Chipotle Cheddar Puffs

Is there any better comfort food combination than a cup of tomato soup plus a toasted cheese sandwich? Maybe yes, maybe no, but here's a variation that took top honors recently - Roasted Tomato/Red Pepper Soup with Chipotle Cheddar Puffs. Yes indeed, spicy gougeres win out over toasted cheese sammies any day.

While these little bites make amazing stand-alone treats, they outperform as sandwich "breads". Crisp, crunchy exteriors surround moist, soft and airy interiors. Chipotle and extra sharp cheddar cheese add an extra bite to the overall taste, but are not overly assertive. Add a thin slice or two of ham or turkey, a few green leafy things, perhaps a squirt of your favorite mustard or hot sauce and shazam! you have a delightful appetizer, tailgate or apres ski treat, and the perfect accompaniment to a warming bowl of soup. 

Savory puffs may look impressive, maybe even appear challenging to prepare, but really they are unbelievably easy to make. Only 9 ingredients and 5 short steps... 

1. Boil milk, water, butter and seasonings.
2. Stir in flour 
3. Whisk in eggs
4. Add grated cheddar 
5. Bake ... enjoy

See, ridiculously easy, though you don't have to share that fact with non-cooks. 

Cheese Puffs rock, no matter what the season. After a long holiday weekend of overindulgence, this soup and sandwich combo would be a welcome change from yet another round of turkey sandwiches and turkey soup. Not that you need an excuse to bake and share these little bites of deliciousness at any time.  

Chipotle Cheddar Puffs

makes 8 - 9 puffs

1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper (or cayenne or ancho)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 cup grated extra sharp Cheddar cheese

Before you begin: preheat the oven to 400 f. Grease a baking sheet or line with parchment or a silpat.

1. Add the first 6 ingredients (milk to chipotle pepper) to a heavy small saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. 
2. Reduce the heat to medium and add the flour all at once. Use a wooden spoon to beat the mixture until it comes together and leaves the side of the pan. Continue to beat for a full minute to incorporate all of the floury bits.
3. Remove the mixture to a bowl before adding the eggs, 1 at a time. Whisk in each egg thoroughly after each addition. 
4. Add the cheese and stir to incorporate.
5. Drop the batter in 8 or 9 equal portions onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the upper third of a preheated 400 f oven until crisp and golden, about 20 to 23 minutes in my oven.

Serve immediately, or transfer each puff to a baking rack to cool (this avoids a soggy bottom). If made a day ahead, store overnight in an airtight container and reheat for 5 minutes at 400 f.

Apple Quick Bread with Hatch Chiles & Nuts

What is sweet/hot/salty/nutty delicious?

Everything baked in the Fall when apple season and chile harvest overlap... or maybe it just seems that way. Apples, green chiles and nuts are meant to mingle in so many tasty ways.

Our apple-plus-chile cravings developed during a New Mexico road trip, spurred on further with the purchase of Santa Fe Hot & Spicy Recipe.

Cookbooks and local specialty food items are my favorite souvenirs when we travel and I hit the jackpot with this collection of nearly 400 original recipes from Santa Fe's restaurant chefs. Chef's comments and cooking tips add an additional wealth of information. Often I would rather read a cookbook than a novel. You too?

The recipe for Green Chile Pecan Apple Pie (from chef Maggie Faralla at Zia Diner) launched me into full-blown apple/chile baking love. What's not to love about sweet and semi-spicy apple pie with a pecan crust?! Now it seems I want to tweak any apple recipe, savory or sweet, and add green chiles. We may live in the Pacific NorthWest, but we still relish spicy SouthWest flavors. 

This apple/chile quick bread recipe is still a work in progress; the first two batches were too moist and fall-apart crumbly to be quickbread, but were not quite cakelike either. I'll add some cornstarch to the dry ingredients in the next batch to see if it will work as a thickener and create a tighter crumb. If not, then cake pans might replace loaf pans and the result will become a coffeecake instead of a sliceable quickbread. (grin) I forsee a lot of taste tests coming up soon.

