I Want All The Chile

Well readers, we're quickly approaching our moving date. I will be moving to a place where "Christmas" is merely a holiday and not a delicious combination of red and green chiles; where breakfast will not be some mixture of cheese, tortillas, chile and potatoes; and where the spiciest thing I'll be able to get is a pickled jalapeño. 

So for nostalgia purpose, Nate and I went to a New Mexican breakfast institution: Weck's. 

Weck's has 10 locations in the greater Albuquerque area and each location has a different theme. Yesterday we visited the location at 933 San Mateo Blvd NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108. This location is decorated like a 50s diner - pictures of The King and Marilyn Monroe cover the walls. 

Decor: good, while pictures of old Hollywood stars and Elvis cover the walls of this location, you can also find paper plates tacked up there. The addition of cheap decorations makes the decor a little tacky. 

Cleanliness: excellent. The tables were turned over quickly and the bathrooms were clean. 

Food taste: excellent! In addition to New Mexican favorites, Weck's also offers American breakfasts and everything is gut-busting portions. Believe me you will not leave hungry. I ordered their Bowl O' Papas which is exactly what it sounds like: a bowl of perfectly crisp yet tender hash browns smothered with cheese, Christmas chile and topped with an over-medium egg. Their green chile is flavorful and their red is smoky. Perfect compliments to the egg and potatoes. 

Food appearance: good, I've noticed that New Mexican food tends to just look like slop on a plate, very delicious slop but slop none the less. 

Service: excellent, the staff at Weck's is friendly, attentive and definitely there to serve your needs. Our waiter checked on us often and made sure we had everything we could need. 

Total: 13/15

I've been coming to Weck's since I was about 10 or 11 years old and will definitely be a restaurant I will miss when I can no longer go so it was definitely on my New Mexico restaurant bucket list. If you want huge portions at a great place, check out this New Mexican landmark and bring your appetite. 

Practice Makes Perfect!

I am elated to say that I have been given the incredible opportunity to showcase my culinary talents in the form of a cook test! Awesome, right? So in preparation, I invited over four people to have them critique me (and eat a free meal). 

So what is this dish? Spicy shrimp and polenta cakes. While these don't sound particularly difficult, shrimp is one of the easiest things to both under and over cook. Oh and you might find their legs still being attached to their bodies a little unnerving...at least I always did. 

I began by making the polenta because it will take the longest: it has to 1) become polenta, 2) be chilled enough to firm up and be cut with a biscuit ring and 3) be sautéed on both sides. It's a long process but a labor of love and totally worth it! 

Polenta: 

6 C water 

2 tbsp salt

1 3/4 C yellow corn meal 

3 Tbsp unsalted butter 

1 tbsp pepper 

2 tbsp cayenne pepper 

Bring water to a boil in medium pot, add in salt and gradually whisk in corn meal. Lower heat to medium-low. This is where the "instant" polenta definitely has an advantage over from-scratch polenta; you must whisk constantly until the polenta is thick and creamy. It takes roughly 15 minutes. Yes readers, you must stand over a hot stove and whisk for 15 minutes. After thickened, remove from heat and whisk in butter 1 Tbsp at a time until completely combined. Season with pepper and cayenne. 

Now, if you're just eating polenta you're done! Yay! However, if you're creating polenta cakes, transfer to a large and deep casserole dish (9X13) sprayed with cooking spray, load the dish up with the polenta, smooth over the top and put into the fridge for an hour to an hour and a half. The polenta needs to be firm enough to enable it to be cut with a biscuit ring. 

It looks like this

To make the cakes: 

Cut the firmed up polenta with a biscuit ring of your choosing (I used the 3 inch one) and put a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to the pan and then add in the cake. Sauté both sides until golden brown and set over a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. 

After I got the polenta into the fridge to firm, I began making a vegetable stock (I didn't want the polenta cake to be too dry or bland). 

Vegetable Stock:

1 Tbsp olive oil 

1 yellow onion, quartered 

2 carrots, peeled and cut in half 

2 celery stocks, cut in half 

1/4 C white wine, I used a $5 Chardonnay 

2 Rosemary sprigs

1 bay leaf 

Salt and pepper to taste 

3 1/2 C water 

Add olive oils to a large stock pot over medium heat, cook the onions alone until you can smell them, add in the carrots and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes. Deglaze the pot with the white wine. Add in rosemary and bay leaf and the water. Lower heat to low. Let cook for an hour or more. Before serving, remove the veggies, bay leaf and Rosemary. 

