Green Chiles

I'm still on break from blogging bit the wedding planning has slowed down somewhat. I have most of my vendors booked. Now we just have to wait until it gets closer to finalize everything else. I'm still quite busy at work but last weekend I actually didn't work so I drove out to west Denver and bought some green chiles. (I made it just in time because green chile season is nearing an end.)

I bought two bushels. I usually buy a few at a time during green chile season and when they’re out of season, I usually cook with poblanos, jalapenos or anaheims. I bought a pork loin the other day and decided to cook it with chiles. I had a few anaheims in the fridge so I roasted them in a cast iron skillet.

I thought they tasted fine but not as flavorful as when I make it with green chiles. I even added a roasted jalapeno. (This last batch of jalapenos I roasted was extremely hot.) I then came across an ad for the chili guys. I live in Colorado. Green chile is roasted at Whole Food and about every farmers market. Why am I not buying it by the bushel? Folks from out of state have it mailed to them at outrageous prices. I decided it was time to make the trek and pick up some green chiles.

I guess I didn’t realize how much I was committing to when I said two bushels. I justified my purchase of two bushels for $25 with the fact that without the coupon, a bushel started at $23 for some of the varieties. With the coupon I could choose two bushels of any variety.

I had the chiles roasted for me. Some people prefer to take them home and do their own roasting but I didn't feel like watching over a barbecue grill. Plus chile vendors have a really cool roaster designed especially for roasting chiles. One the drive home, the chiles steam in the bag and are ready to peel shortly after you get home. Wait a little bit since they get pretty hot. Remember to invest in some plastic gloves. I never keep plastic gloves around the house but I remember seeing a few pairs in my cake decorating kit.

I asked for a mild chile. I said maybe Big Jims. (Honestly Big Jims are the only variety I am familiar with.) The nice man suggested the Hatch Mediums. I also saw Hatch Milds but they only had about half a bushel left so I went ahead with the Hatch Mediums. The varieties were arranged from mildest to hottest. The Hatch Mediums were only one variety away from the mildest. It looks like most people opt for the extra spicy varieties such as the Sandia.

I’m not sure what exact variety he sold me because I don’t believe Hatch Medium is a variety. Hatch is the name of the region most green chiles are grown in. The mediums are probably a mix of NuMex Joe E. Parker, NuMex 6-4, and NuMex Big Jims because I noticed the chiles in the batch were slightly different shapes and sizes. The shop also had the Dynamite variety that is locally grown in Brighton, Colorado. I’m not sure if the Dynamite variety is mild or hot.

I am a wimp when it comes to spiciness. I love the flavor but I hate the heat. That’s why I love poblanos so much. I know they are consistently mild without any surprises. As I was peeling and seeding the chiles, I noticed a few in the batch were extra spicy. You can tell when a chile is spicy when you cut into it and starts to burn your eyes and nostrils. As I cleaned those, I made sure I removed all seeds and membranes and rinsed out the capsaicin really well.

Some people prefer to simply freeze the peppers as is but I don’t like having to wait for my chiles to thaw so that I can peel and seed them. Plus leaving the seeds in, allows for the capsaicin to penetrate the flesh of the chiles, making them spicier. I don’t mind some skin so I peel as much off as possible but leave the stubborn pieces on. I don’t like the seeds mainly because of the heat so I remove as much as possible along with the membranes. I don’t go too crazy about removing everything because with two bushels, I could be working all day. I finished two bushels in about three hours. After processing, I lost about a third of the volume. I didn’t take the time to pre-chop the chiles. Chopping is pretty easy to do right before adding to a recipe.

I bagged them up and froze them flat. (I should have used smaller bags.) I just pulled out a bag today to add to the crock pot salsa chicken I'm making tomorrow. I also took a chile out and sliced it into thirds lengthwise to use in the three breakfast burritos I will be eating for breakfast this week.

The burritos were inspired by an Einstein Bros. breakfast wrap called the Spicy Elmo but I opted to use turkey sausage instead of bacon and I skipped the cream cheese. I cooked up three eggs, topped them with shredded cheese and then heated up some precooked turkey breakfast sausage, put them on top of the eggs and then heated the green chiles to remove the excess moisture and put that on top. The filling is in one glass snapware container. In the morning, all I have to do is grab a multi-grain wrap and fill it with a third of the filling and heat in the microwave at work. I made enough for three breakfasts this week. I really like doing make ahead breakfasts because sometimes I get tired of eating Greek yogurt all the time.

