Grocery Shopping in New Mexico

Piloncillo

We lived in Las Cruces for a year in the late 1990s. When we first shopped at the local grocery stores after moving there from New Hampshire, we were pretty amazed at the differences we found. We liked those differences, mind you, because we could really tell that we had moved, not only to a different part of the country, but a different part of the world. We definitely had a whole new culture to learn about.

Here are some of the products--some familiar, some very unfamiliar--we found in our local grocery store:

Large, strange-looking unwrapped cones of brown stuff in the produce section that we eventually learned was a kind of Mexican brown sugar called piloncillo.

Really large containers--buckets, actually--of old-fashioned lard, used in refried beans, tamales, and more. They say that the flavor it gives is wonderful and not found in any substitute.

Big slabs of tripe, used to make menudo, a traditional fiery soup that is thought to be the best hangover remedy.

Each grocery store had its own tortilleria, where fresh flour and corn tortillas were made. We were always able to buy fresh, warm tortillas.

Canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce. We had a recipe calling for these and embarrassed ourselves by asking the clerk for "chip-O-tel" chiles. He probably thought we were from Texas. The actual pronunciation is chee-POHT-lay.

Big bags of bulk dried red chiles, in more varieties than we had ever seen

Strings of dried red chiles (ristras)

Large containers of frozen green chiles

And Velveeta. We were amazed to find Velveeta cheese boxes stacked in the aisles by the pallet-load. I had grown up thinking that Velveeta was something found in the refrigerated aisle, but the boxes didn't sit around long enough in these stores to spoil, if that is even possible with such a fake food product.

Why so much Velveeta? More about that tomorrow.

At Last! New Mexico's Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail

If you live in New Mexico, you have probably debated one of our big questions: Who has the best green chile cheeseburger in the state? If you don't live here, you will want to plan your next vacation around New Mexico.org's Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail--map and guide "coming soon."

You see, they can't make up the map until they've stopped adding newly nominated restaurants around the state. Here is the current list of nominees.

Just to get your taste buds in gear, here is the description of our state's favorite burger from the New Mexico.org website: A juicy thick patty grilled over an open flame or sizzled on a griddle, then blanketed in molten Cheddar or other cheese, and topped off with enough New Mexican green chile to tingle the tastebuds—what could be more glorious?

Don't forget to vote!

Indian Fry Bread: Low-Fat Version

The August 2009 issue of New Mexico Magazine has a great article on Indian tacos, including this low-fat version of Indian "Fry" Bread which is made without frying.

I've made these a couple of times now and they are an absolutely delicious substitute for flour tortillas. Just fold them up with some cheese, taco meat, tomatoes, lettuce, and salsa inside and you have yourself a meal.

Please check out the whole article (Indian Summer Celebration), which includes frying directions, just in case you want to try the more authentic and higher calorie version of this Southwestern classic.

3 cups unbleached flour

1 - 1/2 tbl. baking powder

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

1 - 1/8 cups warm water

Mix ingredients together, knead well for 4 or 5 minutes, adding flour as needed. You should end up with a soft and pliable dough which is no longer sticky. Cover and let rise for 1/2 an hour.

Shape the dough into 8 small balls. Roll out to 1/4" thickness, using your hands or a rolling pin, until each piece is 6" to 8" in diameter. Cook on a hot ungreased griddle for about 2-3 minutes per side, or until browned.

Green Chile Cheeseburger

This is my homemade version of this New Mexico favorite, and I thank my sister for the idea of using soy sauce. If you want to skip all the cooking and do a bit of driving instead (see Driving 580 Miles for a Burger on Beez's blog), you could just go to the Owl Cafe in San Antonio, New Mexico for one of the world's best Green Chile Cheeseburgers. Be sure to follow the recommendation in the restaurant review (click on the Owl Cafe link given here) and go up the road afterwards for some homemade fudge for dessert. My family heartily recommends the Chocolate Coconut Fudge.

Ingredients:

Savory Hamburger Buns (made with or without the oregano, marjoram, or basil)--you may substitute store-bought hamburger buns if you must

The best ground round you can get

Soy sauce

Fresh ground black pepper

Fresh green New Mexico chile, peeled, seeded, and chopped (if you are silly enough to live somewhere else than New Mexico, you can order fresh chile from Hatch Chile Express in August of any year, and prepare it like this).

