Food or ambiance - which do you prefer?

When you dine out, are you more attracted to the food being served or the ambiance it is served in?  Not being much of a foodie myself, I vote for the ambiance.

My husband, Wayne, and I recently went to a local restaurant in our hometown of El Paso, Texas,  Our huevos rancheros were a hearty breakfast dish.

Huevos Rancheros

But oh, the restaurant decor.  It had all of the elements of traditional Southwestern style that brought back memories of visits to our neighboring country, Mexico.

Forti's Restaurant, El Paso, Texas

Because we arrived at the restaurant just at opening time, we were the second customers of the day. We had eaten at this longtime, family-owned restaurant several times before, but because the restaurant was almost empty at this hour, it was the first time we felt free to roam around and admire the decorative touches.

Forti's is a large establishment located in an older part of the city.  A palm tree  (yes, we do have a few palm trees in El Paso!) sets a tropical mood.

Entrance to Forti's

Coffee and complimentary tostadas and salsa began the meal as we began to appreciate our surroundings.

Chips and salsa

Tiled fountains are ubiquitous in Southwestern decorating.  We have one in our own courtyard and enjoy the soothing sounds of falling water most seasons of the year.  Fountains and courtyards come from centuries of Arab occupation of Spain through Mexico as the conquistadores came to the New World.  I see many fountains in front yards in El Paso, most of them even without water, a strong statement about the place of fountains in our Southwestern psyche. 

Traditional fountain

Statues of St. Francis of Assisi also often appear in Southwestern landscapes.  St. Francis is protector of animals, which makes me covet a statue for our garden even more.  We found such a statue once in Central Texas at a reasonable price but passed it up, a lingering regret!

St. Francis of Assisi

A replica of the famous Aztec calendar in Forti's reminds me of the civilization that flourished in Central Mexico when the Spaniards arrived in the 17th century.

Aztec Calendar

A round, convivial table in the bar with a mural on the wall takes me back to my younger days

when I ordered Tecate beer with lime and salt or Cuba Libres.  Nowadays I will have to enjoy the atmosphere with club soda and lime but perhaps even more with all senses intact and no morning hangover.

Bar in Forti's

And I had to take a picture of a neon sign for Pacífico beer for old times sake. I remember when I first started trying to recreate Southwestern style and collected several colorful beer signs of different brands of famous Mexican beers.

Neon beer sign

So if you are trying to give a nod to Southwestern style in your house or yard, you may be pleased at how just one of these traditional elements will start you daydreaming about Spain, Mexico and the Desert Southwest. I'm ready to return to Forti's the next time a little escapism from humdrum life is on the social calendar.

Three Southwestern Holiday Dishes

Try as I may, I cannot make it through the end of the year holidays without indulging in some special foods.  And living in the Desert Southwest, these foods usually have a special southwestern flair. Here are three dishes that my family enjoyed recently.

Tamales and winter holidays are made for each other. Tamale shops around El Paso, my home town, gear up in December for requests for large orders of tamales. Other more traditional families host tamaladas (tamale making parties) with family and friends forming a line to assembly the tamales before placing them in a large pot to steam.  (As an ex-Spanish teacher, I am a bit bothered by not using the more correct Spanish version, tamal in the singular form, tamales for plural, but I am guessing most readers will recognize "tamale" over tamal.)

This year my husband, Wayne, and I opted for the easier route and stopped by a nearby Pepe's Tamales shop to buy a few tamales for New Year's Eve.  Still, decisions had to be made.  A half-dozen or a dozen?  Red chile with pork, green chile with chicken, or green chile with cheese? We walked out of the shop with my favorite, six green chile with cheese tamales.  

We heated the tamales in a steamer on the stove and served them with pinto beans, Spanish rice, a dab of guacamole, and mango salsa.  The new plates that were a Christmas present were a perfect backdrop for a delicious meal.  

  

Another special dish we prepared this holiday season was Eggs Benedict.  Wayne is addicted to Eggs Benedict ever since he had a wonderful version of this dish in Dublin, Ireland.  I bought him an egg poacher for Christmas so that the eggs would be a snap to prepare, and we could concentrate on making a tasty sauce.  The egg poacher came with a sauce recipe. It was acceptable, but not as delicious as Wayne remembered. (Isn't that often the case with food memories?) Eggs Benedict can be transformed into a southwestern dish by putting any number of sauces made with chile on them. The eggs were served on our old Mexican dishes, which were soon to be put away to make room for the new ones.

