A Little Taste of The Southwest

Chefs Newest Kitchen

I grew up in New Jersey where the main "international" cuisines were Italian or Chinese, Greek or Jewish. Mexican or Southwest cooking was almost non-existent except for the American simple taco (and it was a boring hard taco with ground beef and a package mix). When I moved to Colorado it was literally an explosion of Mexican/Southwest cuisine here- a little overwhealming to my palate- yet I was intrigued. 

My first forray into the hot world was making my own salsa.  I quickly learned that my hands reacted badly to hot peppers. I have sinced learned to always use gloves or buy a milder canned and roasted pepper to use in my cooking.

In the intervening years I worked at Chefs Retail Store assisting Cooking Classes and I have been exposed to more diverse culinary techniques & cuisines, but because I worked often at night I haven't been actually cooking a lot. Lots of baking which is a passion of mine, but I have been remiss in actually doing a lot of Culinary explorations. So now that Chefs has closed and I'm at home I'm dusting off the recipes I accumulated over 8 years with Chefs and I'm going to explore.

So this Saturday I'm making a very simple dish, but one of my all time favorites from raiding the refrigerator during my break at Chefs. Really a very boring looking dish- that at the time I was glad no one had discovered because I fell in love with them. OK- so I caved eventually and let people know after awhile there was something awesome in that fridge! The Gazette: New Mexican Chef serves up dishes fit for a Cinco de Mayo fiesta

Feisty Pinto Beans

1/2 lb. dried pinto beans (washed & sorted) or 3-4 cans beans (with liquid)

1/4 cup olive or canola oil (I used half this amount of Olive Oil)

1 cup diced onion

1 roasted red pepper, peeled & diced

1 Tbls. chopped garlic

1 tsp. Mexican oregano

1 Tbls. Epazote (see below)

2-3 Tbls. Chopped, pickled jalapenos

1 Tbls. New Mexico red chile powder

1 tsp. Brown sugar

salt to taste

Directions-

1. Cook your beans in a pot with the water covering it by an inch. Boil for 1 1/2 - 2 hours till tender- add more liquid if needed. (Add a dash of Baking soda if you want and a few diced garlic cloves and a healthy dash of Mexican oregano and a dash of salt.

2. Slowly saute the diced onion (add a dash of salt to cut the sweetness) in the oil on real low till golden (20-30 mins)

3.Add the garlic and saute for 30 secs, add the beans and the cooking liquid, the rest of the seasonings, and bring to boil.

4. Reduce the heat to a simmer and allow to simmer for 30 mins.

5. Correct the seasonings.                                                                

                                                                  New Mexico Chili           

                                      

                                                                                  

                                                                

Epazote

I will fess up- I didn't plan this ahead and I just wanted to whip it up today and I had just enough forethought to buy the pinto beans last night so I could soak them all night. So I'm fudging some of these spices and I'm sure I'll get a great result. I did save half of my beans thinking I'll try again after I find the Mexican oregano and Epazote and New Mexico red chile powder.I have a lead on the  Epazote, I found a picture of it in a Penzy's jar, so I'll visit them and see what else they have.

                                                                                                       

                                                                  

So the pinto beans have been soaked overnight (apparently soaking overnight keeps the nutrients in better than quick methods of a hot boil and shorter soak Cooking Beans 101) and I added a pinch of baking soda this morning (for less flatulence) and softer results (Baking Soda Tenderizes Beans).

I covered my beans this morning- added the dash of Baking soda and then I chopped up 2 garlic cloves and added a pinch of Oregano to the water so the beans would have a better taste- a depth of flavor- to them. 

To be continued as I cook this afternoon....

Onto sauteing the onions in Olive Oil for a half an hour till golden. The original recipe calls for lard and I'm a Vegetarian/Pescatarian and even if I wasn't I'd still be loath to put lard in. Up to you Chef Allen Smith insisted in the above article that it was essential for a deep traditional flavor (my arteries will thank me that that will never sway me!). 

So, Chef Allen Smith says: "A recipe might say cook onions 10 minutes or until golden," he said. "Forget about setting a timer for 10 minutes when cooking onions. These onions (which he had already started cooking) have been cooking very slowly in lard for half an hour. Be sure to add salt at the beginning of cooking onions. It cuts the sweetness. And never start cooking garlic with the onions. The garlic will be bitter."

So I have my onions slowly cooking in healthy olive oil and my red peppers are roasting away in the oven....

  

How to Roast Peppers

You know sometimes I can be a ditz! (Please no comments from my kids!) I'm trying to get some knitting done (maybe read that amazing book I'm -trying- to read), do dishes, make tea......and while I'm juggling these pastimes I smell- Oh yeah! That red pepper I put in the oven at a very hot 475 degrees to roast! Yes, did I tell you there's a roasted Red pepper in this recipe and since I don't have a gas stove I needed to resort to the electric oven. So thank God for my nose and here's the link on roasting peppers -while I run to get mine! Roasting Peppers with an Electric Oven (and other methods) Now my peppers are cooling in a bowl covered to produce steam so those skins come off. A paper bag will work as well. And if you're fortunate to have a gas stove- just spear that pepper with a long handles fork, turn on a burner and burn that baby while turning! Then put in a paper bag- my dad's technique and it makes a lovely roasted pepper.

The beans are done and my hubby likes them, but I can tell they're missing a few ingredients. So I'll give it a week or so and try again with as many of the spices I can find. But he's happy with it in a tortilla wrap-

Have a Happy Fiesta!