A warm green chile salsa

There are many ways to make salsas and sauces, green chile style. And if you're not an adventurous cook, remember that you can't go wrong. Well, you can if you add too many jalapeños! After all, you don't want it so hot that you can't enjoy it.

I saw the original version of this sauce on an episode of "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" where he took on a mom and her son in Tucson. I've made the sauce several times since, realizing each time it does come out a bit differently based on the taste and heat of the vegetables. 

I freeze this sauce in smaller portions and take it out periodically to use on top of eggs, as an enchilada sauce, in a cup of beans, or yesterday- drizzled on top of a pork spinach loaf. It gave the loaf an extra zing. Finally, this batch I made on Sunday used leftover tomatoes from the garden  and jalapeños. We all know how sometimes we end up with a too many garden pickings and this is a good way to enjoy them.

Tomatoes (three or four large, more if smaller)

3 jalapeños (again, depending on size– I used quite a few in the batch in the photo)

4 garlic cloves peeled

4 fresh green chilies (not roasted)

vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped into small pieces

4 more garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

Salt, as needed

Place the tomatoes, jalapeños, first round of garlic cloves, and green chilies a large dutch oven filled with water. Bring the pot to a boil and let it simmer, covered, for an hour.

Using a heat resistant blender jar (like a Ninja which is more accommodating to hot ingredients), puree the entire contents from the pot. You may need to do this two separate times to include it all. Use a heat resistant bowl to hold the sauce if you need to do it in two separate servings.

While the sauce is in the blender, sauté the onion and garlic in the same dutch oven. When the onions glisten, add the puree back to the pot and bring to a boil. Add salt as needed and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.

Serve hot or cold.

Green Chile Sauce

I love chile, especially the green. And quite honestly I can't remember life without it. The year and a half I lived in Illinois when I made visits back to New Mexico, I'd stock up on enough to keep me happy until I could visit again.

The green chile sauce is perfect for a variety of dishes. Some people use it on eggs (or on huevos rancheros), enchiladas, or as a topping to steak or pork. Next week I'll share the recipe for making an enchilada casserole but this time around it's how to create the sauce. This is my version of the  one from Bueno Foods:

Either one frozen 13 oz. container of chopped green chile or about 12 roasted, peeled, and chopped green chiles

2 tsp. vegetable oil

2 tsp. flour

2 cups water

1 clove or 1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. salt, if desired (I don't salt most things I make because so much already has salt in it)

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan (one that has a lid). Add the flour and make a roux that will thicken the sauce. Add the green chile, water, garlic, and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer covered on low for about 12 minutes. It will continue to thicken as you let it cool.  

A New Mexico Tradition: Roasting Green Chile

While I am a summer person, I also love fall. And I especially love fall in New Mexico. It's about hot air balloons and the smell of green chile roasting in the air. The Hatch (a town in Southern New Mexico known for its chile) crop came in early this year which means we're enjoying it a few weeks earlier than usual but, believe me, no one is complaining.

And if you live away from New Mexico, the state has done a good job promoting green chile and it's now available (not just in a can– that should only be your very last resort because it doesn't taste the same!) in grocery stores around the country. When I moved back to Illinois a few years ago for a short period of time, I found it at Whole Foods but my guess is that it's even more widely available that it used to be.

But to use it for dishes like enchiladas (recipe coming soon), chile rellenos (see last year's directions here), or simply to top on your eggs, you need to spend a little time roasting it. The added benefit is the smell. 

Roasting simply means placing the chiles on the grill and burning the skins so that they separate from the meat inside. After watching many men spend too much time flipping things on the grill, I'm more apt to walk away and let things cook without my intervention. I try to turn them only once. Remove them from the grill when the skins are mostly blackened (my photos should help you gauge that).

If you plan to use the chiles right away, you can place them in a towel to continue to separate the skin before running them under water to rub off the skin and the seeds. Then chop them into pieces and add to your dish.

Or if you want to freeze them and save them for later (which is what we do here because we have easy access to the chiles), place them in serving size plastic bags and freeze until you need them. You'll run them under water to remove the skin and seeds then. 

As we go through a fall of green chile recipes up next week: breakfast burritos.

The Red Chile Egg Pancake

Over twenty years ago when I moved to New Mexico, I had no idea how the food would influence my life. I had grown up on fairly bland food because my father liked it that way. My mom was constantly sneaking onions into things and, later, adding red pepper on top of everything, especially pizza. But moving to Albuquerque introduced to me to a whole new type of cuisine: New Mexican food. 

The food here is very unique, a blend of Mexican and Native American influences, addicting everyone to red and green chile. It took me some time to figure out recipes that are my own but I would be remiss if I didn't say that they are influenced by both the food I've had here and my own cooking experiences.

I've been making my own red chile, recently using the dried pods. It's easy today to get the dried pods or the frozen puree no matter where you live. And it's not a lot of work to make the sauce (just remember to keep the blender lid on tight– I once ended up turning my white kitchen red) and it's cheaper to buy the pods. Bueno Foods is just one of several web sites where you can buy chile. The recipe I use to make my sauce is also from Bueno.

Here is the recipe to make what you see in the photo. Trust me, it's even better than it looks.

Serves 2

4 potatoes diced, skin on

2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

salt and pepper

2 eggs whisked slightly

colby longhorn or other cheese that melts well

red chile sauce (see linked recipe for amount– what you see there gives you leftovers put on other dishes)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover cookie sheet or other shallow pan with non-stick cooking spray. Mix potatoes with oil, salt, and pepper and then spread of cookie sheet. Bake for approximately an hour (depending on your oven and how crispy you like the potatoes– I tend to like mine more crispy). 

When the potatoes are finished, cover a non-stick frying pan with cooking spray and heat on medium. Drop the eggs into the frying pan and when they have bubbles on top (like a pancake would), flip the egg pancake with a spatula. 

In the meantime, cover a plate with the potatoes and add the egg pancake when it's ready. Then top with the red chile sauce and cheese. Heat in the microwave until the cheese is melted (should be less than a minute).

If you can't get red or green chile, use salsa instead.