Fresh Salsa Recipe

Makes about 1 1/2 cup salsa. 

The actual amounts used are below but the vegetables need to be toasted first. I use the gas grill but a broiler or a very hot cast iron pan or comal will work too. 

The idea is to burn the outside without cooking the inside much. You need  to toast about this much. Place the following and grill. 

• 2-3 ripe tomatoes
• 1 large green chile Anaheim or New Mexico fresh and green 
• 1 Poblano fresh and green
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 small tomatillo with the husk peeled off
• 1 lemon or lime cut across the segments in half
• 1 head of garlic with the non-root end cut off exposing the cloves

The lemon halves go skin up and the goal is to blacken the inside part. 

The garlic goes cut side up. 

Turn the peppers and tomatillo as needed to blacken the skin all around. 

Turn tomatoes to soften the skin. These come off first. 

Take things off as they blacken. I put them on a cookie sheet. Nothing will cook very long. If the surface is very hot 3-4 min total will do. 

Remove the skins from the peppers, tomatillo and tomatoes. The skin on Bell and Poblano peppers is very thin and it’s ok or leave on. Cut out all the stems. Remove seeds from the peppers. 

Now add the following to a blender and blend thoroughly. Add a little of the liquid from the tomatoes only if needed to blend right. Ounces are by weight. 

• 2 oz green chiles with no stem, skin or seeds. 
• 1 oz tomatillo with stem removed
• Juice of half a roasted lemon or lime with no seeds
• Large pinch salt
• Pinch of pepper
• Pinch ground cumin
• Large pinch Mexican oregano flakes
• 1-2 cloves from the now softened garlic head
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 tsp honey
• 2 Tbsp vinegar

This should be blended completely. 

Add these to a bowl. 

• 8-12 oz of the tomatoes toasted and chopped coarsely with stems and skins removed. Strain off some of the liquid. 
• 1 oz poblano toasted with stem, seeds and skin removed. Chopped finely. 
• The contents of the blender
• (optional) Any hot peppers or chiles if you want it spicier to chop finely and add: habanero, serrano, jalapeño, etc.

Stir well and serve with tortilla chips. 

Tender Beef Brisket

This is an improved brisket recipe. It comes out tender and takes forever. The last time I cooked it, I put it in at noon. Sometime in the early evening, 7 or 8 hours later, I wrapped it in foil and turned up the heat a bit. It was finally done at 5 a.m the next morning when I put it in the insulated box to rest until noon. I think it would have been ok if cooked a couple of hours less but its not particular. Grand total: 24 hours but oh, so tender.

The cooking temperatures are barely above the point where water boils. That makes it slow cooking but hard to burn anything.

Ingredients

• 1 12-16 pound whole brisket
• brisket rub. (You can use the previous recipe or the one at the bottom of this page. Or just use salt and pepper.

