Foodie Friends: Maria Elia

Posted on April 11, 2013 by loschileros

It was a quiet start…a tiny operation called Meco & Elia that Maria Elia ran with her partner. Meco handled front of the house (mainly opening the door) while Maria created the menus, took the orders, cooked the food, and presented the bill (cash only).

Not bad when you consider that Maria was six, Meco was Mitzi her half Jack Russell/half Poodle dog and the customers were Maria’s parents. And not surprising that Maria knew she wanted to cook from an early age. She grew up in the restaurant business (her Greek father ran his own restaurant in London) and remembers being four years old and standing on a stool so she could toss potatoes into the rumbler (“It wasn’t exactly health and safety,” she says with a laugh.).

Today, Maria is one of the most exciting chefs and food writers on the scene. She lives in London but has cooked around the world and published two great books (a third is due out in the Fall). What makes her food so exciting is that she takes interesting ingredients and gives them a completely fresh and unexpected twist.

I loved her first book – The Modern Vegetarian – because unlike some veggie books you genuinely don’t miss the meat. The vegetable is the hero and the recipes are amazing. Take miso – a Japanese staple – which goes Greek in her Miso-marinated kataifi-wrapped eggplant. Or how she pairs sweet strawberries with bitter radicchio for her Griddled Radicchio and Strawberry Risotto. The combinations are unusual but they’re not way out – they work.

Maria likes to start with an ingredient – maybe one that evokes a strong memory for her – and then take it on a flavor journey to see where it can go. She often creates a mind map on paper to explore the different connections that a single food can make. In her second book, Full of Flavor: How to Create Like a Chef, she takes 18 different ingredients and spins out lots of different flavor combinations for each one. The results are dazzling.

Chile Roasted Feta and Watermelon Slab

The contrasts in this recipe are wonderful; I love the warmth of the feta and the heat from the chile against the cold sweet watermelon. The dressing is great with white beans, crumbled feta and some lettuce leaves. Or, if you prefer to keep it simple, just use a little lemon-infused olive oil to dress the watermelon. Perfect as an appetizer or light lunch.

Serves 4

4 evenly sized blocks of feta cheese (approximately 2 ½ oz each)
Extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp chile flakes
1 container cilantro sprouts (optional)
1 container shiso sprouts (optional)
1 ½ – 2 oz mizuna or baby salad leaves
3 Tbsp toasted pine nuts (optional)
Raisin and Oregano dressing
4 pieces watermelon, cut into slightly larger rectangles than the feta, each approximately ½” high and chilled
olive oil for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 375°. Cut a large piece of foil and put it on a baking tray. Place each piece of feta on top, drizzle each piece with olive oil and sprinkle with a few chile flakes. Put another piece of foil on top and fold the foil edges together to form a loose parcel. Place in the oven and cook for 8 minutes, by which time the feta will be soft and warm. (You can prepare the feta in advance but if you take it straight from the fridge you will need to double the cooking time.)

Remove from the oven and assemble immediately; snip the cilantro and shiso sprouts (if using) and mix with the baby leaves and pine nuts (if using). Dress with a little of the Raisin and Oregano Dressing and pile neatly on top of the chilled watermelon slabs.

Open the parcel and place the roasted feta on top of the salad leaves. Drizzle with the olive oil and serve immediately.

Raisin oregano dressing

2 oz raisins
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 small shallots, finely chopped
¼ cup Cabernet Sauvignon vinegar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
5 drops of green Tabasco sauce or 3 of red will do
Finely grated zest of approx ¼ of an orange plus 1 Tbsp of juice
¼ cup olive oil
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ Tbsp finely chopped oregano

Soak the raisins in hot water till plump approximately 10 minutes. Drain and place in a bowl. Add remaining ingredients and pulse one-third with a hand blender/liquidize. Mix together stirring in the orange zest and juice and season with a pinch of sea salt

Store in the refrigerator until required.