Slices of Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:

Mix the soy sauce and black pepper with the meat. Shape the meat into patties about 1/3 lb. each. Grill over an open fire. When almost done, top with a generous amount of green chile and a slice of cheese. Grill further until the cheese melts.

Lightly toast the split hamburger buns. Assemble the burgers with chopped lettuce, sliced tomato, and a slice of sweet onion, if you wish. Eat them outside on a summer day on a covered patio.

Sopaipillas

When we first traveled to New Mexico, we were served these fluffy fried breads in restaurants all over the state. However, in the south, they were served as dessert with honey on the side, separate from the meal. In the north, they were a part of the meal and we were instructed to eat them with honey whenever our mouths got too hot from the chile we were eating.

This recipe uses yeast, and comes from VivaNewMexico.com. You can find a version that uses baking powder on the same web page.

Sopaipillas De Levadura (Yeast Puffed Bread)

Yield: 4 dozen medium sopaipillas

Total Frying Time: 15-20 minutes

Temperature: Medium-High

Freeze Well

1 package active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

(105°-115°F)

1 1/4 cups scalded milk, cooled

4 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tbl. sugar

1 tbl. shortening

Additional shortening for frying

1. Dissolve yeast in water and add to milk.

2. Combine dry ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl and cut in shortening.

3. Make a well in center of dry ingredients. Add liquid to dry ingredients and work into a dough.

4. Knead dough for 10 minutes, or until smooth; cover, and set aside.

5. Heat 2 inches of shortening in a heavy pan at medium-high heat.

6. Roll dough to a 1/8 ingh thickness on a lightly floured board. Cut dough into 4-inch squares and fry until golden on both sides, turning once. (If the shortening is sufficiently hot, the sopaipillas will puff and become hollow shortly after being placed in the shortening).

7. Drain sopaipillas on absorbent towels.

Serve with honey, either with the meal or after.

You can also dust these with sugar and cinnamon for dessert.

Sunday Grits

This recipe comes from The Green Chile Bible; Award-Winning New Mexico Recipes. It's part of a pig-out weekend New Mexican breakfast.


4 cups boiling water
1 cup grits
1 tsp. salt


1/4 lb. butter, cut into chunks
1 - 4 oz. roll of garlic cheese, cut into chunks (we never have this on hand, so we use Monterey jack cheese instead, and add a shake of garlic powder)


1/2 cup of roasted, peeled, and seeded green chiles, diced
4 eggs, beaten


Add the grits and salt to the boiling water. Cover and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until the mixture becomes thick, stirring occasionally.


Remove pan from heat and stir in the butter and cheese. Return to low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the cheese and butter are melted. Stir in the green chiles; fold in the eggs.


Pour the mixture into a buttered casserole dish. Bake at 400˚ for 20 - 30 minutes, until solid. Serves 8 to 10.

Beef Fajitas

These are made the same way as Chicken Fajitas, but I thought I'd post this separately.

Lean beef steak, cut into thin strips

Freshly squeezed lime juice

A couple of cloves of garlic, put through a garlic press

Olive oil

Sweet onions, sliced thinly

A variety of colored bell peppers, sliced thinly

Marinate the beef strips in the lime juice, garlic, and olive oil for at least an hour.

Stir fry the onions and peppers in a little olive oil until crisp and glossy. Remove from pan. Saute the beef/oil/garlic/lime juice mixture in the pan until the beef is no longer pink. Add the onions and peppers and stir over medium heat until thoroughly heated.

Serve the fajita beef in warm tortillas, along with Rice with Cheese and Onions.

Chicken Fajitas

Boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced in thin strips (Slice while the breast is partially frozen to get the pieces as thin as possible)

Freshly squeezed lime juice

A couple of cloves of garlic, put through a garlic press

Olive oil

Sweet onions, sliced thinly

A variety of colored bell peppers, sliced thinly

Marinate the chicken strips in the lime juice, garlic, and olive oil for at least an hour.

Stir fry the onions and peppers in a little olive oil until crisp and glossy. Remove from pan. Saute the chicken/oil/garlic/lime juice mixture in the pan until the chicken is done. Add the onions and peppers and stir over medium heat until thoroughly heated.

Serve the fajita chicken in warm tortillas, along with Rice with Cheese and Onions.