Instructions

• I bring brisket home from the grocery store when it's on sale. I put it in the freezer until it’s time to cook. Well … until its 36 hours before time to eat.
• Take it out and let it thaw 10-12 hours at room temp. Or let it thaw in the refrigerator for a longer time. Don't cook it if it is still partly frozen.
• Once it’s thawed, store your brisket in the refrigerator until you are ready.
• A whole brisket has 2 parts. The flat which is long and square muscle. The flat side doesn't have much fat showing. The point is an oddly shaped, almost triangular muscle. The point side has a thick layer of fat plus there is fat between the flat and point. The flat is always longer.
• Then is the time to start trimming. If you are new at this, Google for "aaron franklin trim brisket video" and watch how Aaron Frankin does it.
• Cold briskets are much easier to work with since the fat cuts more evenly. Flip your brisket over so the point end is underneath which leaves the thick fatty side down. Remove any silver skin or excess fat from the flat muscle. Trim down the large crescent moon shaped fat section until it is a smooth transition between the point and the flat. Trim any excessive or loose meat and fat from the point. Square the edges and ends of the flat. Flip the brisket over and trim the top fat cap to about 1/4 of an inch thickness across the surface of the brisket.
• The end result has tough silver-skin removed, fat reduced to 1/4 to 1/2 inch all around, some of the thick fat between point and flat removed and the edges evened out to prevent burning small bits of meat that are no longer sticking out.
• In a mixing bowl or empty spice container, mix the brisket rub. Shake over the brisket to evenly distribute the spices on all sides--top, bottom and all 4 edges. Some people say to rub it in with your hands but it doesn't much matter.
• Place the brisket in the oven. I use a rack sitting in a large sheet pan lined with foil. Close the door and cook at 215 degrees F until an internal thermometer reads 165 degrees F (maybe takes around 8 hours).
• On a large work surface, roll out a big piece of butcher paper (or foil) and center your brisket in the middle. 
• Taste a shot of Jim Beam Bourbon for quality control and pour 2 shots more over and around the meat. Keep the wrapping up so it doesn't run out.
• Wrap the brisket by folding and rolling edge over edge, creating a leak proof seal all the way around. Return the wrapped brisket to the oven, seam side down so the weight from the brisket crimps the edges of the paper wrap down tight. (With foil, I seal the foil edges on the sides and the top. That makes it easier to keep the bourbon from spilling.)
• Close the door and, change the oven to 222 degrees F, continue cooking until the internal temperature of the brisket reaches 205 degrees F in the thickest part of the meat (takes anywhere from 5-8 hours). Use an instant read thermometer or electronic probe to measure. 
• Remove the brisket and unwrap. Be careful to not make a mess with the accumulated oil and juices.
• Fold the brisket up in a new piece of foil. Do use foil this time. Use two layers if needed to seal it.
• Place the brisket in an ice chest (with no ice) or insulated box for anywhere from 4-8 hours to rest. Some people call it a cooler but the purpose is to keep it warm. It only loses heat slowly. The temperature of the meat will decline steadily. Do not let it get to room temp. I've seen it work with the rested temp between 120 and 150. This part isn't rocket science. You can adjust this time to fit your eating schedule.
• When I remove it, I remove the foil and usually separate the point and flat removing any thick fatty layer in between. Take note of how the grain runs so you can slice both parts across the grain. A good plate has some of both.
• Serve

Dry Rub:

I made up this rub recipe after watching the gentleman at KC Woodhouse on Diner's Drive-Ins and Dives mix up his BBQ rub. I like it on brisket and ribs. That video did not show proportions so don't complain if you eat there and this is not like it.

I like it. You might. If you prefer just use equal parts salt and pepper for your rub. 2 Tbsp each is about enough for one brisket.

Mix the following in a bowl. If you use whole spices, then you can grind it. Put it in an old spice jar with a shaker lid to apply it over the brisket. Or just use your hands. It smells wonderful.

• 2 parts ground turmeric
• 1/2 part ground black pepper
• 1/2 part ground white pepper
• 1 part paprika (I have used Hungarian and plain paprika. I never tried smoked.)
• 1/2 part ground cloves
• 1/2 part garlic powder (not garlic salt)
• 1/2 part green cardamom ground
• 1/2 part black cardamom ground
• 2 parts kosher salt

If you make it with 1 part equal to 1 Tbsp it’s almost enough for 2 briskets. If you make it with 1 part equal to 1 tsp it’s not enough for 1 brisket. Sorry if this requires you to multiply or do anything mathy. 

You can use the ground spices as described above. I typically use the same measurements of whole spices and then grind them after mixing. Its a bit fresher and stronger when freshly ground but it’s a bit less actual quantity so that works.

Making Tallow

This has nothing to do with cooking a brisket but does allow you to make use of some of the leftovers you created while preparing your brisket.

Tallow is an almost liquid fat made from beef fat. If you trim a brisket you end up with enough fat to make a nice pot of tallow. French fries cooked in tallow are not so very healthy but they taste wonderful.

There are probably better ways to do this but here is what I did. Partly, I did it this way, because my large skillet was out and I didn't want to get my large pot dirty.

All the fat you trimmed off the brisket should be kept cold. You can put it in the freezer to cool quickly but frozen fat is not so easy to deal with.

Cut all the fat into 1/2 inch cubes. Again, its not rocket science. If they are not cubes or are a little larger or smaller, it doesn't matter. I pick out the pure meat bits but I doubt that matters either.

