Sunday Dish

Cookin' it up New Mexican Style - or something like that.

Day 3 in New Mexico and it just happens to be a Sunday. 
Sunday, for us, means one thing, time to cook.

We also have guests to feed, Todd's cohorts on his big NM adventure.  They are all living in the same apartment building and all missing the comforts of home.  Cooking is always more fun when you have someone to do it for.

One of Todd's favorite things to make, it's a tradition on Monday nights during football season, is Mexican food.  We usually have a varying combo of a standard line up of ingredients (guacamole, meat of some kind, cheese etc.) But the one thing that never varies is Todd's Pico de Gallo.  It is so simple, and that's what's great about it.  What's even better, is that it lasts in the fridge for at least a week.  It's perfect to scoop in scrambled eggs in the morning, or over a salad in the afternoon. 
So I'll  start off by giving you the recipe for Todd's "Soon to be Famous Pico de Gallo"...(I feel like there should be a drum roll or something right here...)

Ingredients:

1 each:  green, yellow, red, orange bell pepper - diced
1 large white onion - diced
1 -7 oz. can diced green chilis
  1 or 2 jalapeno - minced (optional -we leave it out if the kids are going to be eating with us)
1 bunch of cilantro - chopped
2 cloves of garlic - minced
salt & pepper to taste
juice of 2 or 3 limes

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  If possible let sit a couple of hours before serving.

To go with our Pico, we marinated skirt steak in orange juice, olive oil, a little tequila, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic and chili powder.  Then we grilled it up along with these lovely little veggies...(peppers and onions)

We also doctored up a can of black beans with onions, cilantro, peppers and cheese.
   
When you put it all together you've got a simple (sort of New Mexican) meal.

   

MUY BUENO

Out of Albuquerque and on to Santa Fe!

On this day I'm starting to get excited...

Really looking forward to heading out of Albuquerque.  I love being on the road with Todd, with no real schedule, except to have a fun day exploring.  It's perfect.   We head up  to Sante Fe via Route 14, also known as the Turquoise Trail. 

The road was pretty - reminding me of much of the Californian desert landscape.  We cruised by little towns called Cerillos, Madrid and Golden.  And you really have to keep your head on a swivel or poof!  You'll drive right past them. 

Todd and I love the history of places and we love taking photos so we were excited about seeing these old mining/ghost towns.  Unfortunately, for us, there wasn't much to make us want to stop and linger.  We pressed on and by Noon were parking the car in Santa Fe.

First mission of the day? Finding a place to have a late breakfast/early lunch.  It was pretty quiet, not alot of people on the street.  After wandering around we came across a this little roof top cantina.

The Coyote Cafe is the main restaurant with it's own menu.   It is apparently quite famous in these parts, who knew?  (I hadn't done a ton of research on this part of the country, instead preferring to go on instinct and friends recommendations.)  We didn't try anything at the restaurant, but the choices on the menu looked creative, and they had the prices to match it.  We headed upstairs to the cantina instead, where we could sit outside and check out the view.

We found a seat in the sun and after our decidedly hippie, free love, artsy waitress came by, we ordered a bloody mary.  The menu said it has 11 ingredients and is made with cucumber infused vodka, I'm intrigued.
  It looked pretty and the taste lived up to it's good looks.  This is one of the yummiest bloodies that I've ever had.  It wasn't too thick and you could really taste the cucumber in the vodka, which lent a nice fresh touch.  It had a really Tex-Mex flavor to it, with a hint of cumin maybe?  Todd guessed there was a bit of fresh salsa added to the mix as well.  Whatever the combo, I thought it was muis bueno.   Anyway - we wanted to hit more then one restaurant while in Santa Fe, so we ordered one dish and split it, so that we could save our appetites for another joint a friend of ours had recommended.  We went for the Duck Quesadilla.

