Jaxon's Potato Green Chile Soup

If you have ever spent time in El Paso and never made it to Jaxon's for this soup, you are missing out, man! It's one of those dishes that ranks up there with Chico's Tacos in El Chuco. Maybe that's just me...but if you have been to Jaxon's, and you've ordered this soup, you know what heaven tastes like.



I bought a cookbook just to get this recipe, and later found out I wasn't the only one. On page 59 of Seasoned with Sun by The Junior League of El Paso, just after the directions for "Maxon's Green Chile Chowder" are the words: We know people who will buy this book for this recipe alone. I'm in good company!



Start with 1/2 of a fresh jalapeno, seeded and minced. You'll also need 1/4 cup fresh green chile, roasted, peeled and finely chopped. If you're like me and prefer the stuff that doesn't come from a can, that means about 4 green chiles. Next, chop up one onion, 2 pounds of potatoes (peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes).



Next, bring everything to boil in 4 cups of chicken stock. Add a 1/2 teaspoon of seasoning salt just before it comes to a boil.



After about 20 minutes, the potatoes should be tender and ready to drain. Pour everything into a large collander with a cup at the bottom. You want to save about 3 cups of the cooking liquid.



Divide half of your cooked potatoes, onion, and chile.



Mash the other half.



While your potatoes wait patiently, we're going to make the soup base. Start by melting 1/4 cup of butter over medium high heat.



Next, add 1/4 cup of flour.



Stir all of this together until it bubbles and makes what the Cajuns call a "blonde roux".



Remember that reserved cooking liquid we saved?



Just pour it into the roux. Raise the heat a little and stir it with a wire whisk until it thickens.



Next, pour 3 cups of milk into the thickened base. If you're feeling particularly frugal with your fat count, you can use 1 1/2 cups of milk and 1 1/2 cups of half-n-half for a positively velvety, FATTENING soup. But this isn't a dieter's blog, so we're ok. Just run to Montana and back and you're good!



Now pour the base into the mashed potato mixture, and add in the reserved cubed potato mixture. Pay no attention to the fact that this photo is out of focus and crappy.



Turn off the heat and stir everything together. You can let it simmer for awhile, but cooking it any longer will break down the cubed potatoes and you'll end up with Potato Soup For Seniors. You get the idea.

After you ladel the soup into bowls, you can top it off with cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack, or (my personal favorite, like Jaxon's does it) tortilla chips. DELISH!

If you want to cut-and-paste the recipe without all those out-of-focus shots, here you go:

1/2 fresh jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/4 cup fresh long green chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded and finely chopped.
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 tsp seasoning salt
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cups of milk
shredded cheddar cheese and tortilla chips for garnish

Combine first 6 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Melt margarine over low heat; add flour and blend. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes to make a blonde roux. Strain liquid from potato, chile and onion mixture and reserve 3 cups cooking liquid. Mash 1/2 potato, chile and onion mixture. Reserve other half. Stir reserved cooking liquid into roux. Raise heat, stirring with a wire whisk until thickened. Add milk to thickened liquid and continue to stir until it comes to a simmer. Turn off heat. Add mashed potato, chile and onion mixture. Stir in and blend well. Add reserved cubed potatoes, chile and onion. Serve with cheese and/or tortillas on top.

Albondigas

I have a confession. I wish I were Mexican. I can prove it, too: I love tacos de tripas (only Mexicans can understant this), I love Tecate, and I have a statue of the Virgen de Guadalupe in my backyard.

On days that I'm feeling particularly Mexican, I try and cook like one. I'm not so good at tortillas, but I've braved tamales and even gorditas. When we were blessed with a blanket of snow earlier this week, I decided to warm up with a bowl of albondigas. They are DELICIOUS.



Albondigas are meatballs, most often made in a spicy caldo, or soup. Most people would make meatballs with breadcrumbs or panko, but this Mexican version uses finely chopped tortillas. Ole!

Here's how you can get started with a batch of your own:



Chop up an onion or two, depending on how in love you are with onions. Grab about 3 or 4 long roasted, peeled green chiles with the stems removed. Give those a good chop, too.



Put the onion and the green chile in a large stock pot with 3 tablespoons of bacon grease. Vegetable oil or butter works, too, but you know what they say - bacon makes everything better. Or was that butter? Whatever. After you let the onion and green chile saute for a few minutes, add in a 16-ounce can of diced tomatoes.



While the onion, green chile, and tomatoes simmer for awhile, put a pound of ground beef in a large mixing bowl.



Now get three or four corn tortillas. Cut them into very thin julienne strips, and then rotate 90 degrees and dice them very fine. Don't forget to keep an eye on your simmering onion, chile, and tomatoes. Burned veggies is a crime in most kitchens.