Apple Quick Bread with Hatch Chiles & Nuts

1-1/3 cups AP flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon Penzey's Apple Pie Spice
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
2 cups apples, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped (2 medium Granny Smiths)
3 Hatch chiles (about 1/4 cup), roasted, peeled, deseeded, chopped and tossed with 1 Tablespoon of flour (or use a well-drained 4-oz can of roasted chiles)
1/2 cup dried currants (or golden raisins)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans or pine nuts)
1 teaspoon sugar mixed with 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (for topping)

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F.
2. Use cooking spray to coat 4 small loaf pans. Cover the sides and bottom of the pans with strips of parchment paper to help with pan release and lifting out. Spray the parchment paper.
3. In a small bowl combine the flour, salt, baking soda and spices.
4. In a larger mixing bowl combine the sugar and oil. Beat in the eggs, vanilla, almond & lemon extracts until well blended.
5. Stir in the apple chunks, chopped chiles, dried currants and chopped nuts.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients; mix with a large spoon until the flour is thoroughly incorporated.
7. Pour the batter evenly into the 4 prepared pans.
8. Bake on the middle rack in the preheated 325 F oven for 20 minutes. Slide out the oven rack and sprinkle the mixed sugar and cinnamon topping mixture over the top of each loaf. Bake for an additional 40 to 60 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
9. Remove to a baking rack to rest before removing from the loaf pan. Let the loaves cool completely before slicing. Wrap tightly in waxed paper to hold for several days without drying out.  

Fresh Hatch Chiles

Question: What could be more of a treat than five pounds of fresh chiles from the Hatch Chile Store in Hatch, New Mexico, delivered right to my door?

Answer: The same Hatch chiles, freshly roasted in my kitchen, of course! 

Two batches of chiles spread out on foil-covered sheet pans blistered in minutes under the broiler, a process intended to separate the tough skins from the chiles' flesh. (link) The pungent aroma of oven-roasted chiles perfumed the entire house, encouraging tasty visions of the many semi-spicy dishes to come. 

Once cooled, peeled, destemmed and deseeded the five pounds of fresh chiles filled (in single layers) five quart-size freezer bags headed for the freezer - plus a handful of chiles held in the fridge to enjoy immediately.

So far we have enjoyed: a chile and cheese frittata, chile and cheese grits, and an apple crisp with chiles. Next up will be apple, cheese and chile scones. Hmmm, I sense a breakfast/brunch pattern this week. Some recipes to follow... whenever.

Search "chiles" on this blog and you'll find them used in recipe after recipe. Fresh chiles (poblano, jalapeno, Anaheim, etc.) are a frequent ingredient choice, some sauces call for reconstituted dried chile pods, and jars of single-chile crushed or ground spices (aleppo, ancho, cayenne, chipotle, etc.) fill other flavor-layering needs. I prefer mild-to-medium heat while RL relishes a hefty sweat-on-the-brow impact, but we both agree that we do love chiles.

Power Outage Two-Pork Chili

Power outage?!? here in Seattle? Yes, indeed. Forecasters have broadcast warnings across the Pacific Northwest, warning residents to brace for some really ugly weather in the next several days, with an approaching series of three storms holding the potential for high winds and widespread power outages. While not as extreme as the recent hurricane warnings along the East Coast, these storms might be historic for our region... maybe...  Those warnings sent me to the freezer to see what might spoil during an extended electrical outage. Luckily the freezer was fairly empty, a rarity around here.

Several packages of Mexican chorizo and some pork neck bones prompted this freeform batch of pork chili which utilized random pantry ingredients already on hand. Chili will be easy to reheat using a propane single-burner or even on the barbecue in case of a power outage, or can be packaged into quart containers to freeze if we don't lose power. It feels like a win-win solution, but I really hope the forecasters get it wrong. RL really hopes he's not the one outside on the deck trying to keep the barbecue lit.

We sampled the chili last night, adjusting spicy heat and flavors to please both of us, and declared the recipe a keeper. It will undoubtedly be even more flavorful tomorrow after the beans soak up more broth and the flavors blend overnight. A few scrap paper jottings noted the ingredients and quantities I tossed into the pot, so there is a chance of repeating the recipe... maybe. Ah, but I do like to tinker with ingredients and flavors in each new batch of chili, don't you? 