Apparently, they are well known for this as well!  Ignorance is bliss I suppose.  The avocado cream dipping sauce was slightly sweet with a good spicy kick at the end.  There were two kinds of cheese, gooey and mellow yumminess,  and then there was the duck.  It had a  nice smoky flavor, but it was a tad too chewy for me.   I wouldn't say it ruined the quesadilla but it didn't enhance it, that's for sure.

From there we walked around and did what you do in Santa Fe.  Checked out the art galleries, shopped for silver and turquoise and pottery, checked out the art galleries, went to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, and oh, checked out the art galleries.   Eating, art and jewelry.  If that's your cup 'o tea, then get  your ass to Santa Fe stat!

All kidding aside, we really enjoyed ourselves.  It was peaceful and pretty.  The people we met were very nice, although they all got little looks of horror on their faces when we mentioned we were from Los Angeles.  You could tell they took pity on we poor city dwellers who had to put up with noise, and people, and all those awful things.

After about 3 hours we were ready for our next meal.  That led us out of old town, and down the road about 3 miles, to Maria's. 

Maria's is a dark, cavernous kind of place with 3 or 4 dining rooms.  We were led toward the back room where there were a handful of tables and a small bar. We got our lunch menus and our margarita menu right away.  Check out this margarita menu...

This is just the front cover.  All in all there were more then 100 different kinds of margaritas in this menu.  There weren't a bunch of crazy fruity concoctions on the pages either, no.  Just margaritas made with different grades of tequila.  Thanks to a vacation in Mexico, over a decade ago, where I became intimately familiar with "Tequila Poppers" , I don't drink alot tequila and don't know much about it.  Apparently there is some seriously high quality stuff, because there were margaritas on this baby for more than 50 bucks.  The prices ranged from $6.00 and up and averaged out around $10 or $11.
 
Here's a little link you can check out if you want to learn more about Tequila

We went with Mama's Special Margarita, $6.  Call me cheap, whatever.  That's okay, I figured it's better to not make a huge commitment right out of the gate.
 
I know I just said I don't drink alot of tequila, but this really was so delicious, and considering my hard won aversion, I'm hard to please.  Todd liked it too, and he has tried many a margarita in his day.
To go with our margi's I got the Pork Tamales and Todd got the Posole.

My chief complaint with tamales, and the reason that I normally don't order them, is that there is always too much masa and not enough filling.   These were exactly the opposite.  They were stuffed with pork and the masa added to the flavor rather then overpowering it.  But the best part?  The red and green chili sauce.  It came with a choice, but when I couldn't decide, our very kind waitress suggested I just get both.  A woman after my own heart.

I tend to like green sauces first and I did love this one.  But the more I dipped into the red the more I liked it.  It was spicy, but not too spicy, smoky and had just the right amount of chili powder.  It really got better with every bite.  I've sort of glossed over the beans and rice that came with, 'cause honestly, they were pretty average.  But that's okay because the yumminess of the tamale out shined them.
   
Here's Todd's Posole.  First the good news; it had a great flavor, the broth was rich and there were tender little chunks of pork floating about - a perfect hangover remedy, I would imagine.  The bad news?  A little heavy handed on the hominy.  A bit less, definitely would have been more.  Also, I've had posole before where they give you lots of yummy fixin's to go with it:  radishes, cilantro, onions etc.  I sort of missed that.  But there was one thing that made of for it...sopaipilla.

These little fried, puffy breads were so comforting and yummy.  Dipped in the chili sauces, the posole or even drizzled with a little honey, they are carby perfection.

With our bellies full, we bid adieu to Santa Fe and headed back south to ABQ.  Along they way we decided that cooking up our own version of a Mexican meal would be in order for the next day and so we planned.

Until then...

High and Dry in Albuquerque - Part 2, Day 1.

The saga continues...

Sitting on the plane - headed back to the Albuquerque desert.  Yes,  it must be love.  I can think of no other single thing that would draw me back here.

Look, I'm a firm believer in diversity.  As my dear old friend Vanessa says (in relation to relationships- but still, it applies here) "there is a lid for every jar."  I can see why people are drawn to the desert, to the starkness of it all. I don't want to put down anybodies hometown, truly.  And I do count myself lucky to say there is another place on this Earth that I have been blessed to see.  But there is not much about Albuquerque that would make me yearn to come back again.

Having said all that...here I am.  Sitting on a plane winging my way back. 

Forecast?  Windy and dry with a chance of gut wrenching turbulence.   But, on this day, the Gods have smiled upon me.  Two bloody mary's later I am on the ground and looking upon the face of my love.   Food, on this day, was not of the utmost concern.  We were just anxious to spend some serious quality time together.

But upon waking the next day - there was food to be had and basketball to be watched. 
Normally, I tend to be the one to make executive decisions about where we'll eat.  But for the time being, I was content to drift along with popular opinion.  And when it comes to basketball, well,  beer is in order.   Which led us to a place about a mile down the road.

Chama River Brewery is, not surprisingly, a brew pub.  Here in Southern California we have BJ's.  Same kind of deal.  It's a burger, ribs and fries kind of place.  A few televisions going and of course the beer. 

I enjoyed how they described their brews in the same way wineries explain a fine vintage:  "Light and dry with a touch of honey sweetness and a floral bouquet finish."    That's how they talked up their Broken Spoke Honey Wheat Ale. 

I liked it.  I'm a big fan of the Strawberry Blonde beer that Pete's Wicked Ale makes, and I thought it was a bit like that. 

Our basketball viewing cohort, Dave, tried the Copper John Pale Ale which he said was good and Todd took a liking to the Chama River Amber Ale.

To go with our beer we got an order of the Truffle Bleu Cheese Fries.

Okay.  I'm not gonna lie, my expectations were not high and I was pleasantly surprised.  A good French Fry?  Stop it.  I'm done.  Yummy.  Delicious.  Goodness.  These were mixed with bleu cheese, scallions and truffle oil.  If they had been a tad bit crispier they would have been French Fry Heaven.  As it stood, they were still pretty damn tasty.

Since it was a burger and fry kind of place, we in turn, ordered a burger and a Po Boy for the table.
   
Again, I'm down with the love of diversity. But a po boy?  Fried shrimp on a bun?  Seriously?  It's just not the kind of thing I'd ever think to order.  But, it looked pretty good. The sweet potato fries were definitely yummy, yes they were.  And Dave seemed to think that the Po boy didn't suck at all.  Good enough for me.

I went for the Green Chili Burger.

I will say this, it was cooked to a perfect medium rare and the green chilies were great.  The spiced pecans they put on the side salad that came with the burger were a nice touch.  Is it going to win best meal of the year award?  Nope.  But it was fresh, satisfying, and all in all, a tasty trio of beer, burger and fries. 

After that food fest, dinner was going to have to be light.

As I prepped for round 2 of my Albuquerque adventure, I had visions of New Mexican food.  Piquant chili sauces and traditional carne adovada.  This would have to wait until another day.

On this night, after a good hot shower and a nice long nap, we were craving a little pizza.  It was 10pm by the time we were finally ready for dinner so there weren't alot of choices. We landed at a chain called Bravo Cucina Italiana. 

If I were to relate it, once more, to a Southern Cali staple, I'd say it's like Macaroni Grill.  There are about 40 of these chains sprinkled across the country but this was my first time.
Their Fennel and Arugula Salad with Buffalo Mozzarella was better in concept then execution.  It had roasted tomatoes and a light vinaigrette.  I thought the fennel would have added to the salad better had they roasted it instead of serving it raw.  But the pizza we ordered was another story altogether.

This was really good.  It was topped with Fontina cheese, generous amounts of portabella mushrooms and finished off with a nice drizzle of truffle oil. (I guess they like the truffle oil here in ABQ.) I have to mention the crust because it was delicious.

I've heard it's a cities water that makes or breaks pizza crust.  If so, there must be something in the water here that lends it's self to good crust, 'cause this is the 2nd exceptionally good pizza I've had in this town.  (the first being at Il Vicino in Nob Hill.)

With the pizza and the salad behind us it was time to call it a night.  The plan for the next day was to head out to Santa Fe and see what culinary delights we might stumble upon there.

Stay tuned! 

High and Dry in Albuquerque, NM

If our plane landing in Albuquerque was any indication of how the next four months this desert town is gonna pan out, it should be an interesting (cough, cough) 4 months.

As the plane buffeted back and forth - glassware clanging and my stomach, along with other body parts, clenching, I held onto Todd for dear life.  Here's the funny part, the entire time he called out crossword puzzle clues in a pointless effort to distract me; "24 Down - Kind of Home or Pool! 9 Across - Nightshade Family Plant!"  As if I was going to forget the fact that our plane ride suddenly felt much more like we been placed in a cosmic martini shaker for some higher powers amusement.

When we finally touched down - slammed down is more like it - the entire plane broke out into spontaneous cheering.  If you've never experienced that sudden microcosmic moment of bonding with total strangers, lucky you. It's weird yet oddly special.

What the hell are we doing here in New Mexico anyway you ask?  That’s a good question.  Destiny?  Opportunity?  Fate?  A Universal Joke?  Maybe a little bit of all of those, who knows.   What I do know is that my better half has an opportunity that cannot be passed up – think bright lights, fame, accolades,  the works (dream big right?).  So being the evolved, incredibly supportive person I am, (no comments, please) I have tagged along on the first of many trips to New Mexico.   I figure as long as our paths have led us here we might as well explore the food and fun scene and report back to you at home.

So, after Satan’s Plane Ride, I was ready for a cocktail - stat. 

That was until we stepped out of the airport into 50 mile an hour winds that were filled with dirt from the Chihuahuan Desert.  At that moment all I was ready for was a hat and some sun glasses worthy of Jackie-O.    At this point I'm thinking - I'm gonna fly out here 4 more times in the next 4 months?  I. Don't. Think. So.  We finally made it to the rental car - tracked down some glasses, check, and a good hat, check.     Next it was time to find out what this town is all about.  My first impression - brown.  Very brown and very gray.  Sadly, with all the dust in the air the visibility was horrible and most people were, wisely, indoors.    This meant most of the city felt like a ghost town.

After exploring Old Town (adobe buildings, lots of turquoise - read touristy) and Downtown, we finally ended up in Nob Hill. 

Normally when I hear the words Nob Hill I think of a certain City by the Bay and a historically privileged neighborhood filled with luxury hotels and beautiful architecture.  Not a lonely stretch of desert road dotted with hippie inspired art galleries, abandoned buildings and this hotel...

If I have to be honest there was something that drew me to this structure - in an "oh my God - what was that smashed in the road!!???  I think it was a possum, no, a rabbit!  Yup... it was definitely a rabbit.  Oooh."

We litteally flipped a U-turn so we could snap a few pictures. 'Cause really, it was kind of cool in a kitchy way.   With that itch scratched we FINALLY got serious about getting that cocktail and meeting some Albuquerque locals. 

Most places were closed in between lunch and dinner but we got lucky and found Il Vicino.

We sat down at the bar, ordered up a couple glasses of wine and checked out the menu.  The gal working at front informed us that you were supposed to order and then sit down.  We walked in there like we owned the place.  Luckily I think she saw the look of crazed thirst in my eyes and took pity on us.  We decided to start out with their mixed field green salad...

It was fine tasting, if nothing to send a postcard home about.  They have over a dozen pizzas so we ate our salad and then decided to give their gorgonzola and balsalmic glazed portabello mushroom pizza a try. Glass number two came quickly and soon enough our pizza did too.

This pizza was really good.  The gorgonzola mellowed out when melted and the tang of the mushrooms was a really nice balance.  The crust was thin and a bit crunchy with a nice dusting of cornmeal around the edges.  It took the edge of that bad landing and the horrid dust and wind storm that had really left me in a foul mood.  On a future trip to ABQ  I'd defenitely go back to this place.

From there we proceeded to bundle up, brave the storm and make our way to our hotel.

To Be Continued...