Gobble, gobble burgers

Posted on April 4, 2013 by loschileros

Turkey burgers? Hmmmm….not so sure. I know, I know. I’m the guy who extolled the virtues of lamb burgers just a couple of weeks ago – but turkey? Here’s the problem. People like to talk about turkey as the “healthy” choice and say things like “replace your hamburger with turkey and you won’t even notice the difference.” It’s like a bait and switch operation where you take one food and try to make it taste like another.

Why can’t turkey just taste like turkey?

The answer is that ground turkey – nice and lean and lower calorie – can be pretty boring. I’ve been messing around with turkey burgers for a while and I know. You start out with this lean meat and you want to keep it moist so you add an egg but then the whole thing looks way too mushy so you add bread crumbs. You make them into patties, fry them up and suddenly you’ve got something that looks and tastes like a shot-put.

So what do you do? I figured out the key is to skip the bread crumbs. You don’t need them. They are not your friend. They make your turkey burgers heavy and dense. The other key is to add lots of seasoning – fresh herbs and chile are a must. Turkey can take it – honest. Now the burger mixture you’re going to get is soft – too soft to form into patties – but that’s okay. You’re going to scoop the mixture onto the hot pan, let it cook through (no medium rare here guys) and then serve it up with some creamy avocado.

I’ve added zucchini to the mixture too. No, this is not my way of sneaking in a vegetable on you. I’ve done it for one reason and one reason only – it tastes great.

Turkey Zuchini Burgers with Chile, Dill & Mint

I’m going to be honest with you. This mixture – pre-cooking – isn’t going to win any beauty contest. It’s a bit goopy but persevere because they taste great. Honest.

Serves 3-4

Turkey burgers
1 lb. ground turkey meat
1 zucchini, coarsely grated
3-4 scallions, finely chopped – about 3 ½ Tbsp
1 medium egg, lightly beaten
1 ½ Tbsp dill, finely chopped
1 ½ Tbsp mint, finely chopped
1 tsp cayenne
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Salt
Olive oil or vegetable oil for frying

Creamy avocado
1 avocado
1 Tbsp dill
1 Tbsp sour cream
Lime juice
Salt

In a large bowl, mix together all the burger ingredients thoroughly but avoid over mixing as it damages the texture of the turkey. Heat a frying pan and coat with a tablespoon or two of oil. When the pan is hot, place spoonfuls of the burger mixture onto the pan (about ¼ cup per burger). When browned, flip and continue cooking until cooked through. If you have time, test a small sample burger first, taste and adjust the chile and salt as needed.

While the burgers are cooking, make the Creamy avocado. In a small bowl, mash the avocado until fairly smooth. Stir in the dill and sour cream and a good squeeze or two of lime juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve on top of or along side the burgers.

Soup’s Up! Spicy Lentil and Frizzled Onions

Posted on March 26, 2013 by loschileros

I have a friend who tells a story. It was in the mid-70’s and she was living in Suburbia, USA. Her family was invited over to friends for dinner. When they asked the hostess what they could bring (“Flowers?” “A bottle of Blue Nun?”), they were told simply to bring a can of soup. So Campbell’s Black Bean soup in tow, they went over for dinner.

The kids were dispatched to the Rec Room to throw darts at the board and each other, while the adults got comfortable in the living room suite as the host uncorked a couple of bottles of Mateus. A few bites of celery piped with Cheez Whiz and dinner was served.

The hostess – in a particularly Stepford Wife-ish moment –proudly lifted the lid on a soup tureen and announced dinner was served – Friendship soup! Every can of soup that had been brought that night – chicken and stars, beef noodle and yes, black bean – had been dumped in a pot, heated up and served with pride.

My friend still wakes sometimes in the middle of the night screaming.

And this is how food nightmares start. I mean, poor soup. It’s not just 70’s travesties like Friendship Soup that give soup a bad name. Soup just sometimes sounds kind of boring, kind of last minute, kind of can’t-be-bothered.

But it shouldn’t be that way. Soup is warm (unless it’s cold) and comforting and kind of like a great dog – it loves you no matter what.

Now this soup is simple. It’s easy and you’ve probably got most/all of the ingredients in your cupboard right now and that’s a good thing. It serves 2-3 but double the recipe and pop the leftovers it in the freezer. But please, whatever you do, don’t mix it with it with chicken and stars.

