At Last! New Mexico's Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail

If you live in New Mexico, you have probably debated one of our big questions: Who has the best green chile cheeseburger in the state? If you don't live here, you will want to plan your next vacation around New Mexico.org's Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail--map and guide "coming soon."

You see, they can't make up the map until they've stopped adding newly nominated restaurants around the state. Here is the current list of nominees.

Just to get your taste buds in gear, here is the description of our state's favorite burger from the New Mexico.org website: A juicy thick patty grilled over an open flame or sizzled on a griddle, then blanketed in molten Cheddar or other cheese, and topped off with enough New Mexican green chile to tingle the tastebuds—what could be more glorious?

Don't forget to vote!

More Chile Sweets

Part of being a Zee is that thing that makes me veer from subject to subject, from piñons to politics and back again. If you will recall, a few days ago we were discussing chile sweets and, as promised, here are some links to some that you can buy or make yourself.

There is a recipe for Albuquerque Piñon Red Chile Fudge on Recipezaar, or you can buy some all made by The Candy Lady in Albuquerque. They feature chocolate or vanilla red chile fudge, vanilla jalapeño fudge, and chocolate or vanilla piñon fudges.

Señor Murphy, a candymaker in Santa Fe, offers chile peanut or piñon brittle, chile cream chocolates, red and green chile jellies; and a chile addict basket that includes Red Chile Peanut Brittle, Chile Pistachios, Chile Creams, Red/Green Chile Jelly, Chile Peanuts, and Chile Pistachio Bark. For a wonderful description and some delicious-looking photos, check out what Gil's Thrilling Web Site has to say about Señor Murphy's.

The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Taos makes red chile fudge as well as green and red chile brittle. Their web site is gorgeous, and is probably fattening just to look at.

Check out Sweet Heat and Daring Desserts to find recipes for Piñon Pepper Brittle, Warm Chocolate Pecan Pie, New Mexican Hot Chocolate, and Devilish Mousse, all of which contain either red or green chiles.

I hope you’re still with me, because this last one is terrific. Pepperfool has some incredible recipes. By all means check out the whole web site, but first go to their Desserts page to find recipes ranging from Dave’s Insanity Squares to Jalapeño Milkshakes.

Posole

Photograph from Library of Congress*











Posole defined:

1. Kernels of corn that have been soaked in lime water, hulled, and dried.
2. Hominy and pork stew flavored with red chiles



Posole stew is a New Mexican tradition and can be ordered as a side dish in many New Mexican restaurants. You can order some real NM posole from the resources below, or you may substitute yellow or white canned hominy in the recipes.

Blue Corn Posole recipe, resources, and a wonderful memory about eating posole at San Ildefonso Pueblo

A nice collection of New Mexican Posole Recipes

Posole Recipe courtesy of Comida de Campos farm and cooking school, Embudo, N.M.

Posole recipes from the Santa Fe School of Cooking

Posole Stew, A New Mexico Holiday Tradition

If you have a moment, take time to read this evocative New York Times article--In Pueblo Food, Deep Respect for the Earth, which includes a recipe for posole. They might spell" chile" as “chili” but they know how to make New Mexican food sound delicious.
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*The Library of Congress knows of no restrictions on the publication of this photograph. If you do, please let me know via the comments section on this blog.

Red Chile

Red Chiles Drying (Library of Congress)*
If you travel around New Mexico during harvest time you are bound to see ristras (strings) of red chiles hanging outside to dry in the hot sunshine. Down in Mesilla, south of Las Cruces, we saw them spread out on rooftops and up north in Chimayo they were hanging everywhere.

You can buy fresh green chiles in the summertime and the dried red ones later in the fall. They both come from the same plant—the red ones have just been allowed to ripen longer on the plant before being dried. They have an earthier flavor to me. When I grew my own chiles in Las Cruces, I couldn’t get over how many wonderful chile colors could be found on a single plant—the greens at first, and then as the chiles ripened they ranged through yellow and orange to red.

We make a very simple version of Carne Adovada at our house. We brown pork strips with onions and garlic, then simmer all in red chile sauce (below) until the pork is tender and well done. I know that traditional versions call for a long marinating period, but the kind we make is absolutely delicious.

For some good basics to get you started, see Chile Colorado (Red Chile).

Visit the Focus New Mexico web site for information on both red and green chiles, where to find them in New Mexico, and how to use them. Be sure to check out the rest of the web site, too, for travel information.

For a good Red Chile Sauce Recipe: http://www.pepperfool.com/recipes/southwest/nm_red_sauce.html

*Library of Congress photograph: I do not know of any copyright restrictions associated with this photo. If you do, please notify me via the comments section of this blog.

Blue Corn Meal

Hopi Women Grinding Corn in Arizona*

The December 2007 issue of New Mexico Magazine had an article on blue cornmeal recipes called “Holiday Blues” which was beautifully illustrated with a photo of a blue and white china bowl filled with blue corn atole topped with plump blueberries. Atole is, as they explained, a gruel that is served as a porridge or a drink. They made it sound like such a wonderful cold weather breakfast dish that we went shopping around Clovis for some blue corn meal of our own. We found some at the S & S Supermarket on 2204 N. Main Street. This little market, by the way, was delightful because of its “just right” size—not too big, not too small—and the friendliness of the staff, who even helped unload our cart onto the checkout counter for us.