My house smells delicious. I want to eat the stock by itself! 

Spicy Shrimp 

2 pounds jumbo shrimp, shelled and deveined (I portioned 3 shrimp per person)

2 Tbsp butter 

Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon 

2 tbsp cayenne pepper 

Salt and pepper, to taste 

To shell and devein shrimp: use kitchen shears to cut along the back of the shell. Peel of the shell and the legs. When the "vein" is exposed, run water through it until it goes down the drain. Deveining shrimp is relatively easy, but time consuming. 

After your shrimp are deveined, put them in a bowl and season with salt and pepper, lemon juice and lemon zest. 

Heat 2 Tbsp butter over medium-high heat in a skillet. Once it is melted, add in the shrimp. Only cook 2 minutes per side. Look for the shrimp to form into a "c", c means cooked.

To plate: 

Place polenta in the center of a small plate, top with 3-4 pieces of shrimp on top of the polenta cake and drizzle a little bit of the stock on top. The stock shouldn't be used as a soup but rather a sauce. 

I am happy that I was able to get critiqued on this dish and get advice for improving it. I will be trying this recipe again next week with some changes so stay tuned, readers! 

Housewifery and Margaritas

One of the things that I miss doing is cooking regularly. I love to make big extravagant meals but unfortunately time often gets the best of me and I opt for the frozen pizza option more than I'd like to admit. Tonight to beat the frozen pizza slump I decided to make a meal that 1) I've never made before and 2) I'm definitely going to miss when we leave the Land of Enchantment (or in this case, the land of readily available green chile). 

Yes my friends, I am referring to green chile chicken enchiladas. I don't know why I've never tackled this feat before tonight, perhaps I was intimidated by shredding my own chicken? Afraid of a poor result? Thought it would take too much effort? Yes I suppose all of these factors played into my decision to severely delay trying these at home. However, I assure you that these are worth the wait. 

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas 

2 3oz chicken breasts, shredded (recipe below) 

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 clove garlic, minced 

Salt and pepper to taste 

2 C milk or water 

1 lb green chile, chopped (while fresh is obviously preferred, Bueno frozen does just fine)

1 1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese (or more because let's be honest here, cheese is incredible) 

12 corn tortillas (or 20 because who ever finds tortillas in a pack smaller than that?)

Preheat oven to 350. 

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine soups, garlic, seasoning, milk and the star of the show: chile. Bring to a boil. 

In an oven-safe casserole dish (I used a 9x9) pour a little bit of sauce into the dish; you don't need much, just enough to coat the bottom. Next layer tortillas, chicken and cheese. Repeat the layering until your ingredients are used up. 

Bake for 25 minutes. 

It may sound silly but I was afraid to make shredded chicken. I don't know why but I always thought it would be a difficult process or I would undercook it or encounter some other horrible kitchen disaster. I'm happy to report that all was well and I was rewarded for my efforts with 2 perfectly cooked shredded chicken breasts! 

Shredded Chicken 

2 3oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 C water 

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, place chicken and cover with water. Let chicken simmer for 15-20 minutes (or until there's no more pink parts). 

Remove from water and shred with 2 forks in a bowl (trust me, a bowl is easier than using a plate! At least this way everything is contained.) 

These extremely tasty enchiladas were enjoyed with Spanish rice (see my "Sunday Fiesta" blog for recipe), and jalapeño margaritas using my jalapeño-infused tequila (see my "Infused Liquor" big for recipe). 

I invited over two girlfriends to assist me in eating this New Mexican feast (and to be my surrogate husband since Nate was unavailable to join me) so thank you to Ashley and Cheyenne for letting me slave over a hot stove for you! 

I hope you enjoy these recipes, readers! And remember that you don't have to be afraid to make shredded chicken! 

Key Lime Pie

One of my absolute favorite pies is key lime. It's tart, it's sweet, it's decadent and has a tasty graham cracker crust. 

This recipe is from Ree Drummond, whom you know is one of my favorites (after Julia, of course) and is quick, easy and absolutely fabulous. 

Key Lime Pie 

1 9 in graham cracker crust

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

2 egg yolks 

1/2 C key lime juice 

1 Tbsp lime zest 

Preheat oven to 350. 

I know you can make your own pie crust and it's super simple and blah, blah, blah but sometimes you just don't want to break out the food processor when you can just buy a crust at the store. Use your judgment, readers. 