 

Red enchiladas were also on the menu at our house this holiday season.  Of course, one can eat red enchiladas any time of the year, but somehow the rich red color of the sauce makes this dish especially appropriate around Christmas time.  The quality of the red sauce is key.  I sometimes spend an afternoon in the kitchen and make red sauce from scratch, that is, starting with the dried chile pods.  This time, however, Wayne whipped up a sauce using red chile powder.  He served the enchiladas with a side order of refried beans and a few leftover little sausages on some metal plates with wooden bases that we found at an antique shop many years ago.  

All this talk of food is making me crave something spicy, but unfortunately the holidays have just ended, and the pantry is bare except for a large jar of peanut butter.  I'll have to have a slathering of it on an apple slice and dream about a great dish to celebrate Valentine's Day, which seems very far away.

Liven up Mondays with a taco

Monday nights can be a real drag.  The work week stretches out in front with the weekend in the far distance.

Recently, my husband Wayne and I decided to try to cure the Monday blues by going to a local restaurant that advertises "Taco Monday."

Tacos are an integral part of Southwest culture.  Almost any ingredient can be put into a taco shell (a corn tortilla, crispy or soft) to qualify as a taco. And tacos are the ultimate hand-held food.  No one would ever consider eating a taco with a knife and fork.

The Riviera Restaurant in El Paso, Texas has been around a long time, as you can see from the sign on the outside of this restaurant.

The interior of the restaurant is fairly typical of many El Paso restaurants, except for the original art on the walls.

A large sign at the entrance assured us we had come to the right place on the right evening for tacos.

My eyes went to the vegetarian choices - bean, potato, guacamole and avocado, while Wayne, the carnivore, focused on beef, chicken or al pastor (pork). 

Our server brought the requisite tostada chips and salsa to the table and took our orders.  You can see by the picture below that Wayne and I were in a race to see if the salsa was authentic.  (It was.)  One can usually judge the quality of a Mexican food restaurant by the flavors in the salsa. 

El Pasoans are so spoiled with free chips and salsa that any local restaurant that actually dares to charge for this dining staple is suspect of not being quite authentic enough.

The taco plates arrived, served with lettuce, tomato, and grated white cheese on the side.

The meal had been so inexpensive that we decided to top it off with our favorite dessert - flan.  Flan is a baked custard with caramel sauce, and it is truly delicious.  It was so tasty, in fact, that I forget to take a picture until we were halfway through the dessert.

Many local restaurants advertise "Taco Tuesday", but I am glad the Riviera gave us a chance to go out on the town on what would have been otherwise a pretty boring Monday night!

Branching out in your home town

Auckland, New Zealand,

Los Angeles, California,

 and London, England

are world cities I plan to visit again and again. I love the fact that each of these cities is composed of distinct neighborhoods, and each neighborhood offers its own atmosphere, culture, shops, music, and restaurants.

Would it be possible for my husband Wayne and I to discover a new neighborhood in our home town of  El Paso, Texas, where we have lived for many years?

Wayne had recently done business with a tool repair shop in a section of our city that we seldom visit, an older, established neighborhood near the downtown area.  The shop owner recommended  "El Jacalito"  ("The Hut")  as the best restaurant in the neighborhood.

As part of our ongoing research to find the best huevos rancheros in the city, we decided to seek out "El Jacalito" for breakfast.  (For the uninitiated, huevos rancheros  are eggs served on a fried corn tortilla and topped with some variety of chile sauce.)

The exterior of the restaurant looked promising as we drove up and parked.

And the interior had a decorative 1880's type metal ceiling that is often found in older buildings in the Southwest.

The restaurant walls were colorfully decorated.

 "El Jacalito" appeared to be a local eatery, with solitary diners, groups, and families all having a quiet breakfast.

The service was swift and efficient, with new steaming breakfast dishes emerging quickly from the small kitchen located at the back of the large dining area.

