Read Ebook: New Mexico Magazine's A Taste of New Mexico Kitchens by Anonymous

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Ebook has 166 lines and 16091 words, and 4 pages

INTRODUCTION

New Mexican cooking is unique to New Mexico. Stacked enchiladas topped with an egg and smothered in pungent red sauce, tender sopaipillas, rich and meaty posole stew, green chile, and blue corn tortillas. These dishes have been mainstays of New Mexicans for generations, some remaining classics and some having changed with time, but all retaining their original essence.

FRIJOLES

One would think that a boiled bean is a boiled bean. But it's not that simple, of course. Each cook thinks his or her way is the best--and only--method.

Those who advocate the overnight soak will do it this way: Take 2 cups of dry pinto beans, pick them over, and wash them. Cover with cold water and soak overnight. Drain and rinse well. Put in a large pot with about 8 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of lard. Bring to a boil and simmer gently, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, then test for tenderness. Stir in 2 teaspoons of salt. Depending on how long the beans were soaked and how high your altitude is , you may have to cook the beans for up to another hour, adding more water if needed. Serve beans, broth and all, in bowls. Top with red or green chile salsa.

Most people do it this way: Pick over the 2 cups of dry pinto beans and wash them. Put beans, 8 cups of water, and 2 tablespoons of lard in a big pot. Some folks like to add 2 cloves of garlic. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 2 hours, 2 1/2 if you are at a high altitude. Stir in 2 teaspoons of salt. Continue cooking, adding water as necessary, until beans are tender. Serve as above.

Another way to cook your pinto beans is in the pressure cooker. Pick over 2 cups of dry pinto beans and wash them. Put beans, 8 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of lard into a large pressure cooker. Bring to a boil and boil gently for 10 minutes without the lid on. Remove from heat, cover, and let the beans stand for about 2 hours, or until an hour before you intend to eat. Add 2 teaspoons salt, cover and bring the pressure up to 15 pounds. Cook for 10 minutes . Allow pressure to drop normally. Serve as above, and think of the energy you've saved.

FRIJOLES

This is the basic bean recipe.

Wash beans well, cover with water and soak overnight. Drain. Put beans, water, garlic and salt pork--but not salt--in a large heavy kettle. Cover tightly, bring to a boil, and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours or until the beans are tender but not mushy. Add boiling water during the cooking if necessary and stir occasionally. When the beans are done, remove lid, turn up heat and cook until all liquid has been absorbed. Add salt to taste.

FRIJOLES REFRITOS

Many people think that beans are at their best on the second day, when they are served as refried beans. Philomena, who has a well-known restaurant of the same name in Los Alamos, recommends this classic method. To 2 tablespoons bacon drippings add 2 cups day-old cooked pinto beans. Use a potato masher for mashing and stirring beans as they fry. When beans are thoroughly hot, add 4 cup grated cheddar or jack cheese. Continue stirring until cheese has melted. Serve hot. Some New Mexicans also like to fry a small minced onion in the fat before adding the beans. Whatever method you use the resulting dish is delicious.

Fry tortillas in oil until soft and drain on paper towels. Heat chile sauce. Layer tortillas on serving plates, topping each with grated cheese and minced onions and sauce. Stack 3 per serving plate and top with cheese and sauce. Put plates in oven to allow cheese to melt. Meanwhile, fry eggs in remaining oil. Top each enchilada stack with a fried egg. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

GREEN CHILE ENCHILADAS

Heat the tortillas on a hot griddle and keep warm under a tea towel. Heat the garlic in the oil, then discard garlic. Blend flour into oil. Stir in green chile sauce and heat thoroughly. If mixture is too thick, add water. Add salt to taste. Layer tortillas with sauce, minced onion and cheese on ovenproof plates. Sprinkle cheese on top. Place in oven to allow cheese to melt. Serves 2. For a real New Mexico touch, place a poached or fried egg on top. The egg has the quality of melding all the flavors.

CHICKEN SOUR CREAM ENCHILADAS

Heat tortillas on a hot griddle and keep warm under a tea towel. Or heat the tortillas in oil and drain well on paper towels. Mix one cup of the chile sauce with the chicken. Put 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture on each tortilla and roll it up. Place in an oblong baking dish. Cover the enchiladas with the grated cheese. Add the onion, if desired, and salt to taste to the remaining chile sauce and pour over the enchiladas. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes. Smother with sour cream and return to oven for 10 minutes, or until everything is hot. Serve immediately. Serves 6.

POSOLE SANDOVAL

Posole is whole hominy, and in New Mexico it is cooked with pork into a thick stew. The first time you taste it, you may be unimpressed. The second time, well, you think that perhaps another helping would go down well. The third time--you're hooked. Like the rest of us, you won't think that Christmas Eve or a feast day of any kind is complete without a big bowl of steaming posole. Richard C. Sandoval, who grew up in Namb?, prepares his holiday posole this way. Richard uses frozen posole, but if you can't find that, perhaps you can find dried posole. Failing that, you might make do with canned hominy, which, of course, won't need to cook as long as the other varieties. But, as Richard points out, it won't taste as good, either!

Rinse posole well. Put posole, oregano, and chile pods in a large pot. Add cold water to about 2 inches above the corn. Heat to a boil and cook for 20 minutes. Add the meat, reduce heat, and simmer for about 3 hours, until meat is cooked and kernels are soft but not mushy. Stir frequently and add water as needed. Salt to taste at end. Serve in bowls and pass the chile sauce. Or use as an accompaniment to a dinner of enchiladas, tamales, frijoles, and chiles rellenos.

