Older Bolder Life

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the Older Bolder Life Thanksgiving Friday Feast 2020: Texas Style Recado Turkey

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For millions around the country it’s soon to be turkey time again; and yep, for now, let’s not even think about COVID induced restrictions on your upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

Last year, I posted this damned tasty Ultimate Adobo Turkey recipe, one incredibly delicious – and certainly different from the usual – turkey recipe for your Thanksgiving table. In that post, I wrote about another spicy turkey we’d enjoyed as a family for years…

Years ago (and by that I actually mean several decades ago) there was a small quarterly magazine featuring spicy foods of the American Southwest published out of Albuquerque that we subscribed to.

It was simply titled Chile, in all honestly wasn’t that professionally done, but was packed with great recipes, tips and tricks for growing chiles of all sorts, and a smattering of advertising for all things chile-heads loved back in that day. Sadly, and I’m guessing in part given their laser-sharp focus on spicy foods of the Southwest, the magazine vanished in 2006 or 2007, leaving behind little or no trace of their prior work.

We folded a number of their recipes into our family food lexicon, including one for what they called a recado turkey, which was a turkey rubbed with a vinegar and olive oil based rub, actually more like a slather, rich with toasted and coarsely ground peppers and other big, vibrant spices.

Truth be told, it wasn’t my wife’s favorite turkey preparation – the flavors were pretty bold and could be almost astringent at times – but the kids and I loved it, enough that we’d often do two turkeys (especially if entertaining), one a classic brined and roasted bird, and then our special recado turkey…

Much to my chagrin, that old recado turkey recipe was lost in a move years ago, though with a bit of digging this fall, and some trial and error in our and Chef Libby’s kitchens, we’ve recreated that recipe with a TexMex twist (the addition of the dried New Mexico chiles).

The classic recipe (which Libby assumes was Oaxacoan in origin given the spice and pepper profile) used only dried chilaca chiles (a chile negro here in the States) and chipotles; we think the addition of the New Mexico chiles softens the astringency of the final pepper slather and adds a fruity note.

By the way, the garlic oil adds a wonderful additional flavor, though this works very with avocado or a good olive oil as well.

One caveat worth mentioning: the dried chilaca chiles (the chile negro) are of course more or less black in color, and when applied to your bird, the rub/slather is quite dark. It remains very dark throughout the cooking process, and when you remove your turkey from the oven, it will look burnt, but by no means will it taste burnt. The image below is my most recent recado turkey pre-cook before resting in the fridge overnight.

Finally, when cooking a turkey with a rich, dense slather or rub (like the two mentioned here), we both think using the technique of cutting the bird into pieces pre-roasting works far better for two reasons. One, it allows you to coat each piece more completely (and far more easily), and two, your bird cooks incredibly faster and more evenly. You make the call.

10-12 dried chilaca chiles (chile negro)
8-10 dried New Mexico chiles
2-5 dried chipotle chiles
2 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp Mexican oregano
5 whole cloves
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp distilled white vinegar (ACV in a pinch)
3/8 cup garlic oil (or healthy oil of choice)

Optional: 1-inch piece of cinnamon, crushed

12-14 pound turkey, see comment above

Toast the chiles using your method of choice (skillet, over live fire, or in a 325 degree oven) until fragrant; then stem, seed, and grind to a medium-fine powder in your trusty food processor. Pour into a small bowl.

Using your trusty spice grinder, grind the black peppercorns, cloves, and oregano until finely ground; add to the chile powder bowl.

Now stir in the vinegar, salt, and oil of choice to make a paste; if too thick, add a teaspoon more vinegar and oil as needed to loosen the mixture up. Now coat your turkey with a thin layer of recado paste and let rest uncovered in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

Now roast the turkey according to your routine (and pending whether you’re roasting a whole bird or one cut into pieces as we’ve suggested above); here’s how we do it around our camp.

If using the cut-up bird as I’ve imaged here – preheat the oven to 425, and triple foil line a baking sheet, then place a wire rack on the sheet. Add a cup of water to the sheet, then place the turkey so that the pieces are not touching. Roast for 10 minutes, rotate the pan, then roast another 10 minutes before reducing the heat to 300. Total roasting time for a cut-up bird should be in the range of 75-90 minutes pending its size. You’re looking for an internal breast meat temp of 150 and thigh meat temps of 170 on your trusty instant read thermometer.

