Southwestern Inspired Cole Slaw

I posted the brisket recipe that I developed just today.  While I was thinking about what to serve with the brisket, I thought that something creamy, but also crisp and cool to go with the tacos would be a great side dish.

Yield - 12 - 1 cup servings
Temperature - not applicable
Time - 30 minutes
Difficulty - Easy

Ingredients:
5 cups shredded green cabbage
5 cups shredded purple cabbage
1 cup julienned poblano peppers (2 peppers cut into thin strips, approximately 2 inches long).
1 1/2 cups chipotle ranch salad dressing

Mix all the ingredients together and let stand, covered in the fridge for 2 hours.

You can also add 1 cup of grated carrots, if you like.  This is delicious, crisp, cool, spicy and very satisfying.

From the heart of my purple kitchen to you,
Enjoy!!!
Susan

Amazing Black Beans, Black Beans & Rice and Chile Rellenos

My mom used to make the most amazing black beans in a crock pot.  She would make them about every 3 weeks and my dad, brother and I just loved them.  I still have the recipe in her original hand-writing and I have very fond memories of cooking with my mom.  I even have her old milk-glass bowl, her favorite wooden spoon, "my" Piggie cookie jar and a few other cherished items that were such a part of my childhood.  Come to think of it, I have a cast aluminum Dutch oven and several kitchen utensils that were my grandmothers, from the 1930's and 1940's.....oh my goodness!!!

Thinking about the wooden spoon.....should I admit that this spoon is about 35 years old and I still use it?

My mom passed away in 2002, but using her recipes and kitchen tools somehow makes me feel like she is somewhere close by, watching and smiling while I make her favorite recipes.

For these beans, you will need:
1 pound of black (turtle) beans
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2/3 cup of tomato paste
2 cups of tomato sauce
1/2 cup frozen apple juice concentrate
1/4 cup white wine
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon cardamon
1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, diced

Start the crock pot on high for about 1 hour, then turn to low.  Cook for approx. 4 hours or until they are done.

If you are pressed for time, you can use canned black beans, just rinse them, add all the ingredients to a pan on the stove, and heat on low until hot.  You may need to simmer them a bit to let some of the liquid reduce, just keep an eye on them and stir occasionally.

Variations:
1.  Use this version in "black beans and rice".
2.  Mix the beans with with rice, add cheese and stuff poblano peppers with the mixture and make chile rellenos.

To make the rellenos:
Heat enough oil to comfortably fry peppers in, about 350' F.
Preheat the oven to 350' F, place 8 poblanos on a cookie sheet and cook the poblano peppers in the oven for approximately 10 minutes, just enough to soften them.  Then, let them cool a bit, cut a slit down the side of the pepper, trim out some of the seed pod inside, but leave the stem intact.  Stuff with the rice, bean and cheese mixture with enough room to close the pepper and overlap the edges slightly.  Gently press the pepper around the filling and mold back into the conical shape of the pepper.  Set the peppers aside.  In a large bowl, beat 6 egg whites until soft peaks form, then add 2 yolks, one at a time and beat until incorporated.   Dip the peppers in the egg whites, coating all the way up to the stem and gently place them in the oil to fry.  Take them out when they are golden brown, serve with your choice of salsa, spicy ranchero sauce and a drizzle of  crema Mexicana.  I also serve with a nice salad with avocado, seeded diced tomato, purple onion on shredded lettuce and tortilla strips along with a spicy chipotle ranch dressing.

Your taste buds will definitely stand up and SING!!!!

From the heart of my purple kitchen to you,

Enjoy!!!
S.

Texas Caviar - my version

Texas caviar is simply a black eyed pea salad.  I ate it for the very first time yesterday and liked it, but y'all know me - I can't leave a recipe alone.

It just needed more......  Here is what I did:

3 cans black eyed peas, rinsed
1 can sweet corn
1 small jicama, diced to be the same size as the peas and corn
1 diced red pepper, 1 diced yellow pepper
4 scallions sliced thinly
1 small purple onion, diced and rinsed under cold water
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 poblano peppers that have been roasted, peeled, seeded and diced
Juice of 2 - 3 limes
1/2 cup really good olive oil
1 teaspoon each salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together and taste for seasoning.

Also, be sure to dice up an avocado and add it as a creamy and cool surprise in this salad.  I promise you that no one will be disappointed.

From the heart of my purple kitchen to you,
Enjoy!!!
S.