Spicy Lentil Soup with Smoky Frizzled Onions

Serves 2-3

The secret to this soup is the smoky frizzled onions. You cook them super slowly until they’re nice and soft, then add some chipotle, crank up the heat to caramelize them and give them some color. Plop some on each serving along with a drizzle of sour cream and you’re in heaven.

Soup:
½ red onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ancho chile powder
¼ tsp cayenne powder
¼ tsp chipotle chile powder
1 ½ tsp cumin seeds, roughly ground
8 oz. red lentils, washed and any stones or dirt removed
3-4 cups water or stock
4 Tbsp tomato puree
1 15 oz. can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
Salt to season

Smoky frizzled onions:
1 ½ red onions
2 Tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp chipotle chile powder
Pinch salt

To serve:
Sour Cream
Chopped parsley or cilantro

To make the soup, sauté the onions in the olive oil in a covered saucepan over low heat until they’re soft. Add the spices and cook for a minute or two more until the mixture is aromatic. Add the red lentils and water. Once the lentils are tender, add the tomato puree and black eyed peas and check for seasoning. You can puree the soup or serve as is.

While the soup is cooking, make the frizzled onions. Slice the onions in half and then thinly into half moons. Sauté the onions in the olive oil in a covered saucepan over low heat until they’re soft. Remove the lid, stir in the chipotle chile and salt and increase the heat, stirring often to keep the onions from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning. Continue to cook until they’re nicely caramelized and jammy.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls, drizzle with sour cream or Greek yoghurt and a dollop of the frizzled onions and parsley or cilantro.

Spicy Lamb Burgers

Posted on March 14, 2013 by loschileros

It used to be when you ordered a burger you knew what you were getting: ground beef on a bun, cheese (preferably highly processed and day-glo orange) optional. But things aren’t so simple any more. Now we’ve got buffalo burgers, venison, turkey, elk, salmon, veggie – even kangaroo – all taking on the burger mantle.

Is that a bad thing? Heck no. If some foodie fuddy-duddies want to get all purist about it, then let them. They can argue that the only real burger is a hamburger (funny, don’t remember any ham in a burger…). It doesn’t mean we have to follow suit.

Because the fact is, the alternatives are pretty darn tasty. I’ll talk turkey in a future post but for now let us turn our eyes and mouth to lamb. Lamb makes an awesome burger. It’s got a distinctive taste that handles frying (or grilling) beautifully and marries well with assertive spices. And at the Chile Trail, we love assertive.

You’re spoiled for choice when it comes to seasoning, but for this recipe, we’ve come up with a killer combo of Southwestern meets Middle Eastern. The resulting burgers are moist, full of flavor and disturbingly addictive. We make them small then serve them on a corn tortilla with roasted peppers, arugula and a dollop of hummus. But you know, go crazy – slap it on a flat bread or pita, put it on a bun, crumble some feta cheese on top. At the Chile Trail if it tastes great then it’s never wrong.

Spicy Lamb Burgers

Serves 3-4

I roast my own peppers because it’s so easy and the taste is awesome. I like to use long, mild peppers. Give them a rinse, then slice them into quarters lengthways. Remove the seeds and membrane. Toss in olive oil with some S&P and roast them in a hot oven. If you’re time pressed, go for a jar. I won’t tell.

1 lb. ground lamb
2 scallions, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp ancho chile powder
½ tsp cayenne or more to taste
½ tsp cinnamon
Salt

To accompany:
• Arugula
• Roasted red peppers
• Hummus
• Corn tortillas or flat bread

Grind the spices in a coffee grinder or with a mortar and pestle. Feel free to use already ground spices if you want but the flavor won’t be quite as intense and fresh. Add to the lamb along with the scallions and lemon zest. Mix gently – you don’t want to overwork the lamb. Shape into small patties – about the size of silver dollars.

Heat a frying pan and add the lamb patties being careful not to overcrowd. Cook the patties over medium heat for a few minutes on each side and serve hot with accompaniments.