Yes, that's a crock pot int he picture. I told the bf that I will probably be working late the next few months so either he does the cooking or we get a crock pot.

The roasted chiles were placed in this bag. It started leaking in the trunk.

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Taco Shop Shredded Chicken Filling

San Diego taco shops usually have at least two different chicken burritos on their menus: a shredded chicken burrito and a grilled chicken burrito. The grilled chicken or pollo asado is usually seasoned diced chicken; grilled on a flat top and stuffed inside a ginormous flour tortilla with pico de gallo and guacamole while the regular chicken burrito is simply filled with stewed and shredded chicken. I enjoy both versions but I find the shredded chicken easier to replicate at home than the pollo asado. 

Growing up in San Diego, these taco shops have a special place in my heart.  They are unique to San Diego.  The style is very different from Mexican restaurants found in other parts of the country.  I think it is a regional development due to San Diego's proximity to Tijuana (TJ). Where else can you find carne asada fries?  Most of the shops are independently owned (with a few chains thrown into the mix) but they taste very similar. (Of course there are standouts but you can pretty much walk into any taco shop in San Diego and walk out pretty happy.) 

Looking for a great taco shop in San Diego? Below are a few of my favorites.

JV’s in Linda Vista/Morena: 1112 Morena Boulevard http://www.jvsmexicanfood.com/menu.htm
El Cuervo in Hillcrest: 110 West Washington Street
El Cotixan in Clairemont: 4676 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard

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Chicken Posole

I'm only posting pictures tonight. I was almost done typing up the recipe when Word froze on me. I suppose it's fair since I'm running Microsoft Office on a Mac. I'm surprised Outlook works so well on my phone, considering it is an Apple product, when my sister had a hell of a time getting Google Apps to work on her iphone. (Her work uses Google.)

I had to do a Command+Option+Escape and although it did auto recover my documents, it didn't save the recipe I just typed up. When I'm working up a new recipe, I usually will sit down and write the ingredients down on a piece of paper. I will then write the amounts I use and notes on my method as I cook. I have the "recipe" scribbled on a piece of paper. I just need to type it up.

**Edit** 1/19/2010
I finally got around to retyping the recipe after that catastrophic Microsoft crash.

Chicken Posole

1 3 to 4 pound chicken (cut up) or bone in thighs, breasts or drumsticks
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 pound frozen posole, rinsed well
8-15 dried chiles (New Mexico or Guajillos), stems and seed removed
½ teaspoon Mexican oregano
½ teaspoon cumin
salt
pepper

Typical Garnishes:
Sliced cabbage
Sliced radishes
Cilantro
Sliced green onions
Diced avocados
Cheese
Lime wedges
Reserved chile puree

1. Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add chicken pieces and brown. If using skinless chicken, coat the bottom of dutch oven with oil or lard before browning.

2. Add onions and garlic and cook a few minutes until onions are translucent. Add bay leaves. Cover with water, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer about an hour or until chicken is cooked. (Breasts will take less time than thighs and drums.)

3. Meanwhile, bring rinsed posole and water to a boil and cook 1 to 2 hours, or until soft. Strain and set aside.

4. Toast chiles under broiler. (Be very careful because it literally takes seconds. Some people like to toast them in a cast iron skillet but I find the broiler easier.) Once chiles are toasted, place them in a saucepan and cover with water. Cover pan with lid and simmer about 20 minutes. Leave the lid on and allow the chiles to cool. Once chiles are cool enough, pour chiles and liquid in a blender and puree. Strain the puree to remove seeds and skins. Set aside.

5. Once chicken is cooked, remove from broth, allow to cool and shred. Set shredded chicken aside. Strain the broth to remove onions and garlic. (This step is not necessary and most people leave the onions and garlic but I felt like removing them. Sometimes I will puree the onions and garlic with the chiles but I wanted a pure chile puree.)

6. Bring strained broth back to a boil; add cooked posole and shredded chicken. Season with Mexican oregano, cumin, salt and pepper. Add about half to three quarters of the chile puree, depending on the level of spiciness you desire. Save the rest of the puree to add when serving.

