My husband lived in Santa Fe when he was very young, and he’s addicted to New Mexican food. Green chiles specifically…posole, burritos, enchiladas (the flat ones with a fried egg on top)…anything that has that smoky green chile flavor. Every year at this time, one of our local grocery stores has a Hatch Green Chile Festival. On the weekends, they have huge roasters in front of the store, roasting the chiles on the spot. In the store, they have all sorts of green chile themed products. They make this really great green chile pesto that A. calls ‘crack’ because he can’t get enough of it. They also sell sausages, hamburger patties, steaks, fish, and chicken using green chiles in some way. In the bakery, this store has green chile tortillas, green chile scones, green chile bread and I even saw a green chile brownie! It’s quite the thing. We usually buy 5-10 pounds of the fresh roasted chiles and freeze them to be used the rest of the year.

A. has a couple of friends in town right now, so of course he wanted me to make his favorite. Here’s the menu I created for our New Mexican themed dinner party:

Green Chile Enchiladas (pictured above)
Pinto Beans
Posole
Brown Rice with Green Chiles
Garden Salad with Chipotle Dressing
Margaritas

Green Chile Enchiladas

Green Chile Sauce

Ingredients:
2 T oil
2 cups green chiles chopped
1 onion chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1 tomato chopped
2 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth
3 T water
2 T cornstarch
Directions:
In medium sized saucepan, saute onions and garlic in oil. When onions are translucent, add green chiles, tomatoes, and broth. Cook for about 3 minutes until vegetables simmer slightly. While cooking, mix water and cornstarch in separate bowl. Add to vegetables. Simmer on low heat until ready to use.

Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1/2 cup oil
8 corn tortillas
1 pound monterrey jack cheese
1 cup cilantro chopped
1/2 cup green onions chopped
Green Chile Sauce
Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, mix cheese, green onions, and cilantro. Cook tortillas in oil. Assemble enchiladas by placing one tortilla flat in a casserole dish, placing a layer of cheese, covering with another tortilla, and topping with green chile sauce. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Makes 4 enchiladas.

Pinto Beans

Ingredients:
2 cups dried pinto beans
8 cups water
1 cup cilantro chopped
1 square chicken bouillon
1 cup salsa
1 T salt
Directions:
Put beans and 4 cups of water in a pressure cooker. Cook over high heat until water boils. Remove from heat. Let beans sit in water for at least one hour. Drain beans in a colander. Rinse. Place beans back in pressure cooker, add 4 cups of water, bouillon cube, salsa, cilantro, and salt. Cook over medium high heat until water begins to boil. Cover and begin to pressurize. When pressure reaches high, cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, allow pressure to decrease, and serve.

Posole

Ingredients:
1 can hominy
1/2 cup green chile sauce
2 T chile powder
Directions:
Cook hominy over medium heat. Add green chile sauce and chile powder. After 5 minutes, simmer until ready to serve.

Brown Rice with Green Chiles

Ingredients:
1 T oil
2 cups brown rice
4 cups water
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/2 cup chopped green chiles
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 T salt
Directions:
Over high heat, mix oil and rice in medium size sauce pan until oil covers rice. Add water and bouillon cube. Let water boil. Cover and lower heat to Low. After about 20 minutes, add green chiles, tomatoes, and salt. Continue cooking for another 20 minutes or until all moisture is gone.

Chipotle Dressing

Ingredients:
4 canned chipotle peppers
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 T sugar
1 T oregano
Directions
Mix all ingredients in food processor. Blend.