Sugar and spice (and everything nice)

Posted on March 7, 2013 by loschileros

Desserts are a drag. There, I’ve said it. I’ve finally gotten off my chest what I’ve been thinking for years.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s not eating them that’s the problem (I wish). It’s making them. Most desserts – baked at least – require a level of precision and measuring that gives me a headache. Was that 1 cup of flour or 1-½? Was that baking soda or baking powder? And the problem is that you can’t shrug off your mistakes because in baking it matters. A lot.

So you’re having someone over for dinner. You can buy dessert and either a) try and pass it off as your own (and probably get caught and ritually humiliated), b) give baking a go and risk serving chocolate hockey puck for dessert, or c) make our Poached apricots with chile & pistachio.

What’s so hot about this recipe? First of all it’s delicious. The chile cooks in a sugar syrup with the apricots and becomes soft and chewy – like an adult spicy candy. The pistachios add crunch and the apricots are soft billowy bits of yumminess. The second reason is that it’s incredibly easy. You can do the whole thing the day before, pull out a container of Greek yogurt or vanilla ice cream and you’re done.

Voila! Your guests love you and no headache. Now that’s sweet.

Poached Apricots with Chile & Pistachios

Serves 4 to 6 for dessert

I love the combination of cinnamon and chile but I find cinnamon can be a bit aggressive so I take out the cinnamon stick about halfway through the cooking. That way you get the cinnamon flavor without it overwhelming the dish.

¾ pound dried apricots
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 New Mexico dried red chile
1 cinnamon stick

Greek yoghurt or vanilla ice cream to accompany

Place the apricots in a bowl and cover with water. Let stand for at least one hour but preferably overnight. After they have soaked, drain the apricots and set aside.

In a saucepan, combine the sugar and water and heat on the stove until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cinnamon stick, chile and drained apricots and cook over low heat for about 10-15 minutes, until the apricots are cooked through but not mushy. The sugar and water will have thickened to a nice syrup by this point. About halfway through cooking, taste the syrup and remove the cinnamon stick if desired.

Once the apricots are cooked, remove the pan from the heat and take out the chile. Slice the chile thinly and return to the apricot and sugar syrup mixture. Cool and serve with ice cream or Greek yogurt. Store any leftovers (yeah, right!) in a jar in the refrigerator.

Pancakes 2.0: Blue Corn Chile Cakes with all the toppings!

Posted on February 28, 2013 by loschileros

Pancakes and syrup. It’s one of those classic combinations like burger and fries, peanut butter and jelly and mac ‘n cheese. So what happens when you take away the syrup leaving that poor little ‘ole pancake all on its lonesome?

Hey, who said it had to be lonesome? I mean what is a pancake, anyway? It’s a round cake made from a batter. Make it paper-thin and it’s a crêpe in France. Germany’s got pfannkuchen (literally “pan” and “cake”). Make it with chickpea flour and you’ve got a socca. In the U.S. we’ve got hotcakes, griddlecakes, johnnycakes and flapjacks. And zip over to Russia – as you do – and you’ve got those cute little blinis just crying out for some caviar and a nice cold shot of vodka…but we digress.

The point is that pancakes are like blank canvases – you can put whatever you like on them. Heck, you can go one better – you can put whatever you like in them. And before you get all “but pancakes are for breakfast” just stop. Pancakes are breakfast, lunch and dinner.

And we’ll prove it. Our Blue Corn Chile Cakes are great 24/7. We’ve added grated zucchini and corn kernels to the batter but you could slip in sliced scallions and bits of sautéed shrimp. Try topping them with shredded chicken, salsa and a big dollop of guacamole. You can’t go wrong (okay you can but it’s pretty darn tough). And if you’ve got folks coming over for brunch, this is a natural.

Blue Corn Chile Cakes with Goat’s Cheese & Sun-blushed Tomatoes

Serves 3-4

You can use regular pancake mix for this recipe but you’ll miss out on that amazing blue corn crunch. If you do, you’ll need about 2 cups of batter for the recipe.