7. Garnish with toppings.

Dried chiles from my two potted Big Jim plants.

Rinse and boil the posole.

Toast, boil, puree and strain chiles.

Remove cooked chicken and then strain broth. Return strained broth to a boil and then add shredded chicken, cooked posole and half of the chile puree. (I wasn't sure how spicy my chiles were so I only added half. I ended adding more chile puree to my bowl because the puree was pretty mild.)


Garnish and eat. I only garnished with cabbage, cilantro and green onions. I don't like radishes and I wasn't interested in the other topping options.

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Red Chile Pork Tamales

The bf starts to talk about his grandma’s tamales during this time of year. He is not going to visit his grandparents this Christmas so I decided to make some tamales for him. This is not his grandmother’s recipe. I told him to get her recipe while he was in Illinois last year. He ate the tamales and forgot about the recipe.

So I’m winging it. How hard can it be? A few days before making the tamales, we made a trip to Rancho Liborio Market and grabbed the ingredients. What do I need? Corn husks? Check. Masa? I bought the kind for tamales. They also had already fresh masa for tamales but I bought the dried stuff instead. Chiles? I have New Mexicos in my pantry but I wanted to use a different chile. I bought guajillos and anchos. I wasn’t sure which one I wanted to use but ended up using the guajillos. Lard? I have some of the hydrogenated stuff at home but I wanted the fresh stuff. I wandered to the meat sections and found manteca fresca sold in clear plastic tubs. The lard was very liquid-y and was not exactly white in color.

I started cooking the pork on Saturday, while making the cranberry sauce and cream puffs that I was taking to a Hannukah party in the evening. I finished the tamales on Sunday. We are celebrating the holidays from around the world. Saturday was a Jewish Hannukah celebration and Sunday a Mexican tamale tradition. Too bad I won’t be around to help my friend do an Italian Seven Fishes Christmas Eve dinner. I will be in San Diego and we are having my family’s holiday tradition: Dungeness crab.

Tamales take a lot of work but they are not that difficult. My version is a little more time intensive than the bf's grandmother's version. I think the wrapping is what takes the most time consuming part. My version is pretty darn good. The chicken green chile version is next on the list.

Red Chile Pork Tamales
Yield: 3 dozen (I made double but posting the halved recipe.)

Day 1:

Cook the Pork:

1 tablespoon oil or lard
4 pounds pork shoulder
3 cloves garlic
salt
2 bay leaves
black pepper
water, to cover

1. Cut the pork shoulder into 3-4 pieces. Heat a large sauté pan or dutch oven, add oil and when oil is hot, add pork and sear all sides.
2. Add the garlic, salt, bay leaves, peppercorns and water and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cover. Cook three hours or until meat falls off bones. Strain and reserve cooking liquid.
3. Shred pork and set aside.
(I actually cooked the pork, left it in the cooking liquid and refrigerated it. The next day, I slightly heated it until it de-gelatinized.)

Make Red Chile Sauce for the Filling (I made mine on the second day but it can be made on the first. I ran out of time because I was making cream puffs and had to leave the house to help a friend fry latkes.)

1 1/2 oz whole dried chiles, stems and seeds removed
1 tablespoon lard
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
boiling water to cover chiles
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
½ tablet Ibarra Mexican chocolate
salt
pepper

1. Toast chiles in oven about 1- 2 minutes. Don’t let chiles burn.
2. Heat a large sauté pan, add lard and then add onion and garlic. Saute until onions are translucent.
3. Add toasted chiles and cover with water.
4. Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, cover and simmer about 15 minutes or until chiles are soft.
5. Blend the chiles with onions, garlic and simmering liquid until liquefied.
6. Return to sauté pan, add shredded pork and chocolate and season with cumin, Mexican oregano, salt and pepper. Cook until liquid is absorbed.

Day 2:
Start by soaking the cornhusks in hot water and weighing them down with something heavy. The lid from a cast iron dutch oven works well.