Rest for 20-30 minutes before carving and go to it.

Don’t forget to save those recado turkey bones for an amazing turkey broth later.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Grilled Diablo Chicken Margherita

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I was chatting again recently with our chef buddy Libby in Austin a couple of weeks ago and the topic of the migration of her catering menu to her fall rotation came up.

She has a boatload of great ideas (always) and is a magician when it comes to putting together innovative and unique menus; her skills are truly a gift and I stand in awe of her ability to pull things together based on what’s fresh in the market and staying diligently attuned to her clientele in Austin.

Much to my surprise, and her’s as well, one of the most requested menus for her fall events is a Grilled Diablo Chicken Margherita, referenced by most clients as “one like they serve at Olive Garden”.

I had to admit to Libby that we haven’t set foot in an Olive Garden in over a decade, and she responded by saying it’d been even longer for her. (We both had plenty of exposure years ago to the food industry scuttle that OG cooked very little fresh in their kitchens, and they’ve reportedly had a long history of “issues” in the kitchen from a health standpoint. Nuff said.)

Her Grilled Diablo Chicken Margherita has a couple of interesting twists that are ridiculously easy for the home cook to incorporate; after all, who doesn’t like a tender, juicy grilled chicken breast or thigh topped with melted mozzarella and a great pesto?

Living in Austin Libby has a client base that’s tuned in to, and clamors for spicy foods – that’s in part why she and my family resonate so well.

That said, one of her versions of this dish uses a classic Italian seasoning mix (house made of course) with a healthy dose of fresh red pepper flakes thrown in. She tops that with a classic pesto, though she agrees with us that roasting the garlic and pine nuts is essential for a great pesto, and then uses this same tomato/basil/lemon juice relish or topping, the lemon providing a great burst of acidity to the dish. Now and then if good lemons aren’t handy, she’ll use balsamic vinegar as well for the relish.

Her more TexMex version of this recipe features an ancho chile based rub for the chicken with a cilantro pesto – we’ll have that recipe upcoming before too long, as well as recipes for the ancho rub and a great Italian spice mix too.

This recipe comes together quickly, and happens to be one of my wife’s favorite dishes to take to work for a quick lunch these days.

4 boneless chicken breasts
4 chicken thighs
2 tbsp olive or avocado oil
1 tbsp good Italian seasoning mix
1-3 tsp fresh red pepper flakes (optional)
8 slices mozzarella cheese
1/2 to 1 cup fresh basil pesto (try this one)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup basil leaves, chiffonade prep
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Good salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Rub the chicken pieces with your oil of choice and dust with the spice mix and red pepper flakes; set aside at room temperature while you fire the grill and complete your prep.

While the grill is preheating, combine the halved tomatoes, basil leaves in chiffonade, the lemon juice, and salt/pepper; set aside.

Now grill the chicken until done, 6-8 minutes per side, topping with a slice of mozzarella during the last couple of minutes. Covering your grill during the cheese melting window will make speed the process.

Pull the chicken, plate it, spoon on your pesto (up to 2-3 tbsp each), and top with the tomato/basil relish.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Ancho and Chipotle Glazed Beef Short Ribs

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Now that we’re beginning to see a hint of cooler fall weather, and inspired by some great recipes our friend Chef Libby in Austin has been sharing of late, we’ve been experimenting for weeks now with chile pepper based salsas and sauces to flavor up all sorts of dishes.

This recipe is a great example. A few weeks ago Libby and I were chatting about a recipe close to this one that showed up in Bon Appetit’s feed. We agreed their version was good, but was missing something; I thought it needed a deeper, fruit-like flavor note that anchos bring to the table.

Libby tried several different peppers (including guajillo and dried Californias by report) as well, though ended up agreeing with me that the ancho addition was the home run, and she also (being a Southern chef and knowing her catering audience in Austin very well) add just a bit of molasses too.

Hardcore keto folks will of course gasp at the inclusion of brown sugar (and the molasses), though I tend to agree with Mark Sisson that the occasional inclusion of any sweetener in a marinade or glaze isn’t in any way going to break the “carb bank” and disrupt your nutritional ketosis. Of course you can leave it out and rely on the natural sweetness of the anchos too.

