Mystery and Hatch Green Chile

“Food is a gift of God given to all creatures for the purposes of life’s nurture, sharing and celebration. When it is done in the name of God,
eating is the earthly realization of God’s eternal communion-building love.”

from Food and Faith
by Norman Wirzba

Nicole spent the 1990s working on guest ranches in southern Colorado, and much of those years were spent in the kitchen. It was there that this Chicago girl was introduced not simply to the life-altering world of green chiles, but specifically to the “Hatch” – a legendary New Mexican chile with a fanatical following. She discovered that there is no best Hatch recipe, only a relentless store house of best recipes. There’s not even agreement on what to call many of the most sought-after Hatch dishes – is it Hatch green chile soup? Hatch green chile stew? Hatch green chile sauce? The world of Hatch chiles is a never-ending mystery, too deep and wide to fully experience, one filled with never ending delight and discovery.

With Hatch chiles, we are learning that in growing food, preparing food, and cooking food, we participate in a mystery we didn’t create, a world of variety too big for us to control or fully experience. But we are invited and permitted to experiment, contribute, and discover. We are welcomed by God as co-creators.

Ingredients (serves 4)

2-3 Tablespoons of oil for sautéing vegetables
1 large onion, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder (or regular chili powder)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon dried oregano
Salt to taste
1 lb fresh tomatillos, chopped (or 1 cup canned tomatillos or diced tomatoes)
4 green chiles, roasted, seeded and chopped (Hatch, Anaheim, or 4 oz. can)
1 large bunch of fresh cilantro, stems chopped separately from leaves
2-3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 Tablespoons lime juice (fresh is preferred but not required)

Either:
2 cans of white or pinto beans, drained and rinsed
Or
1 lb of pork tenderloin, cut for stew

Instructions

• If you’re making the pork version, begin by searing the tenderloin pieces in 1 Tablespoon of the oil. Just brown lightly. No need to cook it through. Then set it aside. If you’re doing the vegetarian version, just begin with the next step.

• In a large pot, over medium heat, cook the oil, onions, celery and garlic until tender. About five minutes.

• Add the spices: chili powder, cumin, oregano and salt. Stir together about 1 minute.

• Add tomatillos (or tomatoes), cilantro stems, and green chile. Reduce heat and stir to combine.

• Add the 2-3 cups of stock (you choose how thick or soupy you’d like it).

• Add your beans at this point, if you’re going vegetarian. Or add the seared pork to the mix.

• Simmer for 20 minutes or until the pork is cooked and tender.

• Add the cilantro leaves and cook another 5-10 minutes.

• Add the lime juice, taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

• Serve! We love it with plantain chips. But rice and pan-fried corn tortillas go well too.

It Takes Time: Yogurt and a new year

“When we come to the Table in Communion
we are called to take time to be together….
It takes time:
time to serve the elements of The Meal, time to stand in line, time to think and pray, time to prepare to eat together, and time to remember how we got there.”

from Keeping the Feast: Metaphors for the Meal
by Milton Brasher-Cunningham

Of course, the holiday season just past is supposed to be about this taking slow time together. I’m sure it works that way for you, but we haven’t mastered the trick yet. Despite our detailed planning this Advent, and careful simplifying of life — we still found ourselves coming to the end of 2014 rushing to get everything in. Rushing to be fully present to everything. Rushing to slow down.

Communion the first Sunday of the new year is a brilliant idea. It gave me a place to take all the ways I failed to pay attention, listen, be still — and start over right there.

“Grain of the field, fruit of the vine” — a homemade granola eucharist to go with homemade yogurt

Making my own yogurt is another act I can take to reset myself. While it’s not exactly convenient, it is very easy. It just requires attention to a few details and then several hours of waiting.

Why in the world would you want to make your own yogurt? For one, it’s a lot less expensive. You can make two quarts of organic plain yogurt for the same price you’d pay for one quart of non-organic. But more than that, the process of making yogurt — whisking a pot of creamy liquid, smelling milky steam, testing the temperature along the way — is remarkably soothing if you are willing to slow down and give it your full attention. And eating the yogurt we’ve made ourselves has nourished us first thing in the morning with a lot of joy.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 gallon of 2% milk
1/2 cup of plain (unflavored) yogurt

INSTRUCTIONS

Over a medium high burner, heat the 1/2 gallon of milk in a heavy pot until it’s about 190 degrees (or just shy of boiling), stirring occasionally to prevent it from scalding on the bottom. This can take 20-25 minutes, depending on the shape of your pot.