I couldn’t find the New Mexico Magazine article reprinted online, so you may have to search out a print copy of the issue if you want to read it. In the meantime, the Foodways of the Rio Grande web site has some wonderful photographs and tells us: “…blue corn meal is used in the making of atole, a hot breakfast gruel; chaqueque, a moist blue corn bread; and special blue corn tortillas, a type of flat bread made from a watery batter and poured over a hot griddle. Atole is also given to anyone who is ill and it was frequently a dying person's last meal.” If you are interested in reading about blue corn production in New Mexico, take a look at New Mexico State University's article on Blue Corn Production in New Mexico.

Blue Cornmeal Recipes

Blue and Yellow Cornbread

Blue Corn Bread

Blue Corn Tortillas

Blue Cornmeal Buttermilk Pancakes

Blue Cornmeal Cakes with Chile Salsa

Traditional Native American Recipes Includes recipes for blue corn atole and blue corn porridge.

According to the High Beam Encyclopedia, which quotes an article from Sunset Magazine: “In a time when food ideas and supplies seem to leap from one part of the country to another almost overnight, blue corn has kept pretty much to its native terrain--you've generally had to travel to New Mexico to get a supply.” Luckily for you, the Internet provides some alternatives. You can order blue corn meal online from these sources.

Santa Ana Pueblo

NM Pinon Coffee Co. (on the Seasonings and Mixes page)

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*The photograph above (LC-USZ62-56416) is from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog. The LC believes that there are no restrictions on the use of this photo. If you know of any, please contact me via the comments section on this blog.

Which is Best--The Owl or the Buckhorn?

New Mexicans love their chile, and they love their green chile cheeseburgers. Ask a couple of New Mexicans where to get the best one, and you’ll get at least two (maybe more) answers. I once asked the people at the City-Data New Mexico forum where to find the best green chile cheeseburger in eastern New Mexico and was treated to a wonderful list of possibilities, encompassing the whole state.

One of the side discussions that came up in the Forum discussion was which San Antonio restaurant has the best burger—The Owl Café or Manny’s Buckhorn Bar. We had always thought of the Owl’s burger as the best in the world, so this time we checked out the Buckhorn.

We loved the Buckhorn burgers, we loved the green chile cheese fries, the service was great, and the atmosphere was very relaxed. That translated to a lot of time standing in line waiting to get in but it was a busy day, after all, as visitors were streaming into San Antonio from the twice-yearly open house at Trinity Site, 20-some miles away. Once we were seated all was well and the line had petered out so we didn’t feel guilty kicking back and taking our time. There are some really nice folks running the place there. There were a few signed dollars hanging up but the best sign was one proclaiming the Buckhorn GCCB to be “the 7th best burger in America” from a GQ article. The Owl has more seating, so you spend less time in line. On the other hand, the service is so quick that it seems you’ve been served and are on your way out the door almost before having time to savor the experience. The burgers are smaller than at the Buckhorn, but the meat has the best flavor I’ve ever tasted in a burger. The atmosphere is pure cowboy bar, as is the Buckhorn—you know you’re in the Wild West, and they aren’t putting on a show. The Owl has those great autographed-by-everybody-from-all-over dollars hanging all over the walls and the ceiling. For a lot of historical information about the Owl Café and some mouthwatering food photos, see Gil’s Thrilling Web Site, a wonderful place to roam around in search of New Mexico’s best food: http://www.nmgastronome.com/nm/burgers/owl.htm

Once you’ve read that page, and before you go wandering off, please see Gil’s page on the Buckhorn at http://www.nmgastronome.com/nm/burgers/buckhorn.htm

Green Chile Recipes

It's time for a post about recipes for our wonderful green chiles. From time to time, I'll come back and add additional information to this page.

Chiles Rellenos (low fat version)

Roast 6-8 or more large green chiles (Anaheim type) under the broiler or over an open flame until charred all over. Place in a closed plastic bag or covered Tupperware container for ten minutes or so. You should then be able to peel them easily. Take off the stem ends and take out seeds and membranes (leave some in if you want—they’re the hot part). Beat three egg whites until stiff, adding ½ tsp. salt. You can leave out the yolks, but I stir them up and fold them into the beaten egg whites. In a greased oblong casserole, place half the egg white mixture, put all the chiles on top of it, sprinkle with as much grated cheese as you want, then cover over with the remaining egg whites, spreading them all the way to the edges to seal. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or so until brown.

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Green Chile Meat (for Burritos)

After our trip to Cloudcroft and our yummy burrito lunch, I came home and did my best to duplicate the green chile meat stuffing. This is what I came up with.

Brown one chopped onion. Add a pound of ground beef and stir until all is well browned. Add a 2 tablespoons of flour and mix well. Add four peeled, cubed, cooked potatoes. Stir in 12 roasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped green chiles (you decide on the type and the amount of heat you want. I used a medium hot Anaheim-type). Add 2 cups water or beef broth, stir well. Simmer for about 30 minutes. The mixture will thicken, so stir it occasionally and add more broth if necessary. You want a consistency that you can spoon into a warm tortilla, not too soupy. Top with grated cheese.