This recipe was developed by the team at Bon Appetit apparently specifically for grilled short ribs, though we (and Libby) think it’s great on flank, skirt, and hanger steaks – all tougher, deeply-flavored cuts that need to be grilled just to medium rare and rested, then thinly sliced across the grain with care. Though I haven’t done so yet, I can imagine the sauce playing very well with pork tenderloin or chops, and I’ll probably make a batch around Thanksgiving when there’s a turkey on the menu…

The short ribs are a great call, and made a wonderful taco for these images, and even better bacon-wrapped poppers the next day.

6 garlic cloves, toasted (see below)
3-4 canned chipotles in adobo
1 presoaked, stemmed and seeded ancho Chile (2 if small)
1 tbsp chipotle adobo sauce
1/4 cup, scant, dark brown sugar (packed)
2 tbsp plain distilled white vinegar
1 tsp molasses, optional
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup water

1 and 1/2 pounds boneless beef short ribs (thicker the better)
1-2 tsp kosher salt
Optional: pinch of ground cumin, pinch of ancho chile powder
Avocado oil

To serve
Slaw of your choice – try this one
Red onion, cut into wedges through intact the root end
Avocado, small dice
Lime quarters
Chopped cilantro
Sliced radishes
Tortillas (gluten free or not)

Toast the garlic until charred, peel, then toss in the blender or food processor with the chipotles, adobo, soaked ancho chile, brown sugar, vinegar, molasses, kosher salt, pepper, and water. Blend until smooth, then set aside.

Fire the grill, and rub the short ribs with a 1 teaspoon or so of kosher salt, the optional cumin and ancho chile powder, then drizzle with the avocado oil and rub everything in.

Now grill the short ribs, rotating every 2 minutes or so, until crisp and browned – roughly 8-10 minutes. Now slather all sides of the ribs with the slather, turning every minute or so, for another 3-4 minutes until shiny and glazed.

Pull the meat, rest 15-20 minutes (finish the toppings), and grill the onion wedges in the meantime (trim off the root end when finished to separate the rings).

Now cut the short ribs into 1/3-inch pieces against the grain, and build that short rib taco drizzling a bit more of the adobo slather on to finish.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Spicy Cashew Chicken Stir Fry

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As the weather begins to cool even the slightest bit (dammit, it was 98 last Sunday here in North Texas) with the arrival of the early fall season, my lovely wife has begun to pester me a bit to queue up some of our favorite stir fry recipes in the upcoming meal plan.

This Spicy Cashew Chicken Stir Fry, easily made with toasted hazelnuts if you’d rather, is one that we’ve been cooking as a family for over two decades now, it’s quick, simple, and once you have some elemental oriental sauces in the pantry and fridge, doesn’t require a special trip to hunt down any rare or unusual ingredients.

Granted, this is very much not an authentic Chinese stir fry recipe; it’s very much Americanized, and offered without apology otherwise.

We love to load this one up with lots of fresh mushrooms and the spicy peppers, which impart so much more flavor to the dish if you stir fry them alone for a few minutes before adding in the mushrooms and green onions.

The fresh juice adds an impressive flavor boost and a burst of needed acidity; unless you’re running insanely tight on your carb intake, by all means don’t think twice about juicing that tangerine or orange for the recipe. And by the way, Nom Nom Paleo has a nice compliant hoisin sauce if you’re concerned about that ingredient as well.

We’ve taken this recipe all around the Northern Rockies camping with the family; just pack up the marinated chicken in a container, the wok sauce in another, and the fresh vegetables in a third. Easy peasy, and you’ll impress the hell out of your fellow campers / river runners / cross-country skiers / picnic buddies on the road.

Make as big a batch as you dare, it’s great left over and reheated too.

6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dark sesame oil
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts or cashews
14-15 medium button mushrooms
6-8 green onions, trimmed
12-15 dried Chile de Arbol chiles
1/4 cup avocado oil

Wok Sauce
1/3 cup freshly squeezed tangerine or orange juice
1/4 cup Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp dark sesame oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp tangerine/orange zest, minced

Cut the chicken into thin strips in bitesized lengths and add to a bowl with the hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, wine or sherry, and minced garlic. Stir to mix well, cover and marinate for up to 8 hours.