Add a layer of fat cubes to a skillet. You want enough to completely cover the bottom but not be piled higher than one layer. Heat the skillet and the fat will start to render out. You want the fat around 300 to 350 degrees F. But you have to guess at first as there is no fat to put your thermometer in.

I use a med to med-high temp on my stove.

Do not let it burn. When the cubes shrivel up and turn brown and before the liquid fat burns, remove all he crispy cubes. I put them on a cookie sheet. We are going to throw them away when they cool. We are also going to collect any liquid fat from the cookie sheet to use.

Now, repeatedly add another layer of fat cubes, let cook at 300-350 until crispy and remove to the cookie sheet. I had to keep an eye on the volume of liquid fat in the skillet and move some of it to a metal container if it got too full. When the skillet is half full as you add a new bunch of fat cubes, that’s when spooning out the oil seems to work best. I had to fool with the burner temperature as I watched the temperature of the fat.

When all the fat cubes have been rendered, turn off the heat and let it cool. Collect all the fat for making french fries. I use old glass jars. I doubt it matters much. You don't need to refrigerate but it will only last a few weeks safely. Use your own good sense there and don't use it if it smells rancid. Also collect the liquid fat from the bottom of the cookie sheet as you dispose of the cooled crispy fat bits. I don't know a use for them. Comment if you do.

One brisket will yield a cup or two of tallow. Use it just like any frying fat. I recommend the french fries.

Quick Microwave Bread and Butter Pickles

Makes one quart of pickles. 

Use two one quart mason jars. Make sure they are clean. 

You will need these vegetables and things to combine as described below:

• pickling cucumbers (enough to mostly fill the quart jar)
• medium yellow or white onion sliced 1/2 inch into rings
• orange or red bell pepper
• (optional) whole habaneros or sliced jalapeños 
• apple cider vinegar
• water

Slice both ends of the pickling cucumbers and discard. This help keep the pickles crispy.

Slice cucumbers 1/4 inch thick and fill one jar 3/4 full. This will take 5-7 cucumbers. 

Slice onion 1/2 inch. Slice red or orange bell pepper into sticks. Finish filling the jar with onion, red pepper and any spicy vegetables you select. 

Fill the jar with apple cider vinegar to the 3/4 level (with vegetables still in it). Finish filling the last quarter to the neck with water. 

Transfer the liquid into the second quart mason jar. Do not transfer any vegetables. The second jar will contain only liquid. Set aside the first jar. 

Estimate the amount of liquid from marks on jar or you can measure it. Add 1/2 that amount of white sugar into the jar. (For example: Perhaps the jar is half full. Half a quart is 2 cups. Halfen that to come up with a cup of sugar needed to add to the jar.) 

Stir well. 

Add

• Sugar as measured to match vinegar mixture
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp whole mustard seed
• 1 tsp celery seed (or 2 tsp celery flakes)
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 8 whole peppercorns either white or black (or 1/4 tsp ground white pepper)
• (Optional) 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper for spiciness
• (Optional) 6 whole allspice berries or 4 whole cloves

Put jar with liquid vinegar, sugar and spices in microwave. On high, cook a minute, stir well, check the temperature and repeat until it reaches 200 degrees. My microwave is 1100 watts and took 3 1/2 min total.  (If you don’t have a thermometer repeat until it just begins to boil.) The sugar will dissolve completely and the spices will mix into the vinegar mostly. Stir one last time.

Sprinkle over the vegetables in the vegetable jar.

• 1/4 tsp pickle fresh (calcium chloride) 

Pour the hot liquid over the vegetables in their jar up to neck of the jar. Disturb the vegetables to get bubbles out. I use a chopstick or skewer. If needed add a bit of water to reach the neck. 

Clean top of jar. Seal. We don't process these pickles.

Let it set 1 hour to come back to room temperature. 

Chill and eat when cold. Overnight is best. These pickles must be kept refrigerated and do not last indefinitely. 

Warning. I’ve had a problem with room temperature jars where pouring hot vinegar too quickly into a cold jar can crack it. Similarly washing out the vinegar in a hot jar with cold water will crack it. 

Been there. Done that. You might not want to.

Variations:

Replace the cucumber slices and onion slices with thinly sliced red onion to fill the jar completely. These are good on tacos.