Wayne couldn't resist the traditional huevos rancheros plate.

  I ordered the migas, scrambled eggs with chiles, onions, tomatoes, and tortilla chips.

The food was delicious, but the best part of the meal was having it in a different restaurant located in a different neighborhood of our town.  

It wasn't Auckland, Los Angeles, or London, but it was a new cultural experience for us.  I'm now convinced there are more adventures to be had closer to home if we are willing to explore and place our trust in serendipity. 

Enjoying El Paso Texas in 2014

"There is nothing to do in El Paso, Texas," is the common complaint I hear from local residents and visitors alike.  El Paso (my home town) is a city of about 700,000 residents, located on the US-Mexico border at the westernmost tip of Texas, with an additional border with New Mexico.

My husband Wayne and I have friends and relatives in much more glamorous locations, London, Los Angeles, Quebec, and I love to visit them.  But looking back over our photos from 2014, I found many good memories of places and activities to enjoy in El Paso also. Here are a few I would like to share as an unofficial ambassador for my home town. 

Valentine's Bakery

A diet splurge with a visit to Valentine's Bakery is a lot more fun than going through the drive-through at a donut shop.  Wonderful aromas of Mexican-style baked goods, tortillas, and tamales and a bustling staff all create an atmosphere of flavor anticipation.  My favorite pastry is a concha, shaped like a shell with a sugery coating.  Delicious with a breakfast cup of coffee!

And before we leave the topic of food, the complimentary basket of warm tostadas and numerous salsas served at most local Mexican food cafes is a treat we local residents take for granted. The only challenge here is not ruining one's appetite for the main meal.

Tacos Chinampa Cafe

If we are craving a gourmet cup of coffee, a new cafe, the Hillside Coffee and Donut Co., offers all of the latest coffee-brewing techniques and flavors.  I must admit that we agreed that "we didn't feel like we were in El Paso," but maybe El Paso is on its way to being a bit more hip.  I do know that I need to study up so that I can be a little more imaginative in my coffee order for our next visit!

Hillside Bakery and Cafe

Inspired by the World Cup coverage on TV, we attended a professional soccer game between two teams from Mexico held in the Sun Bowl Stadium at the University of Texas at El Paso. Taking our cues from the many experienced soccer fans, we yelled in Spanish at appropriate times.

Soccer game

Another sports-related experience was a visit to Hueco Tanks, about thirty minutes east of El Paso. Our son has become interested in bouldering and wanted information about the site.  We learned that Hueco Tanks is a world-famous location for rock climbing, with reservations necessary many months in advance.  All we were able to experience for this visit was the scenery, but it was spectacular.

Huevo Tanks

As 2014 drew to a close, we got into the holiday spirit with two events, located at opposite ends of our city.  The first was the annual Christmas Fair held at Ardovino's Restaurant in Sunland Park, New Mexico.

Santa at Ardovino's

The other event was a Christmas celebration in the small historic town of San Elizario, located a few miles east of El Paso.  We ate homemade tamales, listened to live music, and watched a reenactment of a posada.

San Elizario Mission decorated for Christmas

Maybe finding good entertainment in El Paso takes a bit of searching, a true interest in other cultures, and an openness to new experiences, but some memorable experiences are out there waiting for us. 2014 was a great year to be living in this West Texas city.

  

Five good reasons to live in El Paso, Texas

The recent howling spring winds blowing dust and debris everywhere in my home town of El Paso, Texas prompted me to write this post.  I must think positively, Pollyanna-like.  I've got to remember why I live in El Paso, Texas.  Here are five good reasons that come to mind, in no particular order.

No. 1.  El Paso is located on the border between Texas and Mexico.  Some may use the term 'border city' as a pejorative term, but I prefer to think of El Paso's location as a two-for-one deal. Citizens of El Paso have all of the advantages of  American-style living with the bonus of the opportunity to experience Mexican culture close up.

No. 2.  Great Mexican food.  I do believe that El Paso is the Mexican food capital of the world. Once a person becomes accustomed to the special flavor of our border Mexican food, no other Mexican food can match it. Enchiladas made with thick red sauce, sauces made for dipping with warm tortilla chips, fluffy handmade flour tortillas, need I go on?  And my husband and I find new small restaurants popping up constantly in El Paso where you can imagine that your aunt or grandmother is in the kitchen preparing a special spicy dish just for you.