Toast the nuts in a 325 oven; watch carefully so they don’t burn.

When ready to cook, clean, trim, and quarter the mushrooms, and slice the green onions into 1-inch long pieces on a sharp diagonal.

Heat your trusty wok over high heat, add 1/2 the oil, and just when beginning to give off a little smoke, stir fry the chicken until it changes color; remove to a plate when done.

Reheat the wok, add the rest of the oil, and add the chiles, stirring for a minute before adding the remainder of the vegetables. Stir fry until the mushrooms just begin to soften and the green onions brighten in color (2-3 minutes).

Now stir in the wok sauce, the chicken, and the nuts, keeping things moving until all ingredients are well coated and the sauce has thickened a bit. Taste and adjust the seasonings, then serve hot on heated plates, platters, or bowls.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: (Primal) Texas Style Picadillo

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Growing up in the panhandle of Texas back in the day I had several friends whose families made picadillo routinely at home; we ate it in tacos, in big bowls over rice on cold, blustery days, in tortilla wraps, and even stirred into scrambled eggs now and again.

With the official transition to astrological fall this week, it’s time to begin to rotate some tasty soups, stews, chiles, and picadillo onto the menu.

Picadillo (according to the experts and food historians) claims its roots in a number of latin American countries, though a Filipino residency mate argued that his version from back home was the very best. Being from the Southwest and unabashedly heavily biased toward Tex-Mex and the hodge-podge of culinary history that makes up Texas cuisine, I tend to think of the picadillo we’re used to enjoying as a dish originating in Mexico and other countries on further south.

Picadillo is one of those simple, almost peasant foods that varies from region to region and family to family, and the version below should as always be considered a simple framework to start from.

We’ve tweaked the version I remember from days in the Panhandle to make it more Primal and healthy eating friendly, easy changes like grass-fed ground beef, healthier oil, and sweet potatoes instead of the classic russet. We also think it’s immeasurably better with just a bit of dried ground ancho chile powder in the skillet, and my favorite dish from years ago was dressed up a little with the addition of a handful of peas (though you’ll see raisins in a number of recipes floating around out there as well.

Don’t forget a bit of chopped cilantro, diced avocado, and a spritz of fresh lime juice at bare minimum to finish this one off…

1 lb grass-fed ground beef
2 tbsp avocado oil, divided
1-2 sweet potatoes of choice, peeled, 3/4-inch pieces
1 medium onion, small dice
1 medium poblano, stemmed, seeded, small dice
2-3 plum tomatoes, cored, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded, finely chopped OR
1-2 jalapeno peppers, stemmed, seeded, finely chopped
1 and 1/2 tsp kosher salt or 1 tbsp Diamond Crystal salt
1-2 tsp ground cumin
1-2 tsp ground dried ancho pepper (optional)
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 cups chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup peas, optional

To Finish
1/3 cup chopped cilantro, leaves and small stems
Sliced radishes
Diced fresh avocado
Crumbled cotija cheese (feta plays well too)
Fresh lime juice

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; now sauté the beef until browned but not fully cooked through (6-7 minutes). Remove the beef to a small bowl using a slotted spoon.

Back the heat down to medium, add the rest of the oil, and quickly sauté the potatoes until just beginning to brown (3-4 minutes); remove to a small plate and set aside.

Now add the onions, diced peppers, garlic, salt, cumin, and black and ancho peppers, stirring occasionally, and cook until the vegetables are just beginning to tenderize (4-5 minutes).

Add the beef (and any juices) back in, along with the stock and peas, and simmer for 15 minutes. Now add the potatoes back in, stir to mix, and simmer another 5-7 minutes. Now add the chopped tomatoes and simmer another 3-5 minutes.

You’ll know you’re there when the beef is fully cooked, the potatoes are just tender, and just about all of the liquid has evaporated off. Taste for salt and cumin, stir in the cilantro at service, and finish with whatever add-ons you have on hand.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Spicy Avocado Strawberry Salsa

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Now and again we stumble upon a flavor combination that just works.

It’s usually something that’s more simple than complicated, and often ends up being a riff on some food item that we’ve enjoyed for years and just decided to tweak a bit to see what happens.

