February 2009: Flavors of the Southwest

Flavors of the Southwest

by Melissa Holden & Jennifer Ingersoll

February 28, 2009

NYC

 

Note: These recipes require spices and ingredients
indigenous to the food of the Southwest. All of the
special spices and ingredients used in these recipes were
purchased at Kalustyans in New York City.






Starters:

Rosemary Limeade:
4 cups “simple syrup”
4 cups fresh lime juice
10 cups water
Stir it up and ice it down. Makes about one
gallon.
Simple Syrup:
4 cups water
4 cups sugar
1 stem fresh rosemary
Combine water and sugar in saucepan. Bring to
a boil, stirring as sugar dissolves. Boil
undisturbed and uncovered for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat, add rosemary, and let
mixture steep, covered, for 1 hour.


Candied Chile Pecans:

¼ cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons Kahlua or espresso
1 tablespoon Chimayo chile powder
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups pecan halves

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all
ingredients in a small mixing bowl and spread
on greased baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes, stir
nuts, and return to oven a few minutes more,
until fragrant.


Desert Sage Flatbread:
3 cups warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
6 cups flour
1 ¼ cups cornmeal
½ cup bran
¼ cup olive oil plus more for drizzling over top
1 tablespoon salt plus coarse salt for sprinkling on top
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing
bowl combine the water, yeast, and sugar and let
bubble for 10 minutes.
2. Add flour, cornmeal, bran, oil, salt, and sage to
yeast mixture. Mix slowly, as it can get messy.
Machine-knead for 5 minutes, or knead by hand
until dough is smooth and easy to handle.
3. Place dough in large, oiled bowl. Turn dough
ball to coat with oil and cover with plastic wrap.
Let rise 30 minutes.
4. Re-knead for a minute, adding additional flour if
necessary to make the dough easier to handle.
Pull dough out onto floured table and form into
6-ounce balls (tennis-ball-sized) for sandwiches,
or 3-ounce balls (golf-ball-sized) for dinner
rolls. Place balls on lined baking sheet and
flatten a bit. Let rise 10 minutes, then flatten
again, spreading dough with fingertips and
poking small holes into surface. Bread should
be flat and round, like a hamburger bun.
Drizzle more olive oil over tops of formed
flatbread and sprinkle them with coarse salt.
For an extra zing add chile flakes or grated
Parmesan. The poked holes will collect the
sprinkled goodies for a lovely pocket of flavor.
5. Bake flatbread 25 to 35 minutes until golden and
fragrant.


Brown Sugar Blue Cornbread:

2 ½ cups blue cornmeal
1 ¾ cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 eggs
½ cup melted butter or oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 ½ cups milk

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Warm a 10” cast-
iron skillet in oven for 10 minutes while you
assemble the batter.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour,
brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir in eggs,
melted butter, and milk. Batter will be thick.
3. Remove heated skillet from oven, add 1
tablespoon butter, and swirl it around to coat
surface. Pour batter into buttered skillet,
spreading it around evenly. Return skillet to
oven and bake 45 minutes, till sides of
cornbread pulls away from skillet.

Delicious additions:
2 cups grated cheese
3 tablespoons minced jalapenos
1 cup diced red peppers
1 cup roasted corn
½ cup chopped green chiles

Jicama and Red Pepper Haystacks:
1 small jicama (about 1 pound)
2 red bell peppers (cucumber or melon could be an
alternative or addition)
juice and zest of 2 limes
juice of 1 orange
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced very fine, or ½
teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
salt to taste
Peel jicama and cut into matchsticks. Remove
seeds and membranes from red bell peppers and
cut into smaller matchsticks. Toss everything
together and adjust lime and salt to taste.
Refrigerate salad until thoroughly chilled or
serve right away.

Backbone Salad:




-Romaine hearts, torn into small pieces
-garden spring mix
-jicama, sliced into matchstick-sized bits
-toasted pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds)
-super-sweet dehydrated corn
-sliced fresh fruit: strawberries, cherries, plums,
raspberries, peaches, pears or apricots
Honey-Chile Dressing:
½ cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup honey
¾ teaspoon ground star anise
¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Chimayo red chile powder
¼ teaspoon salt 1 cup canola oil
Combine all ingredients except oil in a blender.
With machine running, slowly drizzle in oil.
Whirl a minute to combine. This dressing will
keep for 10 days.



Jalapeño and Avocado Cream Soup:


8 jalapeno peppers, stemmed and seeded
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup finely diced sweet yellow onion
5 cloves minced garlic
8 cups heavy cream
2 cups chopped roasted tomatoes (canned fire-roasted
tomatoes will work well)
1 cup diced Haas avocado
sea salt and pepper to taste
1 small bunch cilantro, stemmed and chopped

1. Mince jalapenos, taking care not to get the chile
oils all over your hands.
2. Melt butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot.
Cook finely diced onion and minced jalapenos
together in butter over low heat for about 5
minutes, stirring frequently to avoid any
scorching. Add minced garlic and continue
cooking until onion is translucent and
beginning to brown, 20 minutes more.
3. Turn heat to low and add the cream, tomatoes,
and avocado. Carefully bring soup to a simmer
over low heat. Cook it at a gentle simmer for 30
minutes. Stir often to keep soup from sticking.
4. Add generous amounts of salt. Add a good
amount of cracked black pepper and most of the
cilantro leaves. Garnish the bowls of soup with
more cilantro leaves.