1½ cups Los Chileros blue corn waffle and pancake mix
1 tsp chipotle chile
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup coarsely grated zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini)
1 cup corn kernels
¼ cup chopped cilantro or parsley
1-2 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil

To garnish:
crumbled goat’s cheese
sun blushed tomatoes
pine nuts

In a bowl, mix together the pancake mix with the chipotle chile, egg and milk. Fold in the zucchini, corn and cilantro or parsley. Heat a skillet or frying pan and add a tablespoon of the oil. Pour about ¼ cup batter onto the skillet for each pancake. When the surface of the pancake begins to bubble slightly, flip and finish cooking. Keep the pancakes warm. Add more oil as needed and cook the remaining cakes.

Serve hot, topped with the goat’s cheese, sun blushed tomatoes and pine nuts.

A Chile Chicken Salad Ushers in the Year of the Snake

Posted on February 20, 2013 by loschileros

Year of the snake? Gotta say I was hoping for dogs or rabbits—something a bit more cuddly. See, we’ve got loads of snakes here in New Mexico. There’s even a handy guide called New Mexico Snakes Information for New Mexico Homeowners (versus the one for homeowners in New York City, I guess). Turns out there are 46 species of snake in New Mexico but only 8 are poisonous (only?). After I finished the NMSIFNMH (my abbreviation) I did some more research. Turns out that for Chinese New Year, the snake is actually very propitious. It says that in ancient China the belief was that a snake in the house meant no one would ever starve.

So I thought, give the year of the snake a chance. To celebrate Chinese New Year (belatedly) I whipped up a batch of Chinese Chile Chicken Salad. It was inspired by one of the best food writers on Chinese food today. Actually, I’d say the best. Her name is Fuchsia Dunlop – if you like Chinese food, check her out.

She does a great cold chicken dish served with a spicy dressing. I’ve jazzed it up with some chopped almonds, sesame seeds and cucumber but you can do your own riff – toss in some bean sprouts, julienned carrot – go crazy. The real secret – surprise, surprise – is the chile oil. Make your own with chile flakes and all the sudden you’ll be popping it on everything except cereal and dog food.

As for the chicken, I like to poach a whole bird – that way I can get a couple of meals out of it (good in these belt-tightening times plus you can use the poaching liquid to make stock). If that all sounds way too Martha Stewart for you, then use chicken breasts or a store-bought rotisserie chicken.

So a big Chile Trail welcome to the Year of the Snake. I’m sure it’s going to be a good one. And if it’s not, don’t worry. Next year is the Year of the Horse. Yee-haw!

Chile Chinese Chicken Salad

This salad is super crunchy, zesty and flavorful. Add the dressing right before serving so everything stays crisp and fresh.

2-3 servings

Salad

5 cups Napa cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
1 small bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
3-4 scallions, thinly sliced
1” knob of ginger, peeled and julienned
2 cups shredded chicken

Dressing

2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame seed oil
3 Tbsp chile oil, including both the oil & seeds (recipe below)
2 tsp sugar

Chile Oil

1 ½ cups vegetable oil
½ cup Los Chileros Chile Pequin Crushed

Garnish

Julienned cucumber
Sesame seeds
Chopped almonds

If possible, make the chile oil the day before (or even earlier). This allows the oil to cool down and for it to take on more of the chile flavor. The oil will keep very happily in your refrigerator indefinitely as long as the chile flakes are completely covered in oil.

To make the chile oil, heat the oil in a saucepan until it is hot but not simmering. While the oil is warming, place the chile flakes in a clean glass jar (an old jam jar will do). When the oil is hot, remove it from the heat and pour into the jar with the chile flakes. The flakes will sizzle slightly. If the oil is too hot, pour in some room temperature oil to reduce the temperature.

Mix all the salad ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. Mix together all the ingredients for the dressing including the chile oil and pour over the salad. Toss, serve in bowls and garnish with julienned cucumber, sesame seeds and chopped almonds.

