chili colorado

Every once in a while, a recipe comes along that speaks to your soul in a way that few recipes do.  Whether it's the beauty of the dish, or the method of cooking, or the way it sets your heart aflutter with the very first bite. It's simply...perfect.

Friends, I give you: Chili Colorado.

I came across this recipe as I do many of my best recipes...by stealing it from my friend Heather.  (She also introduced me to this gem of a chicken recipe.)  She made this dish for me and my friend Allison and we thought we had died and gone to food heaven.  The tender pork, the thick and luscious chili sauce and it's smooth, complex flavor.   I found myself wiping the plate clean with my fingers, the sauce is THAT GOOD.

This dish is definitely a weekend affair, but only because it takes a bit of time and NOT because it's hard.  Because IT'S EASY!  I'd never made a dish using dried chilies - it sounded so complicated and fussy to me - but it's WAY simple, and totally makes a difference in the flavor.  There's no substitute for using the dried chilies.  I think you can find them in almost any grocery store these days, even here in Juneau.  

Like Heather, I served these with warm corn tortillas and a simple cabbage slaw tossed with cilantro, green onion, radishes, salt, and fresh lime juice.  So add a few ingredients to your shopping list and get going to the grocery store!  Your friends and family will thank you, and may never want to leave.

Just kidding.  They'll leave eventually.  Don't use that as an excuse not to make this dish!

Chili Colorado

(Adapted from Bon Appétit)

5 dried ancho chilies

2 dried guajillo chilies

2 dried New Mexico chilies or pasilla chilies

8 cups of chicken stock, divided

4 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 3/4 inch to 1 inch pieces

2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 cloves of garlic, minced

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon ground sage (or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage)

1 teaspoon dried oregano (or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage)

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

(1) Remove stems and seeds from dried chilies.  Cover chilies with 3 cups of boiling chicken stock, and cover with plastic wrap (I did this in a glass bowl, but a saucepan will work, or a glass blender).  Let chilies soften for 30 minutes to an hour.  Blend chilies and liquid until smooth, either in a blender or by using a stick blender.

(2) Heat a large, heavy pot over medium-heat.  Season the pork with salt and pepper.  In several batches (I did 3 batches), brown the meat in the pot with a tablespoon or so of vegetable oil.  Once browned, remove from the pot.  You're not trying to cook it through, just brown the outside for good flavor.

(3) Once the meat is all browned, add back to the pot and add minced garlic, cumin, sage, and oregano.  Stir for one minutes.  

(4) Add 5 cups of chicken stock to the pot.  Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer for 1 hour, uncovered.

(5) Add chile puree and simmer, uncovered, for another hour or until the concoction is a beautiful, thick, smooth mahogany color.  Taste and season with salt and pepper, as needed.

Serve with warm corn tortillas and enjoy!!

xo H

chicken with morels, rhubarb galette, pickled hatch chilies, and a long overdue post!

Fall has arrived in Alaska.  I love this time of year.  The mornings are crisp and cold, the leaves are beginning to turn, and my flowers are just about ready to call it a season.  

It was a doozy of a summer.  The weather in Alaska was nothing short of spectacular.  Seems like wherever I’ve been (which feels like EVERYWHERE this summer) the sun was shining and the berries and mushrooms have been plentiful. Life has been very good, if not very, very busy.

Lobster roll nirvana

My summer has largely been spent getting from Point A to Point B.  From Barrow to Sitka, from Bethel to Delta Junction, and a few stops in between.  I even snuck down to the lower-48 for a spell (where I located a delectable lobster roll in Minneapolis.  MINNEAPOLIS- of all places.  Who knew?!)  In fact, I'm writing this post as I'm flying the friendly skies back home.

Like so many other folks, my summer got away from me and my life refuses to slow down.  As I was picking the last of the plump raspberries off the plentiful bushes that line my backyard, I suddenly realized that as my life seems to have evolved this year, so must my little blog.  Finding time to cook is not a problem.  Cooking is my therapy after a long day on the job.  For me, it’s like breathing and sleeping.  And without it, I’m just not me.  

But finding the time to write recipes, take photos (which for this amateur blogger is not an insignificant amount of time), and publish new posts has proven a bit more difficult.  So I’m just going to improvise!

Oh, I’ll still post recipes and pictures- don’t you worry.  Some of the recipes will be my own, but many may just highlight recipes that I’ve tried and loved and want to share with others. My pictures may not be as carefully staged and styled to perfection, but they'll still be my own.