Roasted Poblano Cream
Pasta Sauce:



1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon salt
½ cup white wine
4 roasted poblano chiles, peeled and seeded
2 garlic cloves
4 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1. In a wide shallow skillet, cook onion and 1
tablespoon salt on medium-low heat, shaking
pan occasionally. When onion softens and there
are brown bits stuck to pan, pour in wine to
loosen bits.
2. Add roasted red or green chile and garlic cloves
and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Add heavy cream, 2 tablespoons salt, and
pepper. Bring to a slow, lazy simmer with small
bubbles around the outer edge of pan. Cook for
40 minutes, reducing volume by one-third.
4. Blend in food processor or with a hand-held
immersion blender until the mixture is smooth.

Serve over fettuccine or linguine. Can be
topped with strips of grilled chicken and
crumbles of goat cheese.


Green Chile Corn Tamales:

1 pound softened butter
5-pound bag prepared masa or 8 cups dry masa harina,
plus 4 cups water to moisten into dough
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 ears corn, roasted under broiler or on grill until golden,
then scraped off the cob
2 cups green chiles, roasted, peeled, and chopped
corn husks (hojas)
1 pound pepper jack cheese, cut into logs ½ x3”

1. Soak cornhusks in warm water until soft,
rinse thoroughly.
2. Beat butter about 3 minutes, till light in
color. Add wet masa, baking powder, and
salt to butter and beat 20 minutes. When it
is ready, a chunk of masa dropped in a glass
of water will float. Beat in the corn and
chiles.
3. Open husk flat on the table with wide end
toward you. Spred husk with about 2
tablespoons masa, lay cheese down the
middle, fold sides in, then bring the top end
toward you. A pretty touch: tear extra
cornhusk into strips and tie one loosely
around the tamale to hold the top flap down.
4. Steam the tamales by placing them standing
on end, open end up, on a rack in a large
steamer or pressure cooker. Steam for 45
minutes or pressure cook for 20 minutes at
15 pounds of pressure.
5. Let tamales rest 15 minutes before digging
in. Top with pure red chile sauce. (See Red
Chile Sauce recipe).


Red Chile Sauce:

10 to 15 dried red chile pods (stems broken off, seeds
dumped out)
6 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
reserved water from the chile soaking pot

1. In a pot, cover pods with water and bring almost
to a boil. Turn off heat, stir, and steep 10
minutes.
2. In a blender, combine chile pods, spices, and
chile water, filing blender to the halfway mark
with liquid. Blend on medium-high for 5
minutes.

Christmas Posole:




1 pound posole corn (dried, lime treated),
rinsed, plus 10 cups water
2 pounds pork shoulder plus 8 cups water
1 onion cut in half, studded with 6 whole cloves
2 stalks celery
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon dried or 2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tablespoon peppercorns
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 onion, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
2 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano or marjoram
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
4 cloves garlic, minced
red chile sauce (see recipe)

1. Place posole corn and 10 cups water in a large
stewing pot. Bring to a boil on high heat.
2. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 4 to 5 hours,
till posole “pops” open, stirring every half hour.
Add more water if necessary.
3. In a large stockpot, combine pork, 8 cups water,
halved, studded onion, celery stalks, cloves of
garlic, thyme, peppercorns, and red pepper
flakes. Cook on medium heat for 3 hours,
covered, with lid ajar. Add more water as
needed to keep meat immersed.
4. Meat is ready when it flakes apart easily.
Remove pork from stockpot to a large bowl.
Strain pork broth into the posole corn stewing
pot, combining the two. Set to low simmer.
When cool enough to handle, flake the meat in
large chunks and add to the stew pot.
5. In a 10” cast-iron skillet, fry onion and celery in
oil until soft. Add salt, Mexican oregano,
cumin, coriander, and garlic and cook 1 minute.
6. Add red chile sauce, stir, and cook 3 minutes.
7. Pour the skillet of red chile into stew pot.
Combine all the ingredients and let simmer 2
hours. Adjust salt to taste.

Serve posole with tortillas or cornbread. You can also
top with grated cheese, fresh cilantro, sour
cream, avocado, or lime wedges.

Chocolate Chile Cream Pots:



6 large egg yolks
9 ounces good-quality sweet chocolate
2 ounces good-quality unsweetened chocolate
2 cups heavy cream
½ cup half & half
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons powdered hot Chimayo chile

1. Whip egg yolks thoroughly in a blender.
Set aside. Carefully heat chocolate, cream,
and half & half together in a heavy-bottomed
pot, stirring constantly until chocolate is
completely melted and bubbling and
mixture is a very even consistency and color.
Add salt and chile powder and let simmer a
minute more.
2. Pour the very hot chocolate mixture into a
whirling blender of egg yolks and blend
until thick and completely smooth. If for
any reason the custard doesn’t thicken up
properly, pour into a heavy-bottomed
saucepan and cook it on very low heat. It
may temporarily break, but another quick
go in the blender will fix the problem.
3. While chocolate is still hot, pour it into
dessert cups. Chill cups for 1 hour.

Whipped Cream Garnish:
2 cups heavy cream
¼ cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Start whipping the cream on slow to give powdered
sugar a chance to incorporate. Bring speed to medium
for a few minutes, until cream resembles fluffy clouds.


Take Home Gift:

Steak Rub:
4 tablespoons pasilla negro powder
2 tablespoons guajillo powder
1 ½ tablespoons Chimayo powder
2 ½ tablespoons coriander powder
2 tablespoons cumin powder
2 tablespoons turbinado or white sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons mustard powder
2 teaspoons black pepper
½ teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano