Categories:
I made chili last night with some ingredients that kinda made me feel like I’d put $1000 chrome rims on a Ford Fiesta. I made a pot of Texas-style chili with one single über-rare fresh chilhuacle negro chile. And I don’t regret it, not even a little. Here’s what happened.
As I’ve posted before, I can’t source in the U.S. a lot of the Oaxacan chiles that I love to cook with, so I grow them in my backyard. This year I got a fantastic late season harvest of chilhuacle rojo and chilehuacle negro that I’ll use to make molé, a sizable haul of chile bolita, and a bunch of chile de agua. All of these varietals I first discovered in the markets down in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Categories:
A few weeks ago I stumbled across “Enchantment Stew”. There are dozens of recipes out there for this dish, all of which are various riffs on pork and green chile stew. Apparently its the brand for the State of New Mexico: “Land of Enchantment”, and this being a New Mexican dish.. well… you get the idea behind why its called “Enchantment Stew”.
Categories:
I previously posted about the chiles I’ve grown this season. As I said then there aren’t a lot of recipes out there that make use of the chile varieties I’ve grown this year, so I said I’d post any recipes I came up with. A recent twist on a personal favorite recipe was to use Oaxacan Chiles de Agua in a batch of Cowboy Beans.
Categories:
I grow six to eight varieties of chiles every summer, something different every year. I’ve got a small backyard in a big city. My outdoor space is pretty limited, so I grow my chile plants in containers on my patio. Given my space and time constraints I have only one guiding principle when deciding what chiles to grow every year: “spend your time growing chiles you can’t find anywhere at any physical/online store at any price”. I love to cook with jalapeños, serranos, poblanos and others on a regular basis, but honestly I can buy those at any local grocery store for pennies a pound. So if I’m going to invest the time I’d prefer to invest it in something that is so special that the only way I’m gonna get it is if I grow it myself.
Categories:
Circumstances lately have me finding comfort in small, familiar things. Like a cold beer on the patio. Or a hug from my amazing wife. Or a grilled cheese sandwich. Simple pleasures somehow take a little bit of the edge off of how difficult the world is lately.
I don’t know how or why I got the idea, but lately I’ve been on a creative mission to come up with the greatest grilled cheese sandwich ever. Its a thread that’s been kicking around in the back of my head for weeks, and it’s become something of a running gag with my friends and I.
Categories:
Years ago for my 40th birthday my amazing wife took me to 10 days of cooking school down in Oaxaca, Mexico. It was probably the best vacation I’ve ever been on. I fondly recall how every morning we’d get up and the class would go to the local market for ingredients, and I have great memories of standing in awe at the sheer number and variety of dried regional chiles available at every market we went visited. Most of the chiles I encountered and fell in love with in those markets I can’t seem to source in the U.S., so I grow a few varieties in my backyard every summer that I can’t find to buy.
Categories:
Mrs. Piehole went to our local nursery earlier this spring to buy herself some tomato plants for this growing season. While she was there she picked up some kinda random chile plants for me. She knows I enjoy growing a variety of chiles every year, so she just got me some plants I’d never seen before because she loves me. One of these plants she got me is called Portuguese Hot.
Categories:
I don’t start my new job for another week, so I’ve got a lot of free time on my hands. I always loved Rice Krispie treats when I was a kid, and I got inspired to make a grown up version. And, well, I love bacon. And I love bourbon. And I love Rice Krispie treats. So why not bring together all of these things I love into one single tasty snack? I mean seriously, why not? (This is not a rhetorical question. Why not?)
Categories:
A while back Mrs. Piehole (my beautiful, super-smart better half) tried her hand at curing her own bacon. Outstanding move, as I’m a huge fan of the stuff. Turns out that curing your own bacon is so simple that any idiot can do it… and I’m the perfect idiot to get that job done!
Categories:
I’m got family and their spouses coming to Chicago for the Independence Day weekend. (And yeah: its Independence Day, not Fourth of July…) My younger brother from Atlanta is also big into grilling and smoking, so for the very first time we’re going to smoke some pork together. Baby back ribs, specifically. I really want to put my best foot forward, bring my A-Game, provide the VIP treatment, so I’m whipping up a batch of my signature “Jack & Coke” BBQ Sauce.
Like this? Follow us:
96
1
213
37