wings”! This year I’m going spicy with a Chipotle sauce with a tangy dipping sauce. I made a basting sauce from the homemade Chipotle Tabasco sauce which was thick and spicy. So enjoy the wings and watch some hockey!
Posted at 8:30 am by NativeNM, on January 15, 2013
My family, especially Joe and Josh splash a little Tabasco on everything. My pantry is full of Tabasco’s original sauce, green pepper sauce and chipotle sauce. It feels like I’m replacing bottles every other week so I decided to try my hand at making some sauce from scratch and see if it would pass the taste test of my most critical judges. I looked at the ingredients listed on the Chipotle Tabasco sauce bottle and started there. The amounts were up to me to decipher and as I kept measuring and tasting I finally came up with a pretty good match. It’s a little thicker and slightly less vinegary as the original but it’s hard to tell the difference when tasting them side by side.
Posted at 9:09 am by NativeNM, on January 11, 2013
After all the sweets and decadent meals of the holiday season it’s time to tone it down and eat a little more health conscience. But it doesn’t mean meals have to be boring or tasteless. By marinating foods you can create many different tastes while still maintaining healthy habits. I’ve always loved the way citrus enhances marinades. This is a great time of year to get grapefruit so I picked up a few extra for my marinade. I intended to juice two grapefruit but they were so juicy I found I only needed one. I had enough for the shrimp and a little extra that I saved aside to make a salad dressing. With a salad and some herb wedge potatoes on the side and I had a healthy tasty meal.
My newest kitchen toy is an ice cream maker and boy am I having fun! I wanted something simple to start out and found a recipe for vanilla frozen yogurt with only three ingredients. This was so simple and after the initial combination of ingredients and chill time, the ice cream maker made some magic. It was very creamy and melt in your mouth good!
The first thing I made with the Sun Dried Tomato Pesto was meatballs. I made a big batch so I could freeze some to send home with Cameron. He’s off on a new adventure living on his own in his new apartment. I’m sure he will appreciate a care package and a little reminder that Mom still looks out for him! These meatballs are so good and I love the sun dried tomato flavors that come through. I always feel like I have options once I have a batch of meatballs ready. They make up easy meatball subs and spaghetti with meatballs and marinara sauce.
It’s been a crazy week, my youngest son Cameron is moving into his first apartment. My nest is almost empty again. Cameron knows how to cook but he doesn’t really enjoy it. His idea of cooking is heating something in the microwave or boiling water for ramen noodles. I cook special things for him because he’s so dang picky. One thing he loves is pesto. He loves any kind of pesto. He puts it in pasta and slathers it on flatbreads with cheese and his absolute favorite is in meatballs. So I am putting together a care package for him and I know pesto will go a long way. This sun dried pesto was inspired by “Closet Cooking’s” version. It is so fast and simple and tastes ever so good.
Posted at 10:58 am by NativeNM, on December 28, 2012
We’re celebrating birthdays this week. For those who have birthdays around Christmas, birthdays can sometimes get overlooked. So I try to do something special for my guys so they feel celebrated. Of course Josh wants Reese’s Cheesecake every year. He’s big on traditions and sticking with them. I decided to make Mini Cheesecakes so that I could make something special for Joe and Josh could continue to have his Reese’s cheesecake too.
Posted at 8:30 am by NativeNM, on December 21, 2012
Posole is a New Mexican tradition that some natives serve on Christmas Eve while others serve up a bowl on New Years Eve for good luck. I’ve always been of the opinion to just have a bowl of posole anytime around the holidays and all will be good. It’s comforting and reminds me of my New Mexican roots. Last year I made Blue Corn Posole with dried blue corn and red chile. This year I’m making a Green Chile Posole with white hominy, green chiles and poblano peppers. And just for fun I am also trying out a new corn husk muffin where you line your muffin pans with strips of soaked corn husks, ladle in the batter and out comes these cute little muffins that look like they grew right out of a corn stalk. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and many blessings for the New Year!
Posted at 8:44 am by NativeNM, on December 18, 2012
Christmas in New Mexico has many traditions, many of which I still honor. This week I’m focusing on what might be on the menu in many New Mexican homes. While this Green Chile Apple Pie isn’t something I’ve had before it tastes like something that might be served after a bowl of Posole and Tamales on Christmas eve. I saw this pie made on the Cooking Channel awhile back from a pie shop in the San Francisco area and I was intrigued. It sounded like something that would be served in New Mexico, not San Francisco, but no matter where it originated it was something I wanted a taste of. This pie originally had a walnut streusel but I decided to go with pine nuts. I grew up on pine nuts (most times still in the shell) which we called Pinon nuts grown from Pinon trees which also happens to be the state tree of New Mexico. This pie was the most intriguing pie I’ve ever made. The first bite was “interesting”, and each bite afterward was like “hey, this is pretty good”. As I took the last bite I decided I really liked it.