Power Outage Two-Pork Chili

(recipe adjusted for a smaller batch)

12 oz Mexican chorizo
1 generous swirl of oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
4 largish sweet mini peppers, diced
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
1 heaping teaspoon smoky paprika (pimenton)
1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder
3 cans diced tomatoes, low sodium
2 1/2 pounds pork neck bones
3 cups chicken broth, low sodium (more as needed)
2 cans (15 oz) black beans, low sodium, drained & rinsed
2 more cans black beans
1 package (15 oz) frozen SW Blend (corn, beans, poblano chiles, red peppers, onions)
1/4 cup juice from a jar of Mezzetta's Tamed Jalapeno Peppers
Optional toppings: sour cream, shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese, diced avocado, diced green onions, jalapeno rings, taco chips, lime wedges, etc.

Use a heavy-bottomed kettle and brown the chorizo over medium heat; remove from the pan, drain the grease and set aside. Wipe out the pan to remove the spicy chorizo grease. Add oil to the pan and saute the onion, peppers and garlic. Add the seasonings, cumin through chile powder, and cook until fragrant. Return the chorizo to the pan; add tomatoes, pork neck bones and enough chicken broth to cover. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and cook partially covered at a low simmer until the pork is ready to fall off the bones (about 2-1/2 hours).

Remove the neck bones from the pot; let sit until cool enough to handle and pull the meat from the bones. Discard bones, rubbery fat, tendons and other strange-textured bits. This yielded about 2 cups of meat to add back into the pot.

Add the shredded pork, the 2 additional cans of drained & rinsed black beans, a package of frozen Southwest Blend frozen vegetables and 1/4 cup of juice from pickled jalapeno peppersj back into the pot. Cook over medium-low heat to warm through. Taste and adjust seasonings to suit; add more chicken broth if needed to adjust consistency. RL will reach for the salt and a bottle of hot sauce... always... guaranteed.

Chili Verde Soup

It's always interesting to see what the husband brings home from the grocery store, even when sent with a list. I organize the desired items by department - produce, dairy, meat, frozen, bakery, etc. - but we can still end up with a few surprises. "Sprouts", for example. I had bean sprouts in mind but he came home with Brussels sprouts instead. Oops, I should have been more specific. Quick, revise the dinner menu! "Steaks" were intended to be the beef strip loins that were on sale, but he found a great pork bargain of Buy One, Get Two Free. Suddenly we had a lot of pork shoulder on hand. This impromptu soup was inspired by his recent shopping adventure. Yum, it was welcome comfort food on a stormy Seattle afternoon.

A Peppy Chili Verde Soup

1 Tablespoon canola oil
3 lbs pork shoulder steaks, cut in large chunks
salt and pepper to taste
1 large white onion, sliced into thin wedges
2 poblano peppers, roasted, peeled & deseeded
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 Tablespoon smoky paprika
1 can green enchilada sauce
3 cups low sodium chicken broth (more as desired)
2 oranges, cut in half through their middle
2 cans beans (red or black) rinsed & drained
1 lime cut in wedges to serve at table 
1/2 cup shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese
 lime tortilla chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 F.
Add oil to a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven and heat to shimmering over medium-high heat. Add the pork in several batches to avoid crowding and brown on both sides. Remove to a plate or bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Add the onion, pepper slices and garlic to the pot; stir until fragrant; cover and sweat for 5 minutes over medium heat.
Uncover and return meat to the pot. Add the next 6 ingredients, oregano through oranges, to the pot and stir to combine.
Cook in preheated 325 F oven for 2 hours or until meat is tender.  Stir in the beans and return to the oven to heat through (or use the stovetop). Add more broth if you prefer a soupier soup. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Ladle into warmed bowls and serve with lime wedges, shredded cheese and lime tortilla chips (optional)
This soup definitely gains in flavor after resting and reheating.

Tex-Mex Chile Cheese Bean Dip

Bean Dip in a Hurry

“Company’s coming… early!”  I needed a quick, hearty appetizer to feed some hungry fishermen after the day’s successful fishing trip. Dinner prep was already underway, but I knew they would arrive ready to snack on something... anything. Luckily the fridge held a gallon Ziploc bag full of red beans, already cooked and left from my chili-making venture a few days before. This impromptu dip recipe blended many typical Tex-Mex ingredients, a concoction based on whatever was available in the galley. Mixed and heated in mere minutes, the zippy dip was an unexpected hit while the Capt prepared the barbecue and the group retold the day’s fish tales. An unexpected hit? yes indeed. One guest remarked it tasted better than their regular chili and they would eat it by the bowlful for lunch.