Like many of you, we’ve enjoyed our share of fresh fruit salsa over the years. The food pairing that first comes to mind relates to our love of grilled fish tacos, and fish tacos scream for a great, spicy as hell, luscious fruit salsa, along with a mouth-puckering, vinegar-based slaw.

Hailing from Texas, peach salsas tend to dominate the fruit salsa landscape in these parts, but time spend in Western Washington back in the day taught us the potential of fruit salsas based on many other tasty fruits, including juicy summer strawberries.

There are lot of great strawberry salsa recipes floating around out there, though a few weeks ago I started playing around with adding avocado (diced) to a couple of different fruit salsa preps. After a number of tasty but texturally weak attempts, it became overtly clear that a barely ripe, pretty damned firm avocado was needed here, to maintain shape and preserve texture in the salsa mixture but still bring a strong avocado flavor statement to the table.

Adding avocado also calls for more heat (use your pepper of choice, but we like a combination of serrano and jalapeño here) and a bit more lime juice than you might have used before.

My lovely wife fought me for the last spoon of this recipe a few days back (dammit, I’m not kidding about that), and insisted this was the best danged fruit salsa she’d ever imagined.

Hot damn, that’s pretty high praise around our camp. Try this one while summer’s best strawberries are in…

Zest and juice from 2 medium or one large lime
1-2 tsp honey or maple syrup
1/4 tsp (or to taste) good salt

2 pints fresh strawberries, hulled, diced
1/2 large firm avocado, diced
1/2 medium red onion, diced
2 medium jalapeño (or serrano) peppers, stemmed, seeded, diced
2/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Optional
Grind or two of fresh ground pepper
Sprinkle of good paprika
Pinch of minced fresh garlic or granulated garlic

Get started by zesting at least one lime and juicing both; combine the honey or maple syrup and salt with the lime juice and set aside.

Now hull and dice the strawberries, dice the onion and jalapeño, and chop the cilantro. Stir all three into the lime juice, coating the strawberries well. Now prep the avocado and stir into the mixture, again coating the ingredients thoroughly with the lime juice.

Add any or all of the optional ingredients, adjust for salt and lime juice, and throw in the fridge for 10-20 minutes to let the flavors meld a bit. Stir once more before serving.

Enjoy, and be prepared to explain why you didn’t make a bigger batch.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 14 August: Green Chile Huevos Rancheros

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After making the astoundingly tasty and stupid-easy New Mexico Inspired Roasted Green Chile Sauce I posted last week, my lovely wife and I did a bit of experimenting in the kitchen to see how we could incorporate the sauce into our summer rotation.

I have to admit, one of our favorite preps has ended up being these Green Chile Huevos Rancheros, which we’ve now had for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner at various times during the past three weeks.

Like many of you, we’re big fans of a good huevos rancheros prep around our camp, and like many of you, we’ve eaten them in all sorts of configurations and with all sorts of ingredients thrown into the mix, and both “green” and “red” (with what some would argue is the more traditional red chile and tomato-based sauces).

And like many of you, we’ve learned to reach for some of the much better than just passable gluten-free tortilla subs available now; we’ve tried most of them and still find the Siete brand our favorite for taste and texture, even if they are a bit pricy. Hells bells, we’ll still make up a batch of these using a high quality, organic if possible, corn tortilla occasionally as well.

[An aside related to the comment above – training again at 61 for competitive track and field, also referred to by some as the geezer olympics, I find myself able to manage more carbs on the heaviest workout days than I’ve been able to tolerate over the past several years. This dish is a great “carb refeed day” treat when you need to refill glycogen stores or are just needing a bit more to make your day work…]

One of the great things about making huevos your way in your home kitchen is that you can build your huevos any way you want. These are so easy, and so intuitive to put together, what follows is really not even a formal recipe.

Most of the time, we’ll soften our Siete tortillas (or well-sourced corn tortillas) in a hot skillet with a splash of avocado oil or butter, then top with drained and spiced (typically heated with a bit of jalapeño or serrano pepper, minced garlic, cumin, and salt) organic black beans, soft-yolked fried eggs, and whatever sauce we’re using. My wife probably won’t be happy unless there’s some grated Monterrey Jack or cotija cheese on top, along with some fresh cilantro.