No. 3.  We have mountains!  Beautiful mountains that change colors and create a backdrop for breathtaking sunsets.  "Sunset alert," we call out in our household to remind each other to take a few minutes from a busy day and walk outside for a view towards the west.

No. 4.  Two languages, English and Spanish, that swirl around, mix, compete, and find that one can't live without the other one.  Two vocabularies, two grammars, two accents.  What richness!

No. 5.  Western heritage and history.  We can sit in the Dome Bar of the historic Camino Real Hotel in downtown El Paso and imagine times long past when revolutionaries and cattlemen met in that very location, making important deals.

Within two hours, we can drive to the small western town of Van Horn,Texas and spend the night at the historic El Capitán Hotel,

or to Marfa, Texas and stay at the Hotel Paisano,

both decorated beautifully with heavy wooden furniture and courtyards and gardens.

 And one of my favorite places in El Paso is the Magoffin Home, a state historical site located near downtown.  It only takes a few minutes after stepping inside for me to be mentally back in the 19th century.  

So, I'm focusing on the positive and forgetting those gale force winds for the time being at least.  Surely they can't last much longer? Surely?

Thanksgiving with a touch of the Southwest

Turkey and dressing again this year for Thanksgiving, I ask?  Yes, and sweet potatoes, green beans, rolls, cranberry sauce and both pumpkin and pecan pies, my family replies.  Not much room for innovation here.

But I'm going to sneak in a Southwest appetizer - Pico de Gallo.  The literal translation is "Rooster's Beak." Maybe the name comes from the 'pecking' you get from the jalapeño peppers in this fresh salsa.

Pico de Gallo is one of the few dishes I can prepare without slavishly following a recipe. So, it's hard to share the recipe, but I'm going to give it a try.

Here are the ingredients.

fresh jalapeño peppers

roasted and peeled green chile peppers

fresh tomatoes

red onion

garlic

fresh cilantro

salt and pepper

fresh lime juice

You may notice that there are several fresh items on the list.   The first step is a trip to the grocery store. Fresh cilantro only lasts a couple of days in the refrigerator.  (I've even tried cutting the stems a bit and putting the bunch of cilantro in a glass of water in the fridge.)  But if you have to make the trip for cilantro, you might as well buy other items as fresh as possible also.

Then there is the decision about amounts. It's all about personal choice.  Do you like your salsa fiery?  We do at my house. I put on plastic gloves, deseed and devein the jalapeños, and chop them and the green chiles very fine.  If chopping the chiles is making my eyes water, I add fewer.  Another idea is to add some of the chiles to the mixture, taste the sauce, and add more if you want to. It works better that way than to try to fish out those green specks as your guests are breaking out in perspiration from the chile heat.

Finely chopped tomatoes, finely chopped red onion, finely chopped garlic, finely chopped cilantro go in next. Once again, personal taste for amounts reigns here.  The finishing touches are salt, pepper and fresh lime juice.

The dish is ready to eat immediately or chill in the fridge until guests arrive.  Pico de Gallo is very tasty, very healthy, and very easy to make.  My dilemma comes with the dipper.  Traditional tostadas are probably the best dipper, but they don't make anyone's list of healthy foods.  What I do sometimes, if I am feeling particularly righteous about my eating habits, is steam small corn tortillas in the microwave or on a comal (griddle). The calories are still there, but at least I can control the salt and oil.

Another idea is to sauté the mixture above (minus the cilantro), add a little white cheese, and make chile con queso.  This dip won't give you the food guilts like the chile con queso make with (horrors)  processed cheese spread.

Now, if I could just locate a healthy dipper.  Somehow pico de gallo on a celery stick just doesn't get it.   Any ideas?

 

Do we dare host another tamalada?

Can Thanksgiving holidays be only a few weeks away?  I am becoming concerned about how to entertain out of town guests.  A typical groaning board of Thanksgiving treats and marathon hours of TV football games will keep everyone engaged on Thursday.  But how about Friday?  “Do we dare try another tamalada (tamale making)?”  I wondered.  