Recipe variation: Beef Fajitas

Marsha's Southwestern Succotash

I crave Marsha's Succotash often and I think it needs to be shared with as many people possible, so I ripped it straight out of Marsha's old blog Panda Cake. I wanted to include her own words, because I think it's important to understand how her version of this recipe evolved. And it should CONTINUE to evolve as other people make it too. That's just the type of recipe it is! In fact, the next time I make it, I plan on trying it with shelled edamame or lima beans and maybe adding some spice to the meat. Who knows? Marsha writes:

Tonight...I made a dish that my mom used to make all the time when I was little and that my sister has recently resurrected...I've changed it up a little from my mom's recipe and from Sarah's recipe. Sarah uses too much garlic powder and doesn't like spicy. I can't comprehend not liking spicy. Spicy takes food to a whole new painful and exhilarating level. But what I like best about Sarah's version is that she garnishes it with diced avocado and tomato and douses it with even more lime juice. The Martinez girls like their citrus. Just look at our enamel!

--1 lb Lean Ground Beef
--1/2 Yellow Onion, diced
--1 Zucchini, diced
--1 can Sweet Corn, drained
--2 Serrano Chiles, diced
--The juice of half a Lime
--Salt and Pepper
--2 tbsp Olive Oil
--Half an Avocado, diced
--Half a Tomato, diced

In a medium skillet cook the ground beef just until all the pink is gone. Drain the excess oil and set aside. In a large sauce pan heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the onions and serrano chiles. Cook for about a minute or so or until the onions begin to get tender. Add the zucchini and cover pot with a lid and let cook for about 2 minutes or until zucchini is just tender. Add corn and cooked ground beef and cook until corn is hot. Add salt and pepper to your liking and douse it all with the lime juice. Garnish with avacado and tomato.

Meg's Red Chile Sauce

I'll leave it up to my mom to talk about the many uses for chile sauces. I can only pretend to be knowledgeable about New Mexico cooking.

This recipe was handwritten for Marsha (a Santa Fe native) by her mother Maria Elena (Meg). Marsha says that she can't quite make it right, though it always tasted great to me. I just don't think anything can ever taste as good as the memory of a mom's cooking.

--3 tbsp red chile powder*
--1 tbsp wheat or oat flour
--3 tbsp olive oil
--Water
--Salt
--Garlic powder

Heat olive oil in a small saucepan on low heat. Add chile powder** and flour. Mix thoroughly "until cooked aroma is reached" (about one to one-and-a-half minutes). Slowly add water until the sauce reaches whatever consistancy you desire. Add salt and garlic powder to your taste. Simmer for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool to desired temperature.

*Use REAL red chile powder, something freshly ground. Mom? A little help?
** When cooking with hot peppers, be careful not to breathe in the fumes. I would recommend wearing a mask. And don't touch your eyes!

Christmas Eve Dishes in New Mexico

I am certainly no expert on New Mexican cooking, although we love buying fresh, warm tortillas at the local tortilleria; and we wouldn't miss getting our big bags of freshly roasted, locally grown green chiles every fall at the Farmer's Market. Right now, the grocery stores are featuring displays of pork shoulders, dried red chiles, and posole corn--a hint to me that I had better start learning how to make a big pot of posole.

To give you an idea of Christmas cooking here, the best thing I can do is to send you to this article by Nancy Gerlach on the Fiery-Foods.com website. It includes recipes for Green Chile Tortilla Pinwheels, Chile de Arbol Salad, Posole (Pork and Posole Corn), Red Chile Sauce, and Biscochitos (Anise-Flavored Cookies). There is also a discussion of the origin of farolitos, or luminarias--different areas of the state call them by different names--the little candles in paper bags that line walkways and roof lines at Christmas.

I was a little surprised that the Fiery-Foods article didn't give a recipe for tamales, because as this piece from Texas Cooking tells us, "It's Not Christmas Without Tamales." Remember, they call this area Little Texas, so I guess it's okay for us to reach across the border for some Texan recipes, too.

Green Salsa

1 lb. tomatillos with husks removed, rinsed, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
3 tbl. onion, diced
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves
4 serrano or jalapeno chiles, stems removed, coarsely chopped
Salt to taste

Cover tomatillos with a small amount of cold water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes or until they are soft. Place ½ of the tomatillos (do not drain) in blender jar. Add the remaining ingredients except for the salt. Blend until pureed. Pour this mixture back into the pan with the chunky tomatillos, simmer another 10 minutes. Add salt to taste.