THE SHED'S POSOLE STEW

Cook the pork in a pressure cooker, with water to cover, for 20 minutes. Reduce pressure under cold water. Open pot and add posole, lime juice and chile. Add water--about twice as much as the amount of posole. Cook for 45 minutes under pressure. Reduce pressure under cold water. Remove the pork and cut up. Put posole, pork, garlic, oregano and salt in a large, heavy covered pot and simmer for 1 to 3 hours, or until hominy kernels have burst and are soft but not mushy. Serve alone or as a side dish. Freezes well. Note: These times are set for Santa Fe's high altitude. At lower altitudes, where the boiling point is higher, you may wish to try shorter cooking times at first.

POSOLE ORTIZ

Mix all ingredients in a large, heavy pot. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for about 2 1/2 hours or until the kernels are soft but not mushy. Salt to taste. Serves 4.

DELLA'S TACOS

When the meat is ready, warm tortillas on a grill. Place in a bowl and cover with a towel. They'll steam themselves soft. Fold the tortillas in half and stuff with meat. Pin with wooden toothpicks.

Fry the tacos in very hot deep fat for just a minute. Turn over, then remove and drain. Remove toothpicks and stuff with grated longhorn cheese , shredded lettuce and finely chopped tomatoes, in that order. Serve.

CHICOS

Chicos are sweet corn kernels that have been dried and saved for winter. This dish is popular in the Spanish-speaking villages of northern New Mexico.

Wash chicos and soak overnight. Drain and cover with 5 cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about an hour. Meanwhile, cut pork in 1-inch cubes and fry until brown. Drain fat. Stir in a cup or 2 of water . Pour meat, garlic, oregano, washed and crushed chile pods, salt to taste and remaining water in with chicos. Cover and simmer for 2 1/2 hours or until chicos are tender. Serve in soup bowls. Serves 6.

QUELITES

If you have access to wild spinach, that's really what you should use in this recipe. But most people make do with the "tame" kind.

Wash spinach well, chop and steam about 10 minutes or until tender. Saute the onion in shortening, mix in drained spinach, chile and salt, and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Serves 2 to 3.

CHALUPAS EL PARAGUA

Fry the tortilla and place on an ovenproof plate. Spread with refried beans, then chicken, then cheese. Slide under broiler to melt cheese. Quickly cover with guacamole , lettuce, tomato cut in bits, and sour cream. Decorate with black olives and Bermuda or Spanish onion rings. Dust cream with paprika. Serve immediately. Serves 1.

ARROZ CON POLLO

This traditional Spanish recipe is one that Scottie King has adapted and serves often to her delighted guests. As Scottie points out, the dish can be prepared ahead of time, as it improves with standing. This amount serves 4, but the recipe can easily be doubled.

Put chicken in a large pot with boiling water and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes . Meanwhile, mix onions, garlic, and rice. Heat olive oil in a large heavy skillet, add rice mixture, and stir until oil is well mixed in. Cover and fry VERY gently for 10 minutes. Stir frequently and take great care mixture does not brown. Add remaining salt, paprika, pepper, parsley, bay leaf, and saffron to chicken pot. Add such optional seasonings as you like, correct salt if need be, then spread rice mixture over the top of chicken. Cover and simmer gently until rice is soft and chicken is tender when pierced with a fork--from 40 to 60 minutes. Add the pimientos just before serving. Serves 4.

CALABACITAS

This is one of the most popular vegetable dishes in New Mexico and deserves to be better known in the rest of the country. It's delicious!

In a large heavy skillet, saute the onion, garlic and zucchini in oil. Discard the garlic. Mix in drained corn, chopped chiles and salt. Cover tightly and heat through. Mix in cheese and serve. Serves 4.

HUEVOS RANCHEROS

Everyone has a special way of preparing huevos rancheros. This suggestion comes from New Mexico State University.

Heat chile sauce in shallow frying pan. When hot, slip eggs into sauce from small dish or saucer, being careful not to break yolks. Cover and simmer over very low heat until eggs are poached to desired firmness. Serve on warm plates with remaining sauce poured over eggs. Sprinkle with cheese. Serves 2. Use canned sauce or your own mixture. For recipes, see pages 15 and 17.

RED CHILE BURRITOS

From Angie M. Garc?a comes another of her specialties--the beloved burrito.

Mash beans and season with garlic salt to taste. Fry in bacon fat. Heat tortillas on ungreased griddle and cover with towel to keep warm. Spoon hot bean mixture down the center of each tortilla, roll, and place 2 on each serving plate. Pour heated red chile sauce over burritos and top with cheese and onions. Serves 6.

A delectable and cooling "liquid salad" from Spain--with a special New Mexico touch.

Dice half the tomatoes, being careful not to lose any of the juice, half the cucumber, half the onion, half the pepper. Set aside in a large bowl or pitcher. Put the remaining tomatoes, cucumber, pepper and onion into a blender, along with the garlic, olive oil, vinegar, tomato juice, salt to taste and green chile. Blend for a few seconds. Pour into container with chopped vegetables. Mix well, cover and chill thoroughly. Serve with 2 or 3 ice cubes in each bowl. Sprinkle with garlic croutons or serve with hot garlic bread. Serves 6 to 8.

TAMALE PIE

This particular version is the specialty of a young Gallup girl who adapted it from an aunt's recipe.

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