Hot Love

Posted on February 12, 2013 by loschileros

It’s official. What’s the first food in Cosmo magazine’s food aphrodisiac list? Yep, you got it – chile. Honest. It trumped chocolate and bananas (no comment). Are we surprised? Not a bit. Chile is – let’s be honest – the food of love. Just think about the tingle your lips get when you eat chile. Need we say more?

And what better time to celebrate the food of love than Valentine’s week? You may love it (excuse the pun) or loathe it but there’s no getting away or around Feb 14. So why fight it? I’m not suggesting you buy a dozen roses with baby’s breath – but food, absolutely.

So let’s scroll down the ‘ole Cosmo list. You’ve got vanilla and chocolate along with the usual suspects like oysters. So we came up with a chile-spiked chocolate cookie with a hint of vanilla for a triple-whammy of aphrodisiac loving-in-the-oven. This is a crinkle cookie, dusted in a chipotle chile sugar mixture. So the word YUM comes to mind.

We’re making no promises but be honest… a chocolate cookie with chile? Who needs a hot date when you’ve got a couple dozen cookies to keep you company?

Chipotle Chile Chocolate Cookies

These are good ‘ole fashioned crinkle cookies but with a hit of chile. What’s not to like? A note on the chile…we made these originally with only ½ tsp of chipotle chile powder but the chile was way too faint so we’ve upped it to 1 tsp but you could go higher. We suggest making the sugar dipping mixture with 1 tsp, taste it (even better test a small batch) and ramp up the chipotle if you like. Another variation would be to add a teaspoon of chipotle to the cookie mixture itself. If you give it a try, let us know what you think.

Makes 3 ½ to 4 dozen cookies

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
½ brown sugar
½ tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1-2 tsp Chipotle chile powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a mixer (or you can use a hand mixer), cream the butter with 1 cup of the granulated sugar and the brown sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl then add the vanilla and eggs and combine thoroughly. Gradually add the flour mixture on low-speed and mix only until just combined.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining ¼ cup granulated sugar, cinnamon (if using) and the chipotle chile. Use a small ice cream scoop or two tablespoons to form the dough into balls. Roll the balls in the sugar/chile mixture and place them on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. The cookies will spread so place the balls a couple of inches apart.

Bake them for 8-10 minutes until they start to crack and the cookie is baked through. Remove from the oven and place the baking sheet on a wire rack. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before placing the cookies on the wire rack to finish cooling.

Chile Roasted Vegetables

Posted on February 6, 2013 by loschileros

Winter is like a dinner party guest who won’t go home. You know the one – he (or is Winter a she?) hangs around after everyone else has gone home, has another glass of wine, and drones on about his kid’s recent tuba recital. It’s not that you don’t like him, you just wish he’d go away. Now.

Let’s face it, we’re ready for Spring and something flashy and fresh. It doesn’t help that we’re told to ‘eat seasonally’ which right about now feels like a diet of acorns and tree bark.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. It simply takes a bit of culinary ingenuity and a lot of chile to snap our taste buds out of the winter doldrums.

So this week we’re sharing two recipes: one with sweet potatoes and another with cauliflower. I can hear the collective groan before I’ve even finished typing ‘flower’. Poor cauliflower suffers from a horrible image, not helped by my grandmother who boiled it to smithereens, slopped it on my plate and lurked over me as I forced down each bite. But it’s not the vegetable’s fault. All it takes is a bit of kindness, a little thought and a really hot oven.

Roasting cauliflower and sweet potatoes– and lots of other winter and root vegetables – brings out a lovely caramelized flavor that wakens the taste buds and puts a spring – excuse the pun – in your step. Both recipes use Chile Molido which is a real work horse in the Chile Trail kitchen. Choose mild or hot and feel free to up the amount of chile.

And relax. Spring is coming. It’s official.

Roasted Cauliflower with a Chile, Honey & Citrus Dressing

4 to 6 servings as a side dish

1 large head of cauliflower, cut into florets
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
Sea salt

Dressing
Juice of one orange, approximately 5 Tbsp
5 Tbsp olive oil (or equivalent to the amount to the juice)
1-2 tsp. Chile Molido (hot or mild, depending on your taste)
1 Tbsp honey
Salt
Chile pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Place the cauliflower onto a baking sheet. Drizzle the olive oil over the cauliflower, season with salt and toss to mix. Roast in the oven until cooked through and slightly browned.