Bittersweet memories of our last tamalada several years ago come to mind. We had decided to streamline the traditional process.  My chuck wagon cook husband Wayne always has a cooked brisket or two in the freezer, so we substituted the typical pork for beef.   I usually spend an afternoon making sauce by hand from the dried red chile pods, but this time I used a package of freeze dried chile and reconstituted it.

We had seven people in an assembly line in the kitchen, with my husband as head chef, barking out orders about how thick to spread masa (dough) on the husks, and our son Clayton as sous chef, demonstrating the best husk rolling and folding technique.  I was relegated to selecting wide, sturdy husks and draining them in the sink (truly an art form!).  Guests were allowed to do whatever job they felt comfortable doing.  Soon the little tamale packages were stacked in the pot and placed on the stove.

Now, how long before we could eat tamales?   The chile con queso that I had prepared to tide the guests over had long since disappeared, and the jar of jamaica (hibiscus flower water) was almost gone.  My various recipes and notes gave a range for cooking tamales from 30 minutes to 90 minutes.  Checking the tamales meant reaching into a steam-filled pot and unwrapping a tamal (the singular form of the word in Spanish) to see if the husk would pull away from the masa, not a job for the faint-hearted.  Finally, “ten more minutes” announced my husband to the expectant guests.  About two dozen tamales were consumed in a matter of minutes, most of them pulled directly from the pot and consumed standing by the stove.

After our guests departed, tamale husks littered the kitchen, red chile sauce spotted the kitchen counters and stained the blender, and leftover tamales cooled in every conceivable spot.  We stuffed the tamales into freezer bags, labeled them, and put them in the freezer for future feasts.  “Do you think everyone had a good time?”  Wayne asked me as we wearily climbed the stairs to bed.  

Now the big decision is whether we want to host a tamalada this year.  I'll keep you posted!  Do you have tamale making experiences to share?

                                                                                                                                                                                           

The gorditas may have changed me into a gordita.

This year was the 50th anniversary of the Labor Day celebration at St. Anthony's Seminary in El Paso, Texas. Having lived in El Paso all of my life, I decided it was time to finally find out what has made their celebration such a local tradition.

And I found out.  It was those famous gorditas. A gordita is a specialty snack, often served at church bazaars and other outdoor celebrations.  A gordita (which also means "little fat female" in Spanish- hope you caught the joke in the title) is made by forming a corn meal cake about the size of a hamburger patty, frying it, cutting it partially open, and stuffing it with cooked and seasoned ground meat, lettuce and tomatoes. 

Always concerned with my expanding waistline, I can usually discipline myself to pass up the gordita booth. But, this was a holiday, and after all, once in fifty years.....  

Wayne and I took our paper carton of gorditas, found a seat with other diners at a bench and table provided on a large, grassy rectangle, and enjoyed our lunch.  I was trying to be a dainty eater, but Wayne said, "Just let the grease drip on the grass."  So I did.

A variety of music was playing over loudspeakers, from old-fashioned rock and roll to Mexican favorites.This was a family affair.  I'll bet some families had been attending for several generations. One small boy near us was a two-fisted eater - an ice cream cone in one hand and a hot dog in the other.  He alternated bites without skipping a beat.

Our hunger satisfied, we were able to focus on the other offerings of the fair, which is an annual event to raise money for the seminary. Wayne bought a raffle ticket for a new Chevy, I checked out plants for sale, and we peeked in at the rummage sale, but it was quite crowded.

In another area, game booths for children were set up.  I saw my favorite from a long ago childhood - the fishing pond.  I could never win anything at those throwing games, but I think I remember that no child went away unhappy from the fishing pond.  Is that what you remember also?  Someone asked Wayne if he knew where the cake walk was being held.  That brought back memories of those luscious iced cakes waiting for a lucky winner.  Do you suppose  the cakes are still homemade these days?

Walking on the grounds of religious institutions is always a pleasure for me.  They often have beautiful landscaping and nooks with benches for quiet contemplation. I can escape from the modern world for a short time. 

I'm looking forward to next year's excuse to eat gorditas.  St. Anthony's Labor Day Festival is a super way to end the summer.