I haven’t tried it for lunch and probably won't - I like my chili chunky. Nonetheless the dip would make a great bean and cheese burrito, a peppy topping for a chili dog, or provide a tasty base layer for a dynamite tostada or quesadilla. Hmmmm, or how about slathering some warm dip on a heated tortilla, then layering some red or green salsa and a cooked egg for breakfast? Ole! Now I had better start blending another batch of bean dip.  

Tex-Mex Bean Dip

With Chiles, Cheese and More

Yields about 3 cups 

2 generous cups cooked red beans (or 2 cans)

1 poblano pepper, roasted, peeled & chopped (or some canned jalapenos)

3 tablespoons green onions, chopped

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

2 large roasted red peppers (or 1 medium jar)

1 fat garlic clove, minced (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)

½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped (or 1 tablespoon dried)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon smoked paprika (pimenton)

1 teaspoon Penzeys Chili 9000 (or substitute dried chile powder) 

½ teaspoon salt

mounded ½ cup PepperJack cheese, small dice

Several splashes of Green Tabasco, more or less to taste

 

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings and texture as needed. Spoon into microwave-safe serving bowls. Cover with plastic wrap and heat until bubbling and cheese has melted.

Serve dip with tortilla chips or fresh vegetables, or cover and hold in refrigerator.

Note: guests remarked it tastes better than their regular chili and they would eat it by the bowlful for lunch. Just sayin...

 

Spinach Dip with Artichokes, Cheese and Chiles

It all began with a well-traveled 1-pound bag of frozen spinach... seriously, well traveled. The label read "European Spinach" although it was packaged in China. I purchased it in British Columbia, stored it in the bottom freezer drawer throughout our 2000 nautical mile cruise in southeast Alaska, returned it to B.C. and finally thawed it out this week. Packaged in China? what was I thinking?! Likely I was in a last-minute provisioning rush and didn't pay attention to place of origin when purchasing. 

One pound is a lot of squishy, defrosted spinach; far too much of that healthy green vegetable to fill a dozen mushroom caps, stuff a few chicken breasts or even fold inside spanakopita. Spinach smoothies wouldn't be popular with RL for breakfast, neither would spinach quiche, spinach omelettes or a frittata. I searched the galley for inspiration, struggling to resist the temptation to quietly dispose of the bag and move on. Why had I even brought frozen spinach on board?!

A quick tour of the galley turned up a block of cream cheese, a smidgen of sour cream, a carton of Parmesan shreds, several green onions, one tall tin of artichoke hearts, a can of whole green chiles, one large lemon, a handful of garlic and a pocket-sized bottle of green Tabasco sauce. Aha! that old standby spinach dip... or a riff on my favorite Costco artichoke and jalapeno dip... or some combination of the two. I went with the combination impulse.

Layer most of the above items in the food processor, pulse to combine, taste and adjust. Let the machine do the work and focus on the taste testing. The fun came at the end when it was time to adjust the texture and play around with flavors. This version of spinach dip rated two thumbs up served cold with raw vegetables and crackers, but really drew raves after being heated in the microwave. YUM! 

Drat! I still had too much of a spinachy good thing for the two of us to enjoy as an appetizer snack. Fast forward to the next day (and my next post) when this versatile Spinach Dip morphed into Spinach Pesto Pasta. 

Spinach Dip with Artichokes, Cheese & Chiles

1 large 1-LB bag frozen spinach leaves, thawed
1 block cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise (or more sour cream)
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 bunch (6-8) green onions, green & white parts chopped
1 large can artichoke hearts, water drained & discarded
1 large can diced green chiles plus juices 
zest and juice of 1 large lemon
4 cloves garlic, peeled & minced
green Tabasco sauce to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Toss everything into a large food processor bowl. Pulse repeatedly to incorporate; pausing occasionally to scrape down the sides.
Transfer to a heatproof serving container. Warm briefly in a microwave or heat in a 350 F oven until bubbly, about 20 minutes.  Or serve chilled or at room temperature.