Or replace the cucumber and onion slices with sliced jalapeño peppers - 1/4 inch thick. Mix in a few thinly sliced habanero peppers for color. 

Or fill the jar with sliced, roasted, skinless beets with white onion slices. 

Vegetarian New Mexico Pinto Beans

Use a large Crock Pot. This recipe makes a huge quantity of beans about 26 cups. They freeze well and you can microwave for leftovers. 

You can use the leftovers for refried beans but that’s another recipe.

Make sure there are no rocks in the beans and add the following. Do NOT add any salt at this time. 

• 4 lbs dried pinto beans (about 6 cups)
• Fill the Crock Pot with water and let the beans soak for 8 hours or so. The exact length is not critical. I do it overnight.

The beans will swell to the top of the pot.

When the time is over, pour off the water, rinse, pour it off and repeat until the water is clear. Remove as much water as will pour off.

Combine in the crock pot:

• Beans as soaked but with water removed
• 16 cups water

Cook on high. It will take a different length of time depending on the altitude where you are. I’m pretty low (400 feet).

You can measure the temperature using an instant read thermometer. It will slowly rise until it hits max for your altitude. Here it peaked at 210 degrees.

You know they are done when they taste right. Pinto beans taste chewy and slightly bitter until they are done at which time they become soft and tender and tasty. Its after the water hits peak temperature. Hard to tell you how long.

If you cook it too long it will get too soft.

At my house it takes 10 hours. Up in the Rocky Mountains it may take 16 hours. Be sure to keep testing them after about 8 hours until you like the taste and texture.

When they are done, add the following. 

• 1 stick of butter. Cut in chunks. 
• 1 tsp black ground pepper
• 2 Tbsp salt (or to taste)

Stir until butter melts. Turn off the heat and serve. 

Several things are good mixed in after cooking:

1. Pulled Pork
2. Beef Brisket
3. Mexican Rice
4. Sauted Onions
5. Cayenne Pepper
6. Chopped green chile

Spanish Rice #2 in the Instant Pot

In figuring out this recipe, I learned that some people make a distinction between Spanish rice and Mexican rice. They say Mexican rice has cumin and Spanish rice has saffron. Just so you know, I don't make that distinction. You can call this recipe Spanish rice or Mexican rice but it has a bit of New Mexico in it.

My original recipe is better as it uses fresh veggies and takes way too much work to make it. This is my quick recipe that's really good on its own. It uses an Instant Pot pressure cooker to speed things up a bit over my original recipe.

Serves 6-8 (approx 2 cups total)

A 3 qt Instant pot can make a double recipe

A 6 qt instant pot can make a 4x recipe (which is a lot of rice)

Add to a skillet and brown the rice. Be sure to keep it moving around the skillet so it doesn't burn::

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup basmati long grain rice

Cook until the rice is translucent and starting to brown.

Create a spice mix and finely grind in a grinder. You should probably make it before you start any other parts. (This is enough for 4 recipes. Save the extra.) and, yes, you can use ground spices:

• 4 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp mexican oregano flakes
• 2 tsp caldo de tomate boullion
• 1 tsp whole cumin
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp celery flakes
• (optional) 1 tsp cayenne to make it spicy. I don't do this if my friends are coming over.

While the rice is cooking, turn on the instant pot, set to to sauté and add:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion chopped (about 3/4 cup)

Sauté until translucent create an opening in the center of the pot and toast for about 1 minute:

• 1 Tbsp of the spice mix

When it smells wonderful add one and only one of these options:

OPTION 1 (my favorite):

• 2 Tbsp tomato paste (its not a bad idea to sauté this a bit before you add the water. Keep stirring)
• 1 1/4 cup water
• splash of wine (any color dry-ish wine)

OPTION 2:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• splash of wine

OPTION 3:

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce (this needs to be tested more)
• splash of wine
• 1 tsp vegetable base (or chicken or beef) optional

Stir well. Heat the liquid until its almost to boiling. It is not terribly important except it shouldn’t be cold. I've found that my Instant Pot will start to simmer it and that's when its ready to go on.

Add the browned rice to the tomato liquid. Stir well.

Turn off the instant pot so it no longer does sauté heat.

Set the instant pot for 6:00 minutes, high pressure cook and secure the lid.