While the cauliflower is roasting, make the dressing. Zest the orange and set the zest aside. Slice the orange in half and squeeze out the juice. Mix the juice with the olive oil, chile and honey. Season with salt.

Drizzle several tablespoons of the dressing over the cauliflower during the last ten minutes or so of cooking. This allows the cauliflower to absorb some of the dressing. Remove from the oven, plate and garnish with chile pepper flakes and the orange zest. Serve with the remaining dressing.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with a Green Tahini Sauce

4 to 6 servings as a side dish

Tahini is a sesame seed paste and is popular in Middle Eastern cooking. You’ll find it in many grocery stores or at health food shops.

1 ¼ lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into rounds
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 tsp. Chile Molido (hot or mild, depending on your taste)
Sea salt

Green tahini sauce
1 small clove garlic
½ cup parsley leaves
1 Tbsp tahini
½ cup Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Place the sliced sweet potatoes onto a baking sheet. Drizzle the olive oil over the sweet potatoes, season with salt and toss to mix. Roast in the oven until cooked through and slightly browned. During the last ten minutes or so, toss with the chile powder, this gives the chile a slightly toasted flavor without the risk of it burning.

While the sweet potatoes are roasting, make the sauce. In the small bowl of a food processor, mix the parsley and garlic together. Add in the remaining ingredients and pulse until well blended. Season with salt and place in a serving dish. Serve alongside the roasted sweet potatoes.

Big Day 3-D: Drinks, Dip and Dinner!

Posted on January 24, 2013 by loschileros

Okay, the Big game is coming up and we mean big with a capital “B”. Millions of Americans will be glued to their TV and we all know that watching sporting events makes you very, very hungry. It’s something about seeing people burning calories that makes you want to ingest as many as humanly possible. (This is currently a theory and hasn’t been scientifically proven…yet.)

So the question is what’s to eat? First things first. You do not – I repeat not – want to be stuck in the kitchen because dollars to donuts you’ll miss the key touchdown/pass/fumble – you get the idea. So do it all ahead. And remember, it’s all about the 3 D’s: Drinks, Dips and Dinner.

Dips and Drinks are easy. We make killer Bloody Mary’s (with or without alcohol) and always – and I mean always – serve Arriba Verde Dip. First the Bloody Mary’s – they’re spicy but not over the top. Garnish with celery, wedges of lime and lemon or slices of red and yellow pepper. If you want to add some more heat, wet the rim of the glass and dust it with some chile powder. Easy peasy.

The Arriba Verde Dip is simple too – mix it with mayo, sour cream or plain yogurt if you prefer. Garnish with sliced spring onions, slivered radish, cilantro or serve it naked. A big honking bowl of tortilla chips and you’re all set.

Now for dinner. Make our Big Game Chili and – here’s the trick – make it the day before. It actually tastes better and all you have to do is heat it up. Serve it with lots of sides so people can dress their chili the way they like it. We’ve got loads of suggestions at the bottom of the recipe.

So eat up!

Big Game Chili

4 to 6 portions

4 Tbsp Vegetable oil
I Onion, diced
2 lbs. Braising beef, cut into 1” chunks
1 packet Los Chileros Santa Fe Chile Seasoning
1 tsp Oregano
2 tsp ground Cumin
2 cups crushed Tomatoes
2 cups Beef stock (or water)
¼ cup Tomato Paste
1 Tbsp. Brown sugar
2-14.5 oz cans of Beans (pinto, kidney, etc.), drained and rinsed
Salt to season

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a casserole or deep frying pan. Sauté the onion until soft and golden. Remove the onion and pour in the remaining oil. Brown the beef in batches. Add back in the onions and stir in the spices and cook over low heat for a few minutes. Add the remaining ingredients except for the beans and simmer over low heat for about 1 ½ hours until the meat is tender. In the last half hour of cooking, add in the beans and check the seasonings.

Serve with bowls of condiments such as: