It just so happened that a recent purchase of a food processor, a La Creuset Dutch oven, and a cast iron skillet all by chance coincided with the birth of this project. The food processor makes an awesome puree of dried chiles that have been soaking in boiling water in an instant. The Dutch oven makes cleanup a breeze. And the cast iron skillet survived the accidental mess of keeping the water boiling way past the time when there was water in it!!
Arizona's "Sonoran Pork, Poblano, and Cream Cheese Chili"* introduced us to the green jalapeno powder we had to get through mail order. We loved the way the spice factor had a bite but didn't linger. It earned a 3.5.
I'm not going to go through all the chili recipes we made up to Nebraska, but would like to mention the fact that we were going to try to find the best cornbread recipe by experimentation to accompany the chilis. We've been unsuccessful so far. We found a spoon bread that had a nice flavor but didn't like the custard texture.
We learned that an unusual garnish can make or break a recipe. Anything from Frito corn chips to Terra vegetable chips to oyster crackers to horseradish pickles (this one broke the dish) to chow mein noodles to raw pumpkin seeds all lent an added touch.
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*Page 24, Chili Nation.
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