Featured Article - January 2010

Choice Options: Try making this Goat Cheese and Tri-Colored Roasted Bell and Poblano Pepper Sandwich with farm bread for a twist on traditional grilled cheese or try using tortillas for a result similar to New Mexican pizza.

SOUTHWEST FLAVOR
Warming Trend

Cocoon with spicy veggie soup and hot sandwiches

Story and Photography by Lois Ellen Frank

I love winter. It’s my time to slow down and reflect on everything I’ve done throughout the year, and to imagine all that I want to do in the months to come. It’s my time to light a fire, cook a warming meal, and enjoy the season, whether I’m alone or in the company of friends and family.

In many cultures, winter is when we pass on oral traditions. Stories told around hot meals teach us about our heritage. When I was growing up, winter was always a time to concoct new soup recipes to share, and to hear stories about, for example, how my mother met my father, and the different cultural heritages in our family. (I am Sephardic on my father’s side, Kiowa on my mother’s side.) Some of my favorite stories from childhood exemplify the ethics my mother wanted us to learn. She instilled in us values about sharing with each other, celebrating food with family and friends, being kind to all creatures great and small, and being thankful for the good things in our lives. That’s why, after all these years, the first thing I do when I wake up each morning is think of something I’m thankful for.

My mother wasn’t a great cook; it was really my grandmothers who cooked, and everything they made always tasted so good. Remember your own grandmothers’ food—how it tasted good, no matter what they cooked for you? I used to always ask my grandmothers, “Grandma, Grandma, why does your food taste so good?” Each of them would just laugh and tell me that it was her “secret ingredient” that did the trick. Before they passed on, my two grandmothers—from two completely different traditions—revealed the same thing: “The reason my food tastes so good is because everything I cook for you I cook with love. What you are eating is the essence of my love for you grandkids.”

I’ve remembered that ever since I was a little girl. Now, each winter, when I make soups that I cook to warm my soul, I think of my grandmothers, and put a little of their love into each dish I create, and so pass on the tradition. I call this ingredient the intangible essence of my cooking, and it’s the only ingredient I can put in every single dish. Try it, and you’ll see how good it tastes.

Lois Ellen Frank is a chef, author, and photographer who lives in Santa Fe. She is presently completing, at the University of New Mexico, her Ph.D. in culinary anthropology, on the discourse and practice of Native American cuisine. An adjunct professor at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), Lois is also
an instructor at the Santa Fe School of Cooking. Her company, Red Mesa Cuisine, specializes in preparing local, sustainable meals incorporating traditional Native American ingredients.

Goat Cheese and Tri-Colored Roasted Bell and Poblano Pepper Sandwich
This open-face, melty, toasty veggie sandwich complements the hot soup.

1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
3 Poblano chile peppers (All peppers: roasted, peeled, seeded, sliced into strips)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, cut into slivers
6 slices farm bread or other yeasted wheat bread, or 6 flour tortillas
12 ounces chèvre or other soft goat cheese
2 ounces goat-milk feta cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roast bell peppers and Poblano chiles over open flame, then peel and slice into strips. In cast-iron skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add onion and sauté until clear (about 3 minutes),
stirring to prevent burning. Add roasted bell-pepper and Poblano chile strips and cook another 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and set aside.

(If you’re using flour tortillas, skip this step and jump to the next paragraph.) In separate skillet over medium to high heat, warm remaining tablespoon olive oil, then place slice of bread in pan. Cook until browned on one side (about 3 minutes), then over to cook other side. Remove from heat.

Spread 2 ounces goat cheese on slice of bread and place on baking sheet. Top bread with sautéed onion-pepper-Poblano mixture. Sprinkle small amount of crumbled goat feta on top. Heat 5 minutes in oven until warm. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Serves 6

Options: I tested this recipe with locally baked farm bread, and with white and whole-wheat tortillas. All three variations were delicious. My favorite was with homemade flour tortillas, which got slightly crispy from the onion and tasted like a New Mexican pizza without the sauce. Be creative!

Souper Solution: Cozy up to a wintertime supper that's both hot and spicy. Green chile gives this veggie soup extra kick, and roasted peppers pair nicely with warm goat cheese on toasted tortillas.

Green Chile, Tomato, and Potato Soup
You’ll enjoy this hearty, easy-to-make,
New Mexico-style vegetable soup.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium to large onion, diced
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
2 medium to large organic vine tomatoes, coarsely chopped (or 2 cups canned
diced tomatoes)
2 cups mild New Mexico green chiles, peeled, seeded, chopped (freshly roasted or frozen)
4 cups fingerling or baby new potatoes, coarsely chopped
3 cups water
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon mild New Mexico red-chile powder

In medium-size soup pot, warm olive oil over medium to high heat until hot but not smoking. Add diced onion and sauté until clear (about 3 minutes), stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook 3 more minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Add green chile and cook another 2 minutes. Add potatoes, water, salt, black pepper, and red-chile powder. Stir. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes, stirring occasionally until potatoes are soft. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Serves 4–6

Option: You carnivores can add 1 pound of your favorite ground meat to this recipe to make it a hearty meal. I tried it with certified-organic, grass-fed ground lamb from Shepherd’s Lamb, in Tierra Amarilla. I browned the meat with the onions and then followed the remaining steps. It was delicious. Shepherd’s Lamb is available year-round at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market and at La Montañita Co-op’s locations in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Gallup.

For info: Shepherd’s Lamb, (575) 588-7792, www.organiclamb.com; La Montañita Co-op, (505) 217-2001, www.lamontanita.coop