Toss the tortilla bits into the bowl with the ground beef. Amazing things are about to happen here, my friends.



Grab an egg and beat it a little in a small bowl. Think of your boss. Beat harder.



Next, you'll need a clove of garlic. Smash it with the flat end of a knife and then chop it up.



Remember that big bowl of beef and tortillas? Add to that bowl the beaten egg and the garlic, and blend it all together. I found this funky masher at a Pampered Chef party and it's pretty good for stuff like this. I have yet to find any other use for it, though.



This is what the bowl should look like when you're all done blending.



Now it's time to add 3 cups of water into that stock pot you probably forgot about. Meatballs take over your mind, man! But that's okay - I know you kept a vigilant watch over those veggies and made sure they didn't burn.



Add to that 3 beef bouillon cubes.



And a half a teaspoon of cumin.



We're not done yet, but almost. Next add a handful of fresh chopped cilantro leaves. This is muy importante as they say in my language. If you don't have any cilantro, coriander will do. Did you know that coriander and cilantro are the same herb? The coriander comes from the seed; the leaves are the cilantro. You learned something new!



We're ready to start rolling meatballs now. Each one should be slightly smaller than a golf ball. Drop each one in and let everything just simmer for at least 30 minutes. If you like a brothier soup, you can add another 3 or 4 cups of water during simmering. When the meatballs float to the top, they're done.

Most people say albondigas are better the next day. I love to eat mine with toasted flour tortillas that have a little char on them. Dee-lish!



I found this recipe in the Junior League of El Paso's first cookbook, Seasoned with Sun. It has some absolutely amazing soup recipes, one of which I'll share with you next week that is To. Die. For. Especially if you love potato soup. And green chile. And potato and green chile together. In a soup.

Here's the list of ingredients and the steps again, in case you want to cut-and-paste them separately to print, instead of killing a bunch of trees and your ink cartridge with all those photos.

3 T bacon grease (butter or vegetable oil works too)
1 or 2 onions, chopped
4 long green chiles, roasted, peeled, chopped with the stems removed (about 8 oz.)
16 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 lb. ground beef
3 corn tortillas, chopped very fine
1 egg
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 cups water (3 or 4 more toward the end if you like a brothier soup)
3 beef bouillon cubes
1 tsp cumin
1 cup chopped cilantro (or 1 T coriander)

1. Warm bacon grease in a large stock pot over medium high heat.
2. Add onions and green chile to the pot and saute for a few minutes.
3. Add tomatoes (with the juice from the can). Lower heat.
4. In a separate bowl, add ground beef and chopped corn tortillas.
5. Add a beaten egg to the ground beef and tortillas, along with the garlic. Combine well.
6. Add 4 cups of water to the onions, chile, and tomatoes. Add bouillon cubes and cumin.
7. Add chopped cilantro or coriander.
8. Roll the meat mixture into balls and drop into the stock pot.
9. Simmer over low heat for at least 30 minutes.

Happy eating!

Chile Relleno Casserole

I got this recipe from a friend of mine about 16 years ago. She and her mother hosted a baby shower for me before my oldest daughter was born, and this is what they served. It was a Sunday brunch, and nothing could have been more perfect than this casserole. Since then, I've made it for breakfast, lunch and dinner on every other day that ends in "y".

Here's what you'll need to start:



- 6 or 8 long green chiles, roasted and peeled. You can take the seeds out of you're a weenie.
- 4 oz. Monterey Jack cheese
- 8 eggs
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 8 oz. grated cheddar cheese



Before you start stuffing the chiles, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Done? Okay. Cut the Monterey Jack into slices. Next, take a paring knife and cut each chile lenghwise so you can stuff each one with the cheese.



It helps to have a dog as your sous chef. I don't have nearly that much crap to sweep up when Libby helps. Hi, Libby...Mama loves you.



Get the idea?



When you're done, line 'em all up in a greased 13x8 glass baking dish.



Next, toss 8 eggs into a stand mixer if you have one. I got my KitchenAid from my mom for my 30th birthday. It's now 10 years old. Do the math...I'm ancient. Now turn that sucker on and let it beat the heck out of those eggs. If you don't have a stand mixer, a hand mixer will do. If your dog is better trained than mine, make him hold the mixer.



That will give you time to grate the cheddar cheese.



When your eggs look like this, you're done! Pat yourself on the back. Celebrate with a glass of wine. I did. Before the second glass of wine, add the milk, flour and baking powder to the eggs and beat until smooth.



Next, pour the egg mixture over your chiles. Pay no attention that this photo is out of focus. Do you know how hard it is to pour something with one hand and photograph it with another?



