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:

Grated cheese
Sliced spring onions
Cilantro
Sour cream
Guacamole
Tortilla chips
Chopped red and yellow peppers

Chile Chorizo Bean Stew

Posted on January 17, 2013 by loschileros

Snow… Children, skiers and cute arctic animals love it. Me? Well after about the first foot or two I lose interest. It’s not that I don’t think it looks nice; it just makes getting from point A to point B a hassle.

But every cloud has a silver lining, saith the Pollyanna of Santa Fe, and so it is with snow. I was thrilled to find a website that calculates how many calories you burn per hour shoveling snow. I promptly filled in the requested fields. Weight? 160 lbs. Height? 72” Age? 40. Before you get excited, these aren’t my stats – I’m far taller, slimmer and younger than that, but I’d thought they’d do.

Anyway, it turns out you can burn 363 calories an hour shoveling snow. They didn’t mention if this includes the hot chocolate, bathroom, and check the e-mail breaks, but I’m sure it must.

So after all that shoveling, you deserve a hearty meal…something substantial to ward off the winter chill. And I have just the thing. It’s my Chile Chorizo Bean Stew. It was inspired by one of my favorite food writers of all time, Claudia Roden. Not only are her recipes magnificent but her writing is also sublime. This one comes from her book Arabesque, A Taste of Morocco, Turkey & Lebanon. I’ve added chorizo and tomatoes and of course, chile.

A note on chorizo: it’s a term that’s used for both a fresh and a cured pork product. For this recipe, you want fresh or cooking chorizo. I’ve used a Spanish chorizo that is made with pimenton paprika. But if you can’t find fresh chorizo, don’t sweat it – you can use any great quality sausage or kielbasa for this recipe.

Chile Chorizo Bean Stew

The real star here (besides the chile!) is the onion. You need to cook them nice and slowly so they caramelize. They give a hint of sweetness to the dish that is fantastic.

2-3 Servings

1 large onion, thinly sliced
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
½ tsp Chile Molido Powder or more to taste
12 oz. fresh or cooking chorizo (about 5-6 links) or regular sausage
½ tsp Chipotle Chile Powder or more to taste
1-14.5 oz. can peeled plum tomatoes
1-14.5 oz. can butter beans or other beans such as garbanzo beans
2 large handfuls of baby spinach (about 5 oz), washed and drained

Fry the onions slowly in the olive oil in a pan with the lid on. Stir the onions frequently until they are nice browned and caramelized. Add the Chile Molido powder and stir to coat.

While the onions are cooking, slice the chorizo into bite-sized chunks – about 3 slices per link. Cook the slices in a frying pan until they are nicely browned on both sides. Drain off the fat then add the Chipotle Chile Powder and stir to coat. Add the sausages to the onion mixture. Add the plum tomatoes (breaking the tomatoes up with your fingers) and the juice. Drain the beans and add to the stew. Stir in the spinach and cook until just wilted. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Wanted. Used school bus.

Posted on October 6, 2012 by loschileros

Willing to travel for the right one. Promise a new life of fun and adventure.

If we’d written a want ad, that’s what it would have said. But who needs an ad when there’s eBay? So when we got this mad idea that Los Chileros de Nuevo Mexico, our chile and Southwestern food company, needed a school bus (note: needed not merely wanted) we hit the world’s favorite second hand shop.

And we came up with a recently retired yellow school bus in Branson, Missouri. Chuck – the shark – handled bidding and we got it. We flew out and drove back. Let’s just say that miles-per-gallon is not the best-selling-feature of our bus.

A little paint (okay, a lot) and a new-look interior and voila – the Los Chileros bus was ready to hit the trail. We’ve gotten some eye rolls and strange looks (could there be some bus envy going on?) but you know what? It always gets noticed.

Which is how we feel about chile. Chile takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary. The ho-hum becomes hee-hee. It adds some spice – literally – to life. Not convinced? Try our Chile Roasted Potatoes and see how the humble spud gets a new lease on life with a healthy dash of chile. Then keep your eye out for our bus. Who knows…we might be coming to your town.

CHILE ROASTED POTATOES

Serves 6-8, with the slight possibility of leftovers

2 pounds new potatoes, skin on
5-6 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt
1-2 tsp Los Chileros Organic New Mexico Red Chile Powder
8 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 bay leaf

Preheat oven to 400°F. If the potatoes are small, leave whole. If a bit larger cut into halves or quarters. Toss them in a baking dish with the olive oil and the other ingredients. Roast for about 30-40 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Check for seasoning (you can add more salt and chile powder if you want). Remove the bay leaf. Place the potatoes and garlic cloves in a serving dish. Let your lucky guests remove the garlic from its skin and enjoy with the chile potatoes.