When the 6 minutes is up let the heat release naturally for exactly 10 minutes. Do not let the stem out until the time is up. Do not remove the lid. After the 10 minutes, let the pressure release and then remove the lid.

Once the pressure dissapates. Remove the lid. Stir in:

• 3/4 cup V8 original vegetable juice
• (optional) 1 small can chopped green chile for that New Mexico taste

Let stand covered for 5 minutes and serve. Its done.

The Preacher's Wife's Chile Verde

There are so many things called "Chile Verde" that I hesitate to put that title here. Unfortunately that's what the preacher's wife from when I was in college called it. She's the origin of the recipe. Its a stew of beef, tomatoes and green chile that is best served over rice.

This stew is unique in its lack of onions and that there's cloves in there in such a small quantity that you love the taste but can't quite tell what it is. I usually make it with all beef.

If you use mild green chiles, as in canned green chile, it has no heat at all. You can use real green chile from New Mexico (or even roasted poblanos) instead to add a little heat. This isn't really a spicy dish.

Serves 6-8

Brown in small batches on all sides in the oil and reserve. You can use all beef or pork of some mixture:

• 1 1/2 lbs boneless beef chuck, 1 inch cubes (stew meat works fine)
• 1 1/2 lbs boneless pork shoulder, 1 inch cubes
• 3 Tbsp oil

In the pan drippings, saute until soft and reserve

• 1 med green bell pepper, cut into short strips
• 1 lg clove of garlic, chopped

In a 5 qt (large) pan combine

• 2 lg cans whole tomatoes including the liquid
• 1 can beef broth (about 3/4 c)
• 1 lg can (10 oz) green chiles chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/3 cup parsley (chopped fresh or about half that dried)
• 1/2 tsp white sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 c lemon juice
• salt

Bring tomato mixture to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. 

Add

• browned mean
• sauted vegetables

Cover and simmer for 2 hrs, stirring occasionally. Remove cover and simmer 45 min more until sauce is reduced to thickness you desire and meat is tender.

During this time prepare according to the package directions

• rice

Serve the stew in a bowl over rice.

Optional

You can, instead of using a large pan to cook the tomato mixture, use a crock pot (slow cooker). Add the ingredients and cook on high for about 4 hours until the meat is tender.

Note that a crock pot does not reduce the liquid as much but, served over rice, it still tastes wonderful.

Shirley's Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

This used to be a family favorite when the kids were growing up. The recipe came from a 4th grade teacher friend from work.

Preheat oven to 350 F

Come up with chicken to use in one of several ways. You can boil whole chickens . You can use rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. You can bake chickens yourself. You can bake chicken breasts or boneless thighs. Bake with just a little salt and pepper. The soup you add will have plenty of salt.

Prepare 

• 2 small chickens (approx 6 lbs with the bones) or equivalent amount of chicken breasts.
• 1 large pkg frozen broccoli spears  (or equivalent fresh broccoli) boiled and drained

In a large casserole dish, layer the chicken first and broccoli over the top of it.

Then combine these in a large bowl by stirring:

• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 2/3 c real mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip)
• 1/3 c evaporated milk
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp curry powder (I use a yellowish finely ground dry variety)

Pour over the chicken and broccoli in the casserole dish.

Sprinkle over the top:

• 1/2 c cheddar cheese grated

Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes

Sue Porter’s Biscochitos

Joel, her son, posted this recipe on FaceBook around Christmas 2020 and I wanted to keep it here. Sue and here family have been friends of my family since I was 3 (no type, three) years old. Such a wonderful person.

Here is what Joel said

Was inspired by some of my friends who have been posting things they’ve recently baked; biscuits (sourdough and buttermilk), and butter cookies. 

That made me think of a cookie my mom used to make around this time of year. Bizcochitos. For the uninitiated the bizcochito (or biscochito) is the official cookie of New Mexico and is typically prepared around the Christmas holidays. 

There are different recipes floating around but the key ingredient that gives them their popularity is the Anise seed (I also found out there are actually two ways to pronounce this. Mine is the correct way BTW). The cookie, when made from my mom’s recipe, sort of melts in your mouth and you get the cinnamon and sugar on top but underneath is the hint of the Anice flavor, but not too much as I actually cannot stand black licorice. These are not a cookie that kids would necessarily like, nor is it a cookie that you would want to plow through a half dozen or so (ok, maybe you might). But they are so good. These go nicely with a hot drink such as cider, hot chocolate, hot tea, coffee, mulled wine. 

