Tis the season for desert tidings
The hottest Christmas miracle comes from Hatch
As the aroma of green chiles roasting carried from grocery store to grocery store this weekend, I was coming back from the Land of Enchantment whence they came.
No, not Hatch, New Mexico, but Santa Fe might be just as responsible for Hatch’s chief natural resource becoming a national treasure. While chiles were crossing state into Oklahoma, I was headed west toward an eventual rematch with Zacatlan and a green chile cheeseburger from Jambo’s Bobcat Bite.
Zacatlan was very good when I went for lunch a few months ago; it was phenomenal on my most recent trip. I recommend Zacatlan for lunch, but not if you’ve never been in for dinner. The Cochinita Pibil under black Oaxacan mole was divine.
Wish I could say for the green chile cheeseburger at Bobcat Bite. Once named among the best burgers in America by Bon Appetit magazine, today’s version doesn’t reach that standard. The beef was delicious and cooked expertly, but the green chile was mild and tepid, rendered lifeless in a queso no better than our old friend Rico started putting in cans back in the 1980s. No regrets, but I wouldn’t go back for it. The excellent service and comfortable setting did make me curious about some of the Jamaican fare.
I love the drive into New Mexico. It’s afternoon skies never fail to conjure natural phenomena worth pulling over to photograph.
While I wasn’t on holiday, it’s always Christmas in the country’s chile capital. Namely, the green ones. Green chiles are the pretty girl catching the collective eye. They are unripe, unrefined and unrepentantly spicy. Because green chiles have skin tough as bell peppers, folks roast them. Roasting them in cages with torches provided just the kind of spectacle to make the annual green chile harvest trendy and transferable across state lines.
Once roasted, they’re blended with onion and garlic then married off to chicken stock to make gravy.
Simple, spicy, delicious.
Red chiles are the moody older sister. She’s completely mature. So mature, she’ll rot if left to stew in her own juices in humid environs. In the dry desert sun, red chiles are hung in cages to slowly dehydrate. Dried red chiles are then bound together into ristras and either hung with care on the porch, sold to tourists or shipped across state lines.
Ristras make lovely décor, but if you’re doing it right it should disappear in about a year. Red Chile can be converted into flakes with the help of a blender or food processor. Great for sprinkling on pizza slices. Or they can be rehydrated in hot water and converted into sauce like green chiles.
Both green and red chile are best known for the stews they make. I’ve got recipes for the basic foundation below, but the routine is similar.
To make a simple green chile stew, brown and cool a couple pounds of cubed lean pork then dust it with flour. Add the stored green chile you’ve already made to a heated stew pot then add the dusted pork for a 45-minute braise. Dinner is served.
Do the same with rehydrated red chiles. Once rehydrated, red chiles go through a process similar to their younger siblings, but a few ingredients can add depth and complexity mature palates can’t resist.
Serve a burrito or chimichanga striped with each, and it’s Christmas.
Have a merry one with these jingle-bell free recipes.
Green Chile
10 to 12 Hatch green chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 medium onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 carrot, grated
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons fresh ground pepper
2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or pork lard
1/4 cup cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup tepid water
In a large pot, heat oil or lard over low heat. Add onions and cook until soft, at least 10 minutes, mixing to keep from charring. Add garlic and carrot and cook another 4 to 5 minutes.
Add green chiles and mix thoroughly. Simmer another 10 minutes, lowering heat if onions start to darken.
Add stock and bring to a low boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer at least 30 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend all ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you don't have an immersion blender, transfer to a standing blender in batches and return to pot.
Reduce heat to simmer. As simmer sets in, stir in cornstarch slurry. Salt and pepper to taste.
Red Chile
18 to 20 dried red chiles
1 small onion, fine diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 roasted red pepper, fine diced
1 tomato halved, optional
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup tepid water
2 tablespoons olive or grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon butter
Rehydrate the chiles by bringing a medium pot, half filled with water, to a boil. Remove water from heat, immerse dried chiles in the hot water and cover for at least 10 minutes.
If using tomato, heat a cast-iron skillet over high flame. Place halved tomato, cut-side down. Sear for five minutes, then flip the tomato. Cover skillet and turn off flame. Let roast until ready for next step.
Heat butter and oil in a skillet over medium fire. Transfer onions to skillet and sweat 10 minutes on low heat. Add garlic and continue another 5 to 10 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn't burn.
In a blender, add onions, roasted red pepper, tomato, garlic, rehydrated peppers and a little of the liquid from the steeping chiles. Puree into smooth sauce.
Transfer sauce to a pot and combine with stock over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to simmer. As simmer sets in, stir in cornstarch slurry. Salt and pepper to taste.
Source: Dave Cathey
From New Mexico to new Mexican Radio
A Good Egg Dining’s Mexican Radio will be reborn on Monday in its new home in Midtown. It closed in March, leaving a space that Aurora has since filled.
Mexican Radio’s new home was previously home to a Louie’s Bar & Grill. AGE owners Keith and Heather Paul were in the new house on Saturday. Previously a full-service operation, Mexican Radio now features a front counter. Orders are made there and seating is open season, but it’s ample. Counter space overlook a patio with plenty of shade. The main dining room has a communal seating and plenty of two- and four-tops.
The menu is mostly unchanged, but I never came across the Brisket Papas. Before you reach for the sheet-pan nachos, give this monstrous McDonald’s-style hash brown slathered in queso, and topped with brisket and pico de gallo a try.
Mexican Radio opens for lunch Monday.