This sauce is a beautiful green. It’s good on almost anything—scrambled eggs with some sour cream or yogurt, on tacos, or?

Chiles Rellenos (a low fat version)

Two layers in the casserole; two more to go

Roast 6-8 or more large green chiles (Anaheim type) under the broiler or over an open flame until charred all over. Place in a closed plastic bag or covered Tupperware container for ten minutes or so. You should then be able to peel them easily.

Take off the stem ends and take out seeds and membranes (leave some in if you want—they’re the hot part).

Beat three egg whites until stiff, adding ½ tsp. salt. You can leave out the yolks for a very low fat version, but I stir them up and fold them into the beaten egg whites.

In a greased oblong casserole, place half the egg white mixture, all the chiles, sprinkle with as much cheese as you want, then cover over with the remaining egg whites, spreading them all the way to the edges to seal. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or so until brown.

Refried Beans

1 lb. dried pinto beans (pick through, wash, soak overnight and drain; or bring cleaned beans to a boil in a little cold water to cover, boil one minute, turn off and cover, let soak for an hour, drain). Add one quart salted water, simmer covered for 20-45 minutes—only until just cooked but not mushy.

In the meantime, pan fry ½ lb. chorizo, or sausage, or ground beef, and set aside. Saute 3 cloves chopped garlic, 1 large onion, 1 tsp. cumin seeds.

Drain the cooked beans, save the liquid.

Mash the beans, add them to the meat and the onion mixture.

Add ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, ¼ cup fresh lard (this is optional—you can add butter instead or skip it altogether), 1 cup grated jack cheese, fresh ground pepper to taste. Add a little of the reserved liquid until it’s the consistency you like, simmer while stirring for a few minutes.

For a healthy alternative, see the recipe for Pinto Beans.

Pinto Beans

2 cups dried pinto beans (pick through, wash, soak overnight and drain; or bring cleaned beans to a boil in a little cold water to cover, boil one minute, turn off and cover, let soak for an hour, drain).

Add one quart salted water, 2 cloves of garlic, minced, ½ tsp. black pepper, ½ tsp. cumin, simmer covered for 20-45 minutes—only until just cooked but not mushy.

Green Chile Stew

This is a traditional dish served here in the Southwest, perfect for a cool fall evening.

¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 tbl. dried jalapeno flakes
1 pound lean beef, cut into bite-size pieces
1 pound lean pork, cut into bite-size pieces
2 tbl. olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups beef stock or bouillon
6 cups water
1 tbl. tomato paste (tomato sauce works, too)
3-4 large green chiles (Anaheim, Big Jim, Sandia), roasted, peeled, chopped
4 medium-size potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups yellow corn cut off cob, or frozen niblets
½ tsp. ground oregano
½ tsp. ground cumin
1 tbl. chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
A tiny bit of salt, if needed (taste to be sure)

Mix the flour and dried jalapenos together and place in a plastic bag. Add the cubed meat and shake the bag until the meat is coated with the flour mixture. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot, and sauté the meat and onion together until the meat is lightly browned (be sure to use all of the flour mixture).

Add the garlic, beef stock, and water and cook over medium high heat for 20 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, cover, and simmer over low heat for another 45 minutes or until the meat and potatoes are tender. (I usually thicken it a bit at the end with some cornstarch and water mixed together). The flavor of the stew is even better if you serve it the next day.

Serves 4-6. Best served with Cornbread.

From The Sizzling Southwestern Cookbook: Hot & Zesty, Light & Healthy Chile Cuisine, by Lynn Nusom.

Southwestern Foods on The Zees Go West; An Index

Here are some more food articles, recipes, and links from my other blog, The Zees Go West.

Best Green Chile Cheeseburger
Blue Corn Meal
Chipotle Recipes
Green Chile Recipes
Harvest Time in Clovis
Honey Spreads
Little Fires in Your Mouth (Chocolate-Chipotle Brownies)
More Chile Sweets
Peanuts!
Pinto Beans
Posole
Red Chile
The Search for Local Honey
Which is Best--The Owl or the Buckhorn?
Wineries in New Mexico