365 in 365 - #??? - Hatch Chile Peppers

Hatch, New Mexico in the US is home to the greatest chile peppers in the world....the Hatch chile pepper.  This pepper ranges from very mild on the heat scale to very hot.    Each year, the Hatch Chile Festival comes to markets across the US.  Boxes, displays and pepper roasters burst at the seams with these green and red beauties.  As the season progresses, the character of the flavor changes and the color moves from green to red.  Each cache of peppers yields subtle differences in flavor and character while all are wonderful and simply addictive...Hatch chile peppers might just be my drug of choice.

Today, I spent some time at Central Market in North Texas selecting peppers: hot, mild, fresh and roasted.  I easily brought home 10 pounds....for this one trip.  Trust me, there will be more trips to the market over the next couple of weeks.

At this point in the evening, I am prepping the peppers for cooking by soaking them in cold water with a special cleanser to get rid of any "nasties" that might be lurking on the peppers.  I have several bunches of cilantro (someone, PLEASE make a perfume from this herb!!!), large, sweet onions, flour tortillas, cheese, chicken, beef, ground turkey, pork tenderloin and all the makings for cornbread.  Tomorrow, I will make a gorgeous picadillo with which to stuff the peppers and will bake them with a light tomato based sauce infused with flavors from the Southwestern US.  Other peppers will be stuffed with various other concoctions, of which I will post the recipes once they are tested.  

OOOOO - plantains.....yup, I will need some of those too.

For tonite, dinner was hatch chile pesto spread on fresh, soft and warm Hatch chile flour tortillas.

So, it is back to the kitchen I go to finish prepping and begin cooking savory and sweet treats using this annual gift from the American Southwest.

In stead of "be still, my beating heart".....that old saying has morphed into, "be cool, my burning tongue"....

From the heart of my purple kitchen to you, have a great evening!!!
S.

365 in 365 - #101 - Spicy Stuffed Peppers

I think every culture has a version of stuffed vegetables of some sort.  Some are stuffed with cheeses, other veggies, meats, plantains, tofu or other ingredients such as rice and beans.  Where I grew up, we had stuffed green bell peppers.  These were very easy to make with ground beef, onion, rice and tomato sauce.

But, over the past several years, I have come to fully enjoy a little spice in my life and have come to enjoy using a more zesty version of the pepper.  I love to use poblano peppers, but now that Hatch chile pepper season is here....this is my pepper of choice.

For an updated and spicy version of stuffed peppers, try this:

2 large jars of Picante sauce
12 to 18 Hatch chile peppers, washed with the tops cut off and seed pods removed
13 x 9 x 2 inch pan or larger if needed

For the stuffing:
1 pound of ground beef or ground turkey
1 large yellow onion, diced small
1 cup cooked rice
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Crumbled queso fresco for sprinkling over the top of the peppers

Mix all the stuffing ingredients together and stuff the mixture into the peppers, filling them from the narrow tip up to the top.
Place enough picante sauce in the bottom of the baking vessel to coat the pan
Lay the stuffed peppers in the pan and spoon over additional picante sauce on each pepper and keep the remainder of the sauce handy.  You may have to add some additional sauce to the pan.
Cover the pan with tin foil for the first 20 minutes of cooking, then remove the cover and let the sauce thicken.

Bake at 350' F for 30 to 45 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.

Serve with a green salad and black beans for a great southwestern inspired meal.

From my purple kitchen to you!!!

Enjoy,
S.

365 in 365 - #100 - Cornbread Stuffed Hatch Chiles

One of the best things in the world are Hatch chiles.  Each year, the bounty of mild to hot peppers is incredible and I purchase TONS of them to cook and freeze.  I buy them fresh and fire roasted and prepare them for use all year long.  There is something so sublime about Hatch chiles.  Yes, they really are different than "regular" chiles.

These are the chiles that the chile pepper wreaths are made from.  We have "ristras" hanging in the kitchen and usually have a pepper wreath on the front door in the cooler weather.

One of my favorite ways to fix them is to stuff them.  One very unique way that I prepare them is to fill them with my favorite cornbread recipe and bake them.  The cornbread recipe I use is a sweet version and everyone has their favorite.  Basically, prepare the chiles in this manner:

First, wash the peppers and then cut the tops off of them and remove the seed pod.  Line a jelly roll pan with tin foil and spray it with cooking spray.  Then, take  strips of tin foil and create a "log" about 2 inches in diameter by scruntching up the tin foil to form the log.

Then, mix up your cornbread recipe and fill the peppers about 2/3 of the way with the batter, being sure to get the batter down into the tip of the pepper.
Place the peppers with the open end up on the tin foil log and bake according to the cornbread recipe.

I think  you will be surprised at just how wonderful these are.  These also freeze very well if sealed well in saran wrap.

More Hatch chile recipes will be coming your way over the next few weeks.

From my purple kitchen to you!!!
Enjoy,
S.