Here is my mom’s recipe for those of you who might want to give these a try. 

Bizcochitos

Preheat oven to 350 F

Cream together 

• 1 cup of lard or shortening  (I went old school and used lard)
• 1/2 cup of sugar.

Add and beat until very fluffy. 

• 1 egg

Sift together 

• 3 cups flour, 
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 
• 1/2 tsp salt. 

Then add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture. 

Stir in 

• 1 tsp Anise seed, 
• 3 TBSP sweet wine. 

Roll out dough on floured board to 1/4” thick. Cut into plain or fancy shapes. 

Combine and sprinkle on top of each cookie. 

• 1/4 cup sugar 
• 1 TBSP cinnamon 

Bake in preheated 350F oven for 15-20 minutes or until light brown. Freezes well.

Blue Cheese Salad Dressing

I used Google to combine many recipes to make this one. I like this and it makes just enough for two small salads or one large one (or one salad for someone who loves blue cheese dressing).

Mix together breaking up the chunks

• 1Tbsp buttermilk
• 1Tbsp sour cream
• 1Tbsp mayonnaise 
• 1Tbsp blue cheese (Roquefort is good)
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• Pinch salt
• Pinch pepper
• Pinch sugar
• Pinch garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp chopped parsley

Makes enough for one salad. 

350 calories (by looking up the ingredients) Note: this is not diet food

Note. If you leave the buttermilk to the end, you can put more or less to adjust the thickness of the dressing. Thicker for wings or wedge lettuce. Thinner for tossed salad. 

Potato Soup

Originally this came from my college roommate's wife who learned it growing up in Germany. Then I lost the recipe. One night I called my daughter and she showed me how to make it over AirTime:

45 min includes chopping. 

Sauté in a large pan on med low

• 4 oz bacon

When the bacon is brown but not crisp yet, add

• 1 leek without leaves. Sliced into coin sized bits
• 1/2 medium onion
• 1/2 medium carrot thin sliced
• 1 stalk of celery sliced
• 1/4 tsp Black pepper
• 1/8 tsp White pepper 

Continue sautéing until barely soft and add

• 4 med potatoes cut in 3/4 in cubes. You can peel or not. You can half peel. 

Continue sauté making sure the potatoes are coated in oil and maybe a little browned. Or not. 

Then cover with 

• chicken broth. You can use turkey or vegetable broth or water. 
• 1 tsp chicken base
• 1/3 tsp beef base

Bring to a boil on med high. Reduce to simmer about 15 minutes until potatoes are soft when stuck with a fork. 

Mash as with a potato masher. Maybe only partially. 

Optionally blend 1/3 to thicken broth or use an immersion blender some. 

Simmer on low for 5 more minutes to blend tastes. 

Add to taste:

• salt
• Black pepper 
• (Optional) Parsley

If you like, can be optionally served with

• sour cream OR
• Cream Or
• Cheddar cheese 

on top. 

Serves 4. 

Pasta I Fagioli

A family favorite

Sauté in olive oil in a large saucepan:

• Medium Onion chopped
• 2 cloves Garlic crushed and chopped
• 1 stalk Celery thinly sliced at an angle (1/8 inch slice)
• 1 large Carrot thinly sliced at an angle

Add and brown:

• 1 lb Hamburger meat
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Pepper

Add

• Large can Crushed tomatoes 
• 1/2 tsp sugar

• 14 oz can of cooked Pinto beans (2 cups)

Simmer 15 min. Make sure the meat is done and then prepare according to package directions:

• 1 c pasta noodles a little underdone

Drain cooked pasta and add to the saucepan. Simmer a few minutes to meld the flavors.

Serve

Alfredo Sauce

This goes back to the late 90s when my daughter perfected this sauce.

Slowly melt 

• 1 Tbsp butter. 

Add 

• 1 c cream prewarmed in the microwave. Not hot. Warm. 