With a hand-mixer fitted with a beater attachment, combine all ingredients until thick. This should only take about 3 minutes. 

Pour into your prepared crust (store-bought or homemade) and bake for 15-18 minutes. You're looking for it to be a little less jiggly than when you put it in. 

Refrigerate for 2+ hours and enjoy! 

This key lime pie is refreshing and decadent! Enjoy readers! 

Infused Liquor

Sorry for the hiatus, folks! It's been a busy couple weeks. I went to Florida for work, last week was recovering from Florida plus celebrating our country's independence because 'Merica! 

This post isn't a recipe necessarily but rather liquor ideas because liquor is tasty and makes your organs happy (or at least numb so you think you're happy). 

I came across the idea of infusing liquor about 2 months ago at my big sister, Monica's birthday party. One of her friends made her infused vodkas. One was a citrus and the other green chile. I thought these were both great ideas but I wanted to change up the approach. 

Rosemary-Mint infused vodka 

1 C (or however much you want to infuse) vodka (we used Blue Star American vodka because someone at Total Wine suggested it) 

1 sprig Rosemary, intact

2 mint leaves 

This recipe couldn't be simpler: place Rosemary and mint in a mason jar, cover with vodka. 

Place in freezer for at least 3 hours. 

Yeah, it's really that simple. 

We used this delicious infused vodka in my adaptation of a summer lemonade. 

Summer Lemonade

1 can frozen lemonade concentrate, partially thawed 

1 bottle beer (whatever you'd like to use. I've used both Alaskan Summer Ale and Moosehead Lager) 

1 1/2 C infused vodka 

2-3 C water 

In a 2L pitcher, combine lemonade concentrate, beer and vodka. Fill pitcher with water. 

This summer drink is dangerous because it's so refreshing and delicious you forget that you're drinking an awful lot of alcohol, but believe me it's so fabulous and worth the risk of ending up under the table. 

Jalapeño Tequila 

1 C (or however much you want) tequila (I used Sauza Silver because it was sitting in my freezer) 

1 jalapeño, whole 

Slice jalapeño down the middle and remove the seeds and the ribs (these are the super spicy parts). 

Place your newly de-seeded jalapeño in a mason jar and cover with tequila. 

Place in freezer for 3+ hours. Remove jalapeños after 1 day because you don't want it getting too spicy. 

Enjoy this tequila in a margarita for a delicious peppery adaptation! 

Hope you like these ideas, readers! And remember to always drink responsibly. And remember in this country the legal drinking age is 21. 

Wise Pies

Ask anyone in Albuquerque about "Wies Pies" and you'll get one of two responses: "I refuse to eat them" or "I love them". Prior to eating their pizza on Saturday I had no opinion of Wies Pies. 

Now, why would someone refuse to try their pizza? UNM built a rather impressive basketball stadium, and given the imposing name: The Pit; what's the problem with that? Well they had some financial woes and thus needed to pay off the stadium costs. The solution? Sell the naming rights to a business. The stadium formerly known as The Pit is now known as the much less threatening "Wise Pies Arena aka The Pit". 

To reiterate, I had no opinions prior to trying Wise Pies. Nate and I were invited to a UNM Young Alumni event of beer tasting and Isotopes Baseball with snacks provided by Wise Pies. The beer was from Red Door Brewing, a brewery located at 1001 Candelaria Rd NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87101. We sampled three of their beers: a milk stout, a blonde and a pale ale. All beers were just average except for the milk stout. The milk stout was sweet and tasted like espresso. Delicious for any coffee lover. 

Now to the pizza! We were given samples of 3 of their varieties of pizza to try.

The first was their Fredo, made with green chile Alfredo sauce, roasted chicken, provolone cheese, Roma tomatoes and Parmesan. The pizza tastes exactly like chicken Alfredo; the cream, the cheeses goodness, God I think I'm gaining weight just remembering the taste. 

The second was the Luciano; roasted bell pepper marinara, pepperoni, provolone cheese and green chile. It was good but not particularly memorable. 

The third and final was the Gambino; roasted bell pepper marinara, provolone cheese, roasted bell peppers, red onions, kalamata olives, banana peppers, and Roma tomatoes. This pizza was probably my absolute favorite! The briny olives, the vinegar-y banana peppers, the bite of the onion! 

We enjoyed their pizza so much that we decided to go to their store to order our own pizzas because single slices of pizza weren't enough (plus we were given a $5 voucher coupon). 

