Category Archives: Peppers

Roasted Cream of Poblano Soup

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This soup was inspired by one I saw on JustaPinch, but I changed it quite a bit, and well it seems my own!

It’s got a deep flavor, and is mouth hot, but doesn’t burn, and doesn’t multiply as you sip it. Perfect for winter eating. Or perhaps cold in the summer?

It’s a bit labor intensive, but only a little. (roasting the chiles). But the rest goes fast.

You can substitute chiles of course, but as I said, this was plenty spicy with the featured chiles, so be careful, unless you really like the heat.

Hope you enjoy it.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 5 lg poblano chiles
  • 2 lg potatoes, peeled and chopped roughly
  • 1 med. onion, chopped roughly
  • 4-6 cloves garlic, smashed
  • 2 tbsp cilantro, roughly chopped
  • 2 c beef stock
  • 1 c water
  • 2/3 c cream
  • cotija cheese, crumbled for topping

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Place the chiles under the broiler and char, and then turn over and do the other side. Remove to a paper bag and fold up until fairly cooled. Peel off the skins and remove seeds and stems and then chop roughly and place in a soup pot.
  2. Add all the other veggies up to the cream to the pot.
  3. Simmer for 1 – 1 1/2 hours.
  4. With a strainer, remove the solids to a blender or food processor and puree. Return to the soup pot, and simmer another 30 minutes.
  5. Let sit until 30 minutes before ready to eat. Add the cream and heat gently.
  6. Place the crumbled cotija cheese on the table for sprinkling on.

Serves: 6

** lovely with a salad and nice crusty bread.

 

 

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New Mexican Red Chile Sauce

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It’s not that I’m a stickler for “authenticity” or anything. But I figure you should have some notion of the real deal before messin’ with the recipe.

This may or may not be your cup of tea. This is very Mexican. It ain’t no Tex-Mex.

It’s not as hot as you might expect, rather it’s mouth warming, rather than burning.

You can substitute chiles here. There are a host of different dried varieties and so do experiment. Check your heat levels and try this out. It can be a bit harsh, so feel free to soften with a bit of honey.

I’m told that traditional enchilada sauces don’t contain any tomatoes. But several of the “authentic” recipes I located included small amounts. I think it does help to soften the taste a bit.  Try making 1/3 recipes until you find the right combo of chiles you like.

I have found another enchilada sauce that I like much better than this one. Feel free to try this, but I recommend Final Destination Enchilada Sauce as a replacement.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 20 ancho chiles, dried, seeded. These are poblanos and fairly tame. Use also New Mexican chiles, and guajillos.
  • 1 small onion diced roughly
  • 2-6 cloves of garlic, smashed
  • 1-2 tsp oregano (Mexican if you can get it)
  • 1 tsp cumin (ground if using seeds)
  • salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Place all the veggies into a large cast iron skillet and warm until you start to smell them. Don’t burn. (I did this and it definitely makes the sauce much harsher). You just want to toast things.
  2. Place 6 cups of water into a large sauce pan and when it gets warm, add the veggies, and bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer for 15 minutes.
  3. When it is done, get the old blender out, or food processor. Filling the container only 1/2 full, working in batches, pureeing the contents of the sauce pan. Puree each time for 2 minutes! Then transfer to a bowl, until all is done.
  4. Either put through a sieve, or food mill if necessary to remove any skins if your blender doesn’t whirr them up completely.
  5. Add the herbs and then simmer the sauce for 15 more minutes.

Serves: 3-4 cups.

We found that you don’t want to pour a lot of this on your enchilada or burritos. Best to ladle it at the table. We did flour tortillas, refried beans, ground meat seasoned with “taco seasonings” (salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic and salt powder, cumin and oregano) and then ladled a couple of tablespoons down over it, and wrapped it. I then did cotija mexican cheese and avocado slices. We found them very tasty, although we thought the sauce was harsh on its own. I plan to play with this sauce over time, especially with other chiles.

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Tex-Mex Jalapeno Poppers

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Oh boy. We made some of these today for our dinner with T-bones and potato salad. They were excellent.

These can be hot!

The recipe is simple, you can literally make any number you want.

They are a great little appetizer, but keep the milk at hand if you don’t like a lot of heat. Make sure to try to remove all the seeds and the membranes to cool them off a lot.

This recipe come from Flower Elliot at JustAPinch.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Jalapeños
  • cream cheese
  • bacon

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Cut a “T” at the top and down the center of each jalapeño. (lay them on the table and however they lay flat, use the top as where to cut them open. They will then lay nicely cut side up in the baking pan)
  2. Remove all seeds and membranes as best you can, being careful not to break the pepper apart.
  3. Fill each with cream cheese, and then wrap each with one slice bacon.
  4. Place in baking pan (I put them on a rack so they wouldn’t sit in the bacon grease), cut side up.
  5. Bake until done at 400°.  I found that 40 minutes was enough, but just test with a knife tip to see if the pepper is cooked through.

Serves: I would say 2 to a person.

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