Keep on low heat and stir some. Butter will float. When the butter and cream mix, start adding 

• grated Parmesan 

a few Tbsp at a time and stir gently but constantly. I like to add a little pepper because it’s so pretty but it’s optional. No salt. 

Taste it and look at the consistency and when it’s right, quit adding Parmesan. 

It’s done. 

Options:  You can add a little basil flakes and garlic powder too. 

Pumpkin Bread

My kids always loved this. It makes 3 loaves:

Cream in mixer

• 3 cups sugar
• 4 eggs

Add and mix

• 2/3 c water
• 15 oz can pumpkin
• 1 c salad oil

Sift together in a bowl

• 3 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cloves
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg

Add dry ingredients to mixer and mix as little as possible 

Pour into greased pan. 

Bake at 325 F for 1 hour

Glaze

• 2 Tbsp margarine
• 1 c powdered sugar 
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp instant coffee

My 2nd Posole - from scratch

I realized that I had a quick and easy Posole recipe on this blog, and a variation where you serve the pork/posole soup and chili sauce separately but not my original recipe.

Of course, for something I've been making since I was a wee lad, its more complicated than that. My original recipe I got from Stan after eating his Posole at his annual Christmas party (back when we had Christmas parties with people all in the same room). It was a quick crock pot recipe with meat and cans of stuff added together. Someday I might put that in here.

One year, though, (2004) I decided I would replace the cans of stuff with my own recipes for that stuff and this is what I came up with. I'm putting it in as written on the battered 3x5 card with notes about stuff I've learned since then.

What is the posole grain from which this chile based soup gets it name?

Posole is made from fresh corn kernels. This recipe calls for dried posole. You can buy it in any grocery store in New Mexico and can also buy it over the Internet. Just Google "dry posole." Either the white, yellow or blue corn varieties are acceptable. 

Dried posole is made with the nixtamal process from ordinary corn. The shell of the corn is chemically removed in this centuries old process. Then the result is dried and packaged. If they grind the result to a powder, it makes masa, the foundation for tamale dough or corn tortillas.

Look ahead by getting the posole ready. Wash it and start to soak together:

• 1/2 lb dried posole (about 1 1/2 cups)  
• 3-4 cups water

Set that aside to soak for quite a while as the crock pot does its magic.

Start with a crock pot and add:

• 1 lb fresh pork (you can use the pork chops that were underneath that beautiful one on the top of the package, or pork short ribs, or the end off a pork loin though something with a bone in it makes better soup) cut into 1" cubes
• water (to cover the pork just barely) or you can use chicken or vegetable broth

Note: Nowdays, I brown the port in a skillet with a bit of oil or under the oven broiler. That adds a bit of good flavor to the soup.

In a skillet at medium low, saute these until the onion turns translucent:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil (or some oil)
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic. crushed and finely chopped

When the onion has lost its color add these and cook the rawness out of the flour but not to the point of brownness. You will need to stir continuously:

• 1 Tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin (comino)
• 1/8 tsp ground mexican oregano (regular oregano works too)

Once the rawness is out of the flour, add the contents of the skillet to the crock pot along with:

• 1/4 cup New Mexico powdered red chile (its available in mild, medium and hot) but you can use powdered Guajillo or Ancho if you want. Note that some powdered red chile is very hot, particularly if you get it in an Asian grocery. Note: DO NOT use standard "chili powder" as it includes the garlic and cumin and other spices that we want to control the amounts of.
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tst sugar
• 1 8 oz can green chile (or 2 4 oz cans)

Cook on high until the meat is falling to strings. Be sure to add water if it's cooking away so the meat remains covered. This could take quite a while, 5 hours to overnight, and if you can guess when it will be over you can add the posole (as described below about 3 hours before the meat is completely done).

Drain the posole. It should be almost doubled in size from absorbing water while soaking. Then add it to the crock pot. When you add it and as you are cooking it, you may also need to add:

• more water or chicken broth because the posole will absorb more water

Cook on crock pot high for about 3 hours. Your crock pot may be different than mine. You will know it is done when you see the posole kernals have "popped" open mostly on the end. Taste one and it should be easily chewed but with a bit of a bite. Sort of like the texture of perfect al dente pasta but not so creamy. 

The dried posole will expand while cooking to 4 times its original size.