In New Mexico, we don’t care where you live. We don’t care what you do for a living. And we definitely don’t care what you got up to last weekend when you said you were ‘cleaning the garage’.
What do we care about? It’s simple. One question and one question only is on the lips of any self-respecting New Mexican: red or green? All we care about is chile. We eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Folks round here are divided into two camps – those who favor red chile and those who swear by green.
Scratch that – three camps. There are some chile lovers who simply can’t make up their minds. They love them both so that’s what we give them – red and green, or as we like to call it, Christmas.
For the Christmas lovers out there, we’ve got a Christmas Caesar salad. There is green chile in the salad dressing and red chile on the crispy croutons. And as if that’s not enough, we use two different red chiles. Over the top? Yep, so sue us. Cayenne or chile de arbol, gives heat, while New Mexico or chile molido adds a kinder, gentler warmth.
It’s salad so it’s good for you so go ahead and look smug, we don’t mind. Add some whole anchovies and halved hard boiled egg if you like and here’s a secret – we pick up the leaves and eat them with our fingers. Forget cutlery. We’re heathens but you know you love us.
Bon appetit!
Serves 2 as a lunch salad
For the dressing:
½ tsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 ½ tsp whipping cream
¼- ½ tsp Green Jalapeño Chile Powder
For the salad:
1 large head of baby Romaine, about 8 oz., washed and dried
8-large shavings of parmesan (you can do this with a vegetable peeler)
Anchovy fillets in oil, optional
Hard boiled eggs, optional
For the croutons:
6 slices of baguette
2-2 ½ Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced to a pulp
New Mexico Red Chile/Chile Molido powder
Chile de Arbol/Cayenne chile powder
Combine all of the ingredients for the salad dressing. Whisk them like your life depended on it. Taste, season with salt, add some more chile – you know the drill. Set the dressing aside.
To make the croutons, mix the bashed garlic with the olive oil and brush over the baguette slices. Sprinkle each slice with a bit of chile de arbol and chile molido. Place the slices on a baking pan and broil for a minute or two until crisp.
While the bread is in the oven, make haste. Divide the leaves between two plates and do the same with the shaved parmesan. Add the halved hard boiled eggs and whole anchovies, if using.
Remove the pan from the oven, divide the slices between the two plates and drizzle over the dressing. Eat and be careful not to drip any dressing on that new linen shirt. Honestly, you can dress ‘em up but you can’t take ‘em out.
You’ve got to love a minimalist – that individual who honestly thinks that less is more. They love paring down their possessions to one set of underwear, some black pants and a white t-shirt. They talk about ‘freedom’ from possessions and how liberating it all is.
And when it comes to cooking we’re not shy of an ingredient or ten. Take our green chile blue cornbread mix. It is the bee’s knees on its own. It’s so good that all you need to add is water or milk and some eggs and you’re done. But, if you’re in a OTT mood, it’s just the ticket too. We like to add corn, semi-dried tomatoes, and crumbled goat’s cheese. You could toss in some chopped green onions, toasted pecans or pine nuts, and chopped cilantro too. 
1 x 9.84 oz package of 
There are may things we fear in life at Chile HQ: running out of box sets on a long weekend; unexpected visits from the in-laws; and any mail addressed from the IRS. But one thing we don’t fear is scurvy – that disease that was the plight of pirates and sailors in days of yore (I’ve always wanted to say ‘days of yore’ and now I have). Swollen gums, loose teeth, bulging eyes – hardly going to win any beauty contests.
This time of year, we all hanker for an extra blast of the ole Vitmain C, don’t we? It’s cold, dark and even if our teeth aren’t falling out it feels like everything else is falling apart.
Chile lime drizzle cake
Preheat oven to 175°
Remove the pan(s) and place on a cooling rack and let sit for five minutes. Meanwhile, make the glaze by combining the lime juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the sugar is melted and the glaze warm. Alternatively, you can heat the sugar and juice in a bowl in the microwave for about 50 seconds.
It may sound like a lot but think about it – we LOVE burgers in this country. Heck, we’ve given them May and made it National Burger Month. Think about it – beer, chicken and pasta only get a day each but with burgers we’re doing a ticker tape parade for these guys for a whole month. And May has 31 days in it too…
Green chile & cheese stuffed burgers with chipotle ketchup. 
Chile can be subtle. Chile can be smooth. Chile can be a tease. And frankly, not every dish is up to a Scoville busting, mouth incinerating blast of heat. Take this dish of crab, avocado and mango. It has a hint of heat thanks to some mighty fine 
Green chile & lime crab with avocado & mango salad
They’re gone. Close the door, draw the curtains and unplug the phone. Find a comfortable chair/couch/bed and collapse. You did it: you survived the holidays. Let’s admit it – it wasn’t always easy. Tensions flared. Family annoyed. Perhaps the odd bit of food burned (clever how you scraped that off and tossed it to the dog). But you did it. You’re still standing although a shadow of your former self.
New Year’s is about fresh beginnings and bright new starts. It’s about things that wake up your taste buds and get you ready for the new year. Our recommendation? Blinis served with a dollop of chile crème with an even bigger dollop of caviar or salmon. If you can splurge for the good stuff then by all means do but to be honest, the jars of salmon roe you find at the grocery store will do nicely.
Blinis with caviar and chile crème
This recipe looks long but only because I’ve given rather lengthy instructions on cutting up the butternut squash. The basic idea is that you want the squash pieces roughly the same size so they’re done at the same time. I peel butternut squash but you don’t need to – the outer skin is edible or you can remove after cooking. The choice is yours.
Place all the squash onto a baking sheet and toss with the olive oil and a generous sprinkle of sea salt.
Place the roasted butternut squash on a serving platter. Drizzle with the sauce and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds, Green chile caribe and the grated lime zest. Serve hot or at room temperature with any remaining sauce on the side.
It’s official. Autumn is here. Gone are the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. Heck, they’re barely a distant memory. Stretching before us are shorter days, longer nights and a definite nip in the air.
Of course at Chile HQ, we prefer to serve something more refined to our guests, game on or not. Something that whispers elegance, sophistication and drop-that-last-one-cuz-it’s-mine. Voila! Our Spicy Chicken Fingers. Now as anyone knows, chicken don’t have fingers. Thank heavens as the idea of chickens with ten digits and a pinky ring is simply too weird for words.
Spicy Chicken Fingers with Salsa Santa Fe
The Chile Trail 