This is what your lovely casserole should look like now. But we're still not done.



Remember all that cheddar cheese? Pile it on, baby.



Now you're close to being done. Pop that sucker into the oven and let it bake for 30 minutes.



Voila! Done. Inhale deeply. Take another sip of wine.

Now go do all those dishes.

Fire Crackers

My Grandma used to make these all the time. Whenever I start missing her, I bake a batch and my kitchen smells just like hers used to. She called them "Cheese Dainties". A friend of hers, Edie Tate, gave her a recipe for them back in the 50s. About 20 years ago, she passed it on to me, typed on an index card with some special notes on the back about how Edie lived well into her 90s, loved to garden, and was a passionate cook. Edie and my Grandma had a lot in common.

I've passed this recipe on to my friends and family, too. I call them Fire Crackers and they're pretty much the same, but with an added kick of cayenne. Grandma said mixing the dough with your hands was best, but she never lived long enough to enjoy a KitchenAid mixer. If you have one, it saves loads of time.

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups Rice Krispies cereal
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne
More cayenne to sprinkle on top (don't leave this out!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine flour, cheese, cereal, and butter in a large mixing bowl. Mix well and add in the salt and cayenne. Roll the dough into nickel-sized balls and place an inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (I'm not being snobby about the parchment; it will keep the bottom of your crackers from getting too brown. Genius!)

Using a fork, gently flatten each ball. Sprinkle the tops of each cracker with a little cayenne. More if you're feeling adventurous. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool. These crackers make great appetizers and go great with wine.

Wanna bite?

This makes my mouth water.



This makes my heart happy. My little girl, peeking over the kitchen counter to help.

"What 'cha makin', Momma?"

"Something yummy."



Yummy.

Road Trippin'...Chile Run

I don't care if I have a freezer full of last year's chile. When the fresh stuff is ready, I have to have some. Please feel free to offer 12-step program suggestions if you like.

We loaded the car (again) and headed north. If you live where I live (Southern New Mexico...we call it Heaven) the skies start to look like candy in the late summer. Can you believe I took this at 75 mph from the backseat of the car? True story. It's also true that my family thinks I need professional help. Don't we all, I say.

These are the Robledo Mountains. Once upon a time, my nephew called late on a Saturday afternoon and said he was going to drive to the top. We thought it sounded like a good idea, and tagged along. I'm glad we did. The view from up there is like nothing I've ever seen. Truth or Consequences skirts the northern view, the tip of Texas to the south, and all of the Mesilla Valley's glory in the middle. It's a sweet spot.


Last year we were lazy. We stopped at the first roadside stand off the Hatch exit that sold roasted, peeled and bagged green chile. Lazy, lazy, lazy. All I wanted to do that day was take it home, eat it, and wash it down with a Coors Light. I was raised right, man!

This year we went a little further in and took a right at Sparky's. You should all know where Sparky's is...hunkalicious green chile burgers. Or so I'm told. I have yet to eat one, but it's on my list. I just believe everything people tell me, and they tell me it's good! Just past Sparky's is Chile Fanatic, and after 10 seconds in this place, I was a believer.



I'll get to the chile in a sec. First, I want to show you around. Alright...we're done! Chile Fanatic is small, quaint, and only full of the things you can't live without.



And who doesn't need a replica of an ant made of stone and iron? Please give a round of applause to the model, my precious pea.



They also have some gorgeous ristras.



And some that come with bugs inside! Hi, Bug. Momma loves you.



The green chile at this place is some of the best I've ever seen. This is where you can get loooooooonnnnnnggggg chiles good for rellenos, and half a sack (roasted) was $10.



Don't judge me for turning my baby green. I just like the way I tweaked this photo, so I left it alone. I'm sure Photoshop aficionados around the globe are scoffing. Scoff away, I say! I still like it.



In case you have been out of the country for the past two decades, the official question in New Mexico is, "Red or green?" I think I'll take both.



We finally decided on a hybrid bag of Big Jim and Sandia. For the record, I could not do this guy's job. Granted, he gets to smell some pretty great stuff all day long, but he also has to stand next to this roaster, which is a raging inferno that will singe the hair right off your body. Don't ask me how I know this.



This, my dear friends, is blistered bliss.



But this is not. Poor stupid bird kept roaming into the street while we waited for Blister Boy to load the chile in the car. Did anyone ever find out why the chicken crossed the road? Someone please tell this stupid pigeon.



This year's trip to Hatch was a quick one, but it was fun. The best part was wandering home on the old road. I never get tired of seeing all the beautiful green farms against the candy blue sky.

Who wouldn't want a bite of that?