Masa:
1 cup lard
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
4 cups masa
3-4 cups warm pork broth

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip lard with baking powder, salt, and ancho chile powder.
2. Add masa, one cup at a time, mixing after each addition.
3. Continue to mix while slowly, adding broth until you reach the consistency of soft cookie dough. Mix for another ten minutes. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Assemble Tamales:

1. Drain and pat dry the rehydrated husks.
2. Clear off a workspace and gather your husks, masa and filling.
3. Spread a thin layer of masa on husk.
4. Spoon some filling down the middle.
5. Wrap and fold the husk.
6. Steam about one hour.

Tamales waiting to be steamed:

And the finished tamales...and the empty wrappers

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Chicken Enchildas in Red Chile Sauce

For many years I used the vile McCormick chili powder for a lot of my cooking. It wasn’t until I made mole for the first time that I learned how to use whole dried chile pods. Whole dried chiles have so much more flavor than chili powder.

My friend Eliah taught me how to make enchiladas. Her recipe utilized canned enchilada sauce . She recommended El Pato. The enchiladas were awesome even with the canned sauce. (Not everything has to be homemade.) It wasn’t until culinary school when my friend Phil said, “enchilada sauce is basically tomato sauce and chile powder” that I a light bulb went on inside my head. I can make my own enchilada sauce. If you read the label of the sauce, you will see that the ingredients are basically tomato sauce, chile powder, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin and a few other spices.

I set out to make my own sauce using toasted dried chiles. The first batch turned out better than any canned sauce I have ever tasted. Over the years I have refined the “recipe.” I use the broth from poaching the shredded chicken to intensify the flavor and the last time I made it, I decided to add a little bit of Mexican chocolate. I love the flavor of chiles and chocolate. This sauce took on a more mole characteristic but I would never dream of calling it mole sauce because mole is much more involved.

I realize that the tomato-based red enchilada sauce is the Americanized version and that authentic sauce is made with just chiles and thickened with a roux but I can’t help it. I like the tomato-based sauce.

Chicken Enchiladas in Red Chile Sauce
For shredded chicken filling
A:
5 chicken breasts
4 cups water
3 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half
½ medium onion, diced
1 bay leaf
salt
pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1 jalapeno, seeds removed and diced

B:
onion powder
ancho chile, ground
salt
pepper

For enchilada sauce
C:
6-8 dried red chiles, stems and seeds removed
2 tablespoons oil
½ onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 ½ cups of reserved chicken broth
2 15-ounce cans of tomato sauce or puree
salt
pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon Mexican oregano
½ Ibarra Mexican chocolate tablet

For assembling
D:
oil
corn tortillas
cheese
1 can sliced black olives

1. Combine all ingredients from set A and poach chicken until cooked. Transfer chicken breasts to a bowl and refrigerate. Reduce broth to about 2 cups.

2. Toast dried red chiles in oven or cast iron skillet. Set aside.

3. Heat a large sauté pan, add oil and then add onions and garlic. Cook until translucent and then add cumin and toast until fragrant. Add toasted chiles and then add about 1 ½ cups reduced chicken broth and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer. Make sure chiles are submerged. You may need to weigh it down.



4. After the chiles have been simmering about 15 minutes, add Mexican oregano, sugar and Mexican chocolate. Simmer about 5 minutes more until chocolate is melted. Let sit and allow to cool a while.

5. Shred and season chicken with ingredients set B.

Use really a high quality ground chile. I get mine from a local spice shop here in Denver.

6. Puree in blender until smooth. Return sauce to pan and adjust seasoning and consistency. (Add more broth if too thick or simmer a while longer if too thin.)


7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

8. In a medium skillet, heat about a teaspoon of oil and fry each tortilla and fill with chicken and cheese. Roll each enchilada and place in baking dish. Repeat until all enchiladas are filled. Top with sauce, cheese and sliced black olives.

9. Bake in preheated oven about 30 minutes or until bubbly.


Out of all the readily available Mexican chocolates, I prefer the Ibarra brand. I cannot stand the Abuelita brand made by Nestle. If you can get your hands on the real stuff...use it to make Mexican hot chocolate. The Ibarra brand works fine for this recipe. A friend once brought me an assortment of the real stuff from Mexico. I used it for hot chocolate.