Don’t want to use a tortilla of any kind? Don’t, and just float the eggs in a puddle (or a bowl) of sauce. Think poached eggs are better? Go for it. This is a recipe that will let your creativity shine, and your allegiance to whatever huevos rancheros tradition you’ve built over the years to come through loud and proud.

Our catering guru buddy in Austin, Chef Libby, often adds a layer of crispy sweet potato chunks to hers, along with sautéed poblanos or Hatch chiles if she has fresh ones on hand (they’re in season now by the way). She also shared that when she occasionally makes these for a family meal for her catering team, she’ll thrown in some roasted or grilled chicken too…

The take home is that the sky is the limit in terms of ingredients, with the real flavor anchor being the sauce your using to tie everything together.

We’ll post a traditional red rancheros sauce at some point, but if you’ve not made a batch yet, you have to cook up a meal of these with the New Mexico Inspired Roasted Green Chile Sauce from last week, and dig around for fresh Hatch green chiles, they’re all over the DFW metro now, or order some right out of New Mexico here.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 7 August: New Mexico Green Chile Sauce

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Historians inform us that Kit Carson, rancher, soldier, fur trapper, guide, chili master, uttered these words on his death bed: “Wish I had time for one more bowl of chili.”

Of course I wasn’t there to hear those words spoken, but I’d bet just about anything that Kit was thinking about a big, steaming pot of “New Mexico Green” when he uttered those (in)famous words. Ask any chili-head about what the worlds “New Mexico Green” mean, and she or he will tell you stories of magical chiles which almost all seem to revolve around the Hatch Chile.

You’ve no doubt heard wine aficionados huff and puff about the terroir of fine wines, that special, sometimes almost ethereal uniqueness that combinations of plant genetics, geography, geology and climate (maybe even microclimates) produce in certain grapes.

You can be damn sure that same terroir principal applies to the magnificent green chile lovingly grown in New Mexico, and we’re talking most specifically the climate and terroir around Hatch in the southern part of the state, north of Las Cruces and El Paso.

Being profound chili heads around our camp, we’ve grown over a dozen chile varieties from seed even way up north in Montana, nursing them in basement heated and lighted grow racks, starting them in the middle of winter in early February and transplanting them with care in May. They were passably good, most of them, but still couldn’t/ can’t hold a candle to the bushel or two we ship over from New Mexico to roast and freeze every year, or the fresh Hatch chiles we can buy at our favorite markets starting about now in the late summer and early fall.

As a point of full disclosure, I’m not from New Mexico, though I was taught about and trained in New Mexico cuisine by a lovely woman over thirty-five years ago during my residency in Salt Lake City. She was the wife of a residency mate, born and raised in Santa Fe, and one of the most intuitive cooks in the kitchen I’ve ever personally watched work.

This is her recipe handed down from her mother and grandmother, and about as authentic as they come. Primal and paleo folks may bark about the 2 tablespoons of flour; we’ve tried and tried to make this work with gluten free flours, and it’s just not quite the same to our taste. (Sometimes you just have to use it, and we’ve long since stopped beating ourselves up for a tablespoon or two of flour to make a recipe work…)

Make a big batch and freeze some, it keeps for months, and it’s great to have some handy with the hankering for green chile strikes.

1 medium onion, chopped fine
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp avocado or olive oil
2 tbsp AP flour or your favorite gluten free sub
2 cups roasted NM green chile, stemmed, seeded, peeled, and chopped
2 cups chicken stock
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

In a large, stainless sauce pan, heat the oil over medium-low heat; add the onion and garlic and sauté for 5-6 minutes until soft. Note that you’re not trying to brown or caramelize the onion, just soften, turn down the heat if it begins to brown.

Stir in the flour and black pepper, coating the onion-garlic mixture well and cooking for a minute or two. Now slowly whisk in 1 cup of the chicken stock, keeping it moving until the flour has dissolved and the mixture is smooth.

Add the prepped chiles, the rest of the stock, cumin, oregano, and salt, then bring to a low boil. Reduce to a simmer and reduce slowly, stirring now and again, until your sauce reaches the desired consistency.

Will keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days if you don’t use it all up on the first run, and this sauce freezes like a charm, and is a treasure to have throughout the year.

Enjoy.