This summer in Alaska has truly been a delicious one, and I wanted to share some of its culinary highlights.  It began on a foraging expedition with friends Renee and Michael for wild morels. I posted last year about my foray into mushroom foraging.  After last year’s beginners run, I was totally excited to tackle fungi foraging this summer.  And I’ve done so with gusto!  

Wild morels- one of my favorite adventures all year!

Creamy chicken with morels, photo by Renee

Morels are a tricky mushroom.  Prized by chefs for their earthy, meaty flavor, they’re also fairly elusive to foragers unless you know where to look.  A brief internet search will tell you that they thrive in sparse forests recently struck by wildfire.  They only grow in springtime, so get out there early next year.  They.  Are.  Worth.  It. 

My friend Renee is a fabulous home cook, who's  culinary skill and technique exceed my own.  The woman is stealth in the kitchen.  We turned this incredible bounty of morels into a truly astounding dish: Creamy Chicken with Morels, (recipe courtesy of our guru Ina Garten).  My mouth still waters thinking about that meal.  I cannot wait to hunt for morels again next spring!

While I was home with my family in Fairbanks for Fourth of July, my sister Holly and I threw together this Rhubarb Galette, courtesy of our pal Martha.  It has a cornmeal crust that is TO DIE FOR and comes together very quickly.  My only modification is that I swapped out half the ice cold water for ice cold vodka, because I’ve learned that it makes a flakier crust.  Just trust me on that (or don’t, and Google it for yourself!)

Rhubarb galette with a cornmeal crust.

Juneau was chock full of salmonberries this year (Juneau friends— is it like this every year?!)  I’ve said before, but it bears repeating, that I have a nearly insatiable enthusiasm for foraging wild edibles.  It's difficult to locate my "off" switch when you turn me loose on a berry patch.  I located these jewels in a friends backyard.  While I was excited at the idea of converting them into jam, the delicious treats didn’t make it through the night as we gobbled them up like candy.  Not quite too pretty to eat!

SALMONBERRIES!

One of the very best parts of my summer was spending time in Bethel with my friend Valerie and her beautiful family.  Valerie and her Yu’pik ancestors have been harvesting the land in Western Alaska for thousands of years.  Val taught me the traditional way of processing and smoking wild salmon, just as her mother Tilly taught her, and Tilly’s mother before her.  Just look at the beautiful salmon in her smokehouse!

My happy place: smokehouse on the Kuskokwim River

With the swift work of her ulu, Valerie quickly processed the salmon we caught by setnet.  My job was to tie up the strips of salmon to hang in the smokehouse.  I’m proud to say that I excelled at this task.  I tied up salmon LIKE IT WAS MY JOB.  And it was…for two whole hours.  I ate so much smoked salmon that weekend that I nearly made myself sick.  Zero regrets.

Working through our bounty in Bethel.

A trip to Sitka last month resulted in a BOATLOAD of winter and golden chanterelles.  I was excited to learn how to identify them easily so that I know what to look for on future expeditions.  My friend Heather’s adorable mother Benny was totally thrilled to share her love for mushroom foraging with others, and was the ultimate host.  She turned our bounty into both mushroom quiche and cream of chanterelle soup.  HOLY DELICIOUSNESS, BATMAN.  Sadly, I don't have pictures of the food because I was too busy stuffing my face (along with her homemade biscuits- we ate like champs).

Wild golden and yellowfoot chanterelles foraged in Sitka

Milo's version of "blueberry picking"

Of course, no summer in Alaska is complete for any forager without taking a hike up a mountain for wild blueberries!  

Just like last summer, my friend Erica joined Milo and I for a bit of hiking and a lot of picking.  Last year I posted this tasty recipe for blueberry cornmeal cake, which I love.  I think this year I might make blueberry jam with my bounty.  If so, I’ll post it!



Last year I posted a picture of some pickled Hatch chilies that I made and enjoyed all winter.   Another shipment just landed in the grocery stores here in Alaska and several of your have texted me for the recipe.  I just put up another batch last week, and here's the recipe I used.  I eat them with my Taco King takeout so I feel like I'm getting a few veggies as I scarf down my carne asada special tacos.

Pickled Hatch Chilies

This is just a scattering of my summer food adventures.  I plan to make jams for winter soon, and pickle a few more veggies to eat all year round.  I'm even going to take another stab at perfecting rhubarb ketchup- and if I succeed, I'll post it!

Alrighty, Alaska...bring on winter! 

xo h