Let it cool to about 110 degrees (to speed the process, you can set the pot in a sink half full of cold water and ice packs). If a skin forms on top, just skim it off.

When the milk is at 110 degrees, dip out a 1 cup and mix in the 1/2 cup of plain yogurt. Whisk together, then pour the mixture into the warm milk and stir.

Pour the warm milk into two 1 quart containers (wide mouth mason jars work well, as do plastic container with good lids), cover and then set in a picnic cooler packed around with dish towels. Drop in a heating pad turned to its lowest setting. Let it go for at least 4 hours, but up to 24 hours is just fine. The longer it sits, the more probiotic-y (and the more tart) the finished yogurt.

Alternately, place the full pot of warmed milk, covered, in an oven pre-warmed to 200 degrees. Turn the oven off and keep the door closed for 4 to 24 hours.

Remove from the warmth and refrigerate until ready to eat. Sweeten each serving with honey and a bit of vanilla extract, or add fresh fruit or fruit preserves.

*NOTE: The healthy bacteria that turns milk into yogurt flourish in an environment that stays a temperature between 98-115 degrees. Heating the milk to near boiling first kills off any undesirable bacteria, then the good probiotics are added when the temperature is friendly to their growth. A cooler “culturing” temperature just means the yogurt will thicken more slowly. A warmer temperature may kill the probiotics altogether and just leave you with hot milk.

Making yogurt is a gentle, forgiving process. And who doesn’t need that in January?

Comfort Food: Vegetarian Enchilada Pie

Tuesday morning, I was supposed to meet with some brand new friends and tell stories. Instead, I woke up with a raging sore throat and an aching body. I stayed in bed most of the next three days, reading a little. Sleeping mostly. Paul was amazing in keeping his vow about “in sickness,” bringing me saltines and vitamin c and orange juice before heading into full days, crammed with meetings and conversations and building new relationships with the church here.

Meanwhile, news of the flood damage keeps flooding in as waters recede. People around here are turning their attention from rescue to rebuilding.

Flu and floods…

Coming out of my own deluge of post-nasal drip, I was hankering for comfort food tonight. I’m Molly-Make-Do when it comes to cooking, so I looked at the left over lentils, the stack of corn tortillas, the lone zucchini squash… and came up with this (Inspired by the Lentil Meatball idea from Sprouted Kitchen):

Vegetarian Enchilada Pie (for two)

• 2 cups cooked brown lentils
• 1/3 cup of salsa
• 1 Tblsp Olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1 Tblsp Chili powder
• 1/2 tspn Cumin
• Salt to taste
• 16 oz of prepared Enchilada sauce (I used locally crafted Roberto’s Vegetarian Burrito Sauce)
• 9 white corn tortillas
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1 cup diced tomatoes with green chili
• chopped cilantro (for garnish)

Grease a 6×9 deep dish casserole pan

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Lentil-smash: It’s what’s for dinner.

Put lentils and salsa in a food processor and pulse until paste-y.

In a saute pan, heat Olive oil on medium low and add chopped onions. Saute until just translucent. Add mashed lentils, diced garlic, chili powder, cumin and salt until heated through. Turn off heat and set aside.

In 6×9 pan, pour 1/3 of Enchilada sauce

Cover with three corn tortillas, spread 1/2 of seasoned lentils over tortillas.

Layering is important in the changeable Colorado weather

Layer half of the slices of zucchini over lentils. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of shredded cheese over zucchini. Pour 1/3 of Enchilada sauce over cheese.

Repeat with three more tortillas, last half of lentils, remaining zucchini slices, another 1/4 cup of cheese and final third of Enchilada sauce.

Layer three more corn tortillas on top and cover with cup of diced tomatoes with green chili and last 1/4 cup of cheese.

Bake covered with foil for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10 minutes. Let set about 5 minutes before serving.

Comfort Food: Vegetarian Enchilada Pie!

This little low-fat, protein packed dinner was totally improvised. And now it’s just another good reason to make lentils and have fun Tex-Mex sauces around!

Shout Out! to Fort Collins local biz, Roberto’s Salsa’s and Sauces