Wise Pies pizza has three locations in Albuquerque and one in Rio Rancho. We visited the location at 106 Girard Blvd SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106. 

Decor: good, it's decorated modestly. There's an abstracted full wall mural of the space formerly known as The Pit  and tables and chairs are nondescript. The coolest thing about Wies Pies is that they are similar to a Subway in the sense that you can order pizzas your way. You can pick your crust (thin, traditional, gluten free, wheat) and pick your toppings. Another cool thing is that your pizza is served to your table in like 5 minutes and who doesn't love pizza going from toppings to being devoured by your mouth in 5 minutes?! 

Food Taste: excellent, we ordered two more pizzas; a second Gambino and a second Fredo because they were so tasty. 

Food Appearance: good, pizzas were cooked to perfection. 

Cleanliness: good, tables and floors were both clean. 

Service: excellent, one of the things that set Wies Pies apart is the service. The employee that brought out our pies made sure we had everything we needed and the employee who greeted us also showed exemplary service by walking us through the ordering options and taking a personal interest in our evening. 

Total: 12/15 

Now I can appreciate being upset about the name being changed, it is much less imposing but don't let that deter you from trying their truly delicious pizza. Believe me, you won't be disappointed. 

Opa!

Some of my favorite type of food to eat is definitely Mediterranean. The fresh and clean flavors of lemon, olive oil and garlic and lots of fresh seafood. Simplicity that disguises itself as complex. 

This week's recipe uses simple and relatively inexpensive ingredients to make a meal that is satisfying and makes you feel like you should be on the island of Mykonos sipping chilled white wine while looking at the crystal clear and blue water. Sounds nice, right? 

Greek Chicken 

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

1 lemon

1/3 C kalamata olives, pitted 

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 Tbsp Greek seasoning (1/2 Tbsp salt, 1/2 Tbsp oregano) 

5 cloves garlic, peeled and whole

1 Tbsp paprika 

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes 

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar 

Salt and pepper to taste 

Crumbled feta cheese, for serving

Pita bread, for serving 

Preheat oven to 450. 

Slice onion in thick slices and place in bottom of an oven-safe dish. Zest one lemon over the top of the slices and drizzle with olive oil. Add in whole PITTED  kalamata olives, believe me you don't want to sit down to eat this beautiful feast and break a tooth on an olive pit. Toss everything together. 

Cut chicken into 1 inch chunks and season with salt, pepper and Greek Seasoning. Arrange over top of onions. Tuck whole garlic cloves under the chicken breast to keep them from burning. Cook in oven for 15 minutes. 

After 15 minutes, line the outside of your dish with tomatoes and drizzle with vinegar and cook for another 15-20 minutes (or until chicken is cooked through). 

Serve on a pita, top with feta cheese and a squeeze of lemon and prepare for your tummy to be transported to Greece.

The onions get so sweet and soft and succulent I'd almost like to eat them just on their own (but everything else is great too). 

In search of a perfect wine toaccompany this fantastic meal, Nate and I decided to go wine tasting at the Don Quixote Distillery located at 236 Rio Bravo, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544. This distillery and winery have been featured in multiple publications such as Travel Channel and the Huffington Post and offer several types of wine and spirits. Most notable is their Blue Corn Vodka and Blue Corn Bourbon. Being a vodka drinker, I decided to try it as part of my tasting selection (5 tastes of wine and/or spirits for $5). 

The vodka smelled slightly sweet and the flavor was so smooth and clean! Normally I don't make it a habit of drinking vodka straight (I prefer mine with vermouth and olives) but this vodka was truly delicious! I will be buying a bottle and will savor every drop. 

After sampling ports, dessert wines, reds and whites we decided the best wine to pair with our meal would be their "Manhattan Project" (cuz they're in Los Alamos, get it?) which is a Sauvignon Blanc. This slightly dry and tart wine was the perfect compliment to the sharp feta, sweet onions and juicy chicken. 

We also took home a bottle of their Mon Cherie port wine, now I know what you're thinking, ports are super sweet and almost syrup-y. Believe me, I agree with you but this port is made with 100% cherry juice and honest to God, tastes like eating a handful of cherries. Tart and slightly bitter with a hint of sweetness. The bartender suggested pairing the port with something dark chocolate because it would resemble a cherry cordial, I was (and am) salivating at the thought. 

Enjoy this delicious meal and I really encourage you to try this recipe and prepare to be wowed! And also check out the Don Quixote Distillery for some truly unique wines and spirits.