I used New Mexico chiles this time. I prefer anchos but in Denver, New Mexico chiles are a lot easier to find than any other type of chile. I didn't want to drive to the hispanic store so I used what I had. The popular brand is from a Colorado chile company. They label these chiles as Chile de Ristra. It is a little misleading since a ristra refers to the hanging chile arrangement. Many different types of chiles (and even garlic) are arranged this way to dry. New Mexico chiles are a popular chile used for ristras in the New Mexico/Colorado region.

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Chicken Green Chile Stew August 2009

I made this earlier in the week but was too tired (lazy) to post. I had green chiles in the fridge that I bought the week before from Sunflower Market. This was their first shipment of green chiles this season. I read that the chile growers in Hatch had an awesome harvest this year so the green chiles started showing up a few weeks earlier. The green chiles will also be shipped to other parts of the country that usually do not receive green chile shipments.

Since it wasn't the height of green chile season, the roaster in front of the store did not continually roast them. You can get roasted chiles but you had to wait. I was in a rush so I took the chiles home unroasted. (I usually roast my own poblanos and jalapenos during the off season.)

I won't repost the recipe because I base it off my regular recipe with minor adjustments. Sometimes I will use fresh tomatoes and other times I will use canned. I use fresh tomatillos when I can find them but chile verde works just as well. I will vary the meat. I sometimes will cook a whole piece of pork loin or butt but cubed pork or chicken works. I am a little careful with chicken breast because I don't like to over cook it or it will dry out. This time I used a mix of thighs and bone-in breasts. I slightly undercooked both, pulled them out and shredded the chicken before returning it to the pot.

The one thing that I never sub are the chiles. I don't use canned chiles. The chiles have to be freshly roasted or frozen freshly roasted. Chile season is not very long so I rely on frozen green chiles. I, however, always add a few freshly roasted poblanos and jalapenos or serranos. Poblanos, serranos and jalapenos can be found fresh all year round.

I start with a mix of three types of peppers (hatch, poblanos and jalapenos). I use mostly hatch but add two poblanos and one very large jalapeno. The mix of chiles adds to the complexity of flavors.

Roast the green chiles and place them in a large container with a cover.

Wait about half an hour and the chiles should be cool and the skins should come off easily. Use gloves or your hands will hate you.

Make a slit down the chile. Remove the tops and under running water, slip off the skin and remove the seeds.

Should look like this.

Same chile but from the outside.

Dice them up.

Chile looks like this before adding the corn and cilantro.

Here is the finished stew. I like adding potatoes and corn for a heartier stew. I omit the potatoes and corn when I want to use it as a sauce for enchiladas or breakfast burritos. This time I used chicken thighs and shredded the meat before adding it back into the stew.

Ladle into a bowl and top with some shredded cheese and serve with a tortilla.

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Shredded Pollo Asado Chicken: aka Costco Chicken

I love Costco (maybe not as much as my mom). My mom loved Costco so much that when they changed from accepting Discover to American Express, she also changed from Discover to American Express. She said she wanted to make sure she was able to pay for all of her Costco purchases. Many of our Costco purchases were well over $500. My mom likes to carry cash but even she sometimes did not have enough cash to cover the purchase.

Why was our bill so high? My mom purchased almost everything (except for the Asian food) for a family of five Costco. She purchased toothbrushes, toilet paper, mayonnaise, peanut butter, Eucerin lotion, frozen Foster Farms chicken corn dogs…the list goes on and on. I, of course do not spend as much as Costco but it is still a very dangerous place. I walk in with the intention of buying tortillas and end up with a set of down pillows.

On one of my trips to Costco I decided to buy the Ojai Cook Carne Asada Marinade. I’ve been eyeing this marinade for a while because they had it on demo and it was delicious.

2 pounds chicken tenders (also purchased at Costco)
2 cups of Ojai carne asada marinade
1 onion, sliced
oil
2 stalks green onions sliced
tortillas

Directions:

1. Rinse chicken tenders and pat dry. Marinate the chicken in marinade for a few hours or over night.
2. In a sauté pan or large skillet, heat a little oil and sauté onions until soft. Add the chicken tenders and sauce and cook through.
3. Shred the chicken. (I shredded it in the pan). Top with green onions and serve with tortillas. This makes great a great filling for tacos, burritos and enchiladas. I served with tortillas, Mexican rice and beans.

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