Eating like a Southwesterner

I'm currently in Los Angeles, California for an extended period of time.  And it hasn't taken me but a few days to start missing favorite foods from my home town of El Paso, Texas.  I can't deny that California has great food. Everything I have eaten here, in restaurants and from Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market, is flavorful.  Plus, with all of the organic labels on packages, I at least have the illusion of eating a healthy diet.

So what do I dream about when I am in Los Angeles eating Organic Stone Ground Blue Corn Tortilla Chips with Sprouted Amaranth, Quinoa and Chia Seeds with my brown rice pilaf?  I dream about...

PAN DULCE  There are plenty of coffee and pastry shops in the neighborhood where I am staying. This morning I bought a slice of zucchini bread but passed on the espresso coffee.  If I were in El Paso, I would buy a sack of pan dulce from a small local bakery and take it home to eat with French press coffee while sitting on our patio in the early morning.  

Conchas (Shells)

Pan Dulce, literally sweet bread, is prepared in many different forms.  The conchas above are my favorites.  Out of pure curiosity, I looked up a recipe for conchas, although I can't imagine making them myself when they are so readily available in my home town.  But just in case anyone would like to try their hand at this yummy breakfast treat,  here is a link to a good recipe.  Recipe for Pan Dulce  

FLOUR TORTILLAS

A couple of places in El Paso still sell homemade flour tortillas.  Even the commercial tortillas sold in supermarkets are good because lots of El Pasoans buy them, so the packaged tortillas are usually fresh. 

Tortillas in El Paso look like this.

Not like this.

 A package of flour tortillas in the fridge can be transformed into any number of snacks or meals.  For instance,

-Warm a tortilla in the microwave and slather it with butter for a quick snack.

-If you have time, put a little cheese in the tortilla before you warm it.

-If you have a few more minutes, cook the tortilla in a comal (griddle) on the stove rather than the microwave.  Much improves flavor and texture.

-Wrap your morning scrambled eggs and sausage or bacon in a flour tortilla to make a breakfast burrito.

- Many leftovers can be given a new life by being warmed and eaten in a flour tortilla.   A zucchini squash dish prepared with cheese and chile is a tasty filling.

-Tortillas can even be a dessert by filling them with a sweetened fruit filling and powdered sugar.  

-And my two favorite fillings for tortillas are either refried beans and cheese or these two ingredients plus a chile relleno. I prepare lots of bean and cheese burritos, but I must admit to buying the chile relleno burritos from a local burrito shop.  

I have admired lots of beautiful, slim people in my time here in Los Angeles. The angelenos appear to eat right and exercise. 

As much as I miss southwestern cuisine, maybe I need to consider supplementing my diet with a few more California organic dishes!  I can always add some long green chile to almost anything, I guess! And I can always up the goal on my Fit Band to over 10,000 steps.  When in Rome...

Emergency! Green chile shortage!

Fresh green chiles*

Long green chiles, also known as Anaheim or New Mexican chiles, are a staple food in our household.  But lately every time my husband Wayne goes to the freezer to take out another package of long green chiles, he gets a look on his face that reminds me of Scrooge McDuck taking money out of a savings account.  You see, I was the cause of our family possibly having a shortage of chiles this year. Here is how it happened.

In late August and early September, a Southwest tradition is to stock up on enough long green chiles to last for a year until the the next fall harvest.  Large quantities of chiles can be roasted

Chile Roaster

and stored in bags in the freezer with the blackened outer skin intact.  Then the chiles are available for use in any number of dishes by thawing the chiles under running water and peeling off the skins.

Roasted and peeled green chiles

The problem comes when deciding whether to buy mild, medium or hot chiles, which are of course subjective categories. It does little good to ask the grocery store produce manager how hot the chiles are. One man's mild chile is another man's medium chile.

Last year the grocery store was sold out of mild chiles, but the worker stacking the boxes of chiles for sale assured us that the medium were not very hot.  Not very hot?  Those chiles were so hot that eating them brought tears to my eyes and made Wayne's forehead break out in a sweat. From then on, those fiery chiles sat in the freezer taking up space. We threw them in the trash bin in August. What a waste of money, time and effort!

So when we restocked our chile supply last August, we chose boxes marked as "mild," but I had lost confidence in those labels.  My thought was to buy just a minimum supply, say 20 lbs. or so, because if the chiles turned out to be scorchers we might not even use that amount.  As luck would have it, these mild chiles were really and truly mild, and delicious I might add. 

We use green chiles in a variety of dishes:  salsas, quesadillas, chile con queso, stews, sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, burritos,  cornbread, and quiche, to name just a few.  Chiles are tasty made into chiles rellenos, or stuffed with guacamole and chilled.  I even add them to homemade cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving.  If I can't find a green vegetable to serve with a meal, I can unfreeze and serve green chiles by themselves as a side dish and feel virtuous.

Besides having an appealing flavor, chiles are loaded with vitamins, antioxidants, iron, and potassium.  They contain no fat or cholesterol.  Chiles can supposedly increase metabolism, release endorphins, and clear sinuses.  You can see why the smaller supply of chiles I insisted on buying last season will probably be depleted long before the next chile harvest time.

In penance, I suppose every time we need green chiles,  I will have to volunteer to drive to the grocery store, purchase fresh green chiles, roast them myself in the oven,

Chiles roasted in the oven

and peel them. After a few times doing that, I will have learned my lesson. Or (heaven forbid), I can always try to sneak in canned chiles, hoping no one will notice the difference.

Canned chiles

Next August, we will be buying a large supply, probably 60 lbs.. of fresh green chiles to freeze.  I wonder if I can talk our cats into eating green chiles, just in case of over supply?   

 *"Chiles" is the commonly used spelling in the Southwest.

Southwestern Early Springtime - Ahh!

Freezing temperatures.  Snow piling up on roadways.  Vehicles careening off freeways. I watched TV reports of winter weather punishing other regions of Texas this morning. And I gave thanks to my lucky stars that I live in the Desert Southwest, where Mother Nature is kinder.

Winter weather in other parts of the state

I must admit it was a bit chilly at my home in El Paso, Texas this morning at 42 degrees, but I threw on a jacket and walked outside to catch any signs of an early springtime.

I found this brave dwarf nectarine tree in the garden, all decked out in pink blooms as if it were going to an afternoon tea party.

Nectarine tree

The pyracantha bush in the back yard was putting on a display of red berries, anxious to show its beauty before the hot summer weather arrives.

Pyracantha bush

A large rosemary bush in front of the house was a blaze of blue blossoms.  I like to pinch off a sprig or two as I walk by for a whiff of aromatherapy.

Rosemary bush in bloom

A cherry sage near the front door was living up to its name by producing cherry red blossoms in abundance.  Such a hardy plant.  I must use it more in the landscape.

Cherry sage

And finally, in the front of the house, on street level where plants are pretty much on their own,  I found this cheerful cassia.  We had planted it last fall in hopes of finding a colorful yet hardy plant that would survive the blazing afternoon sun.  As I bent over to take a picture, the cassia rewarded me with a sweet aroma.

Cassia

I'm looking forward to Daylight Savings Time starting this weekend and to warmer days.  Spring may not arrive officially for 15 more days, but these hardy plants give me hope that spring is definitely on its way.