Red or Green? 

New Mexicans, whether they are Hispanics, Native Americans, or Anglos, enjoy eating spicy chile peppers.  We joke that we will eat chile on almost anything but real aficionados take their chile seriously.  At every restaurant when ordering a dish featuring chile, patrons are asked this question: “Red or green?”  Often we say we would like "Christmas" and that means both!

This time of year, the chile harvest is over.  The roasters have been rolling full throttle and the savory aroma is one of my favorite harbingers of fall.   The roasted green chiles have been parceled into baggies and frozen for winter recipes.  The preservation of chiles to make a red sauce, or chile colorado, is another matter and has an ancient tradition.  The green chile peppers are strung into long strands, known as ristras, and are then tied with raffia to dry outdoors to crimson perfection.  

Whether you like red or green chile is, as can be expected, a matter of taste.  One is not necessarily hotter than the other.  I prefer the complex taste of red chile.  After having been slowly ripened in the sun, the chiles take on a particularly deep flavor that is unparalleled.

I am frankly an unenthusiastic cook when it comes to everyday meals but I do enjoy baking pastries and making enchiladas for my family and friends.  Most of the time, I am rather lazy in the kitchen and there are products for making red chile sauce quite easily.  My favorite, because it is the most highly prized in Northern New Mexico is grown in Chimayo.  It is usually ground into a powder.  I live in eastern New Mexico now and Chimayo chile is hard to find at the local markets and so I often pick up a few packets when I am visiting my friends in Santa Fe.

The Bueno brand chile, and they make both red and green, is frozen in little tubs and come in hot and mild varieties.  It's good and is my go-to ingredient for most days.

However, there is nothing like the taste of chiles that have been sun dried and my husband begs me to make a sauce with them on special occasions.  I am going to share a recipe but first some sad facts about local chile farms.  According to the  New Mexico Chile Association, New Mexico chile production is in trouble.

• Today 82% of chile consumed in the U.S.A is foreign grown (from Mexico, Peru, China and India).
• While U.S. chile consumption is skyrocketing, New Mexico’s production is in steep decline.
• New Mexico’s chile acreage has dropped by 75% from 1992, at its peak, and by 1/3 from the 2009 to 2010 growing season:
  
  • In 1992, 35,000 acres of chile were grown in New Mexico
  • By 2010: only 8,800 acres were grown in New Mexico
• Just five years ago, New Mexico’s chile industry, made up of long term, family-owned farms and small family-owned businesses, provided 5000 full-time jobs and 10,000 part-time jobs to New Mexicans. Those numbers have dropped almost in half.

While New Mexico chiles are preferable, sometimes I have to use what is available.  The chiles that I will be using for today's recipe were grown in Mexico.  Having spent some time in southern New Mexico in Las Cruces, I know that chiles grown in the area are quite delicious.

To make chile colorado for four plates, you will need about ten to twelve peppers depending upon their size.  Rinse the chiles well and place them to soak for several hours in very hot water. 

Once the chiles are softened, they will be a dull orange.  Using kitchen shears, cut off the stems and remove most of the seeds.  People say more seeds make the chile hotter and some prefer that extra spiciness.   

Put the chiles in the blender with a cup of water and whir until it is completely liquified.

We like our chile hot.  You can see the seeds still and so this batch needs to blend further.

Mmmmmmmmolten Lava! 

I wish you could smell this.  I like to use a ricer at this point to make the chile sauce muy fino.  In a small sauce pan, cook the chile mixture with a half of cup of water added on a low heat.  Add three cloves of minced garlic, salt to taste, and a dash of cumin.  Many people add a roux to thicken the sauce however I prefer a rich glossy look and use cornstarch.  To the chile mixture I add two tablespoons of cornstarch combined with a half a cup of cold water.  Use a whisk and cook until the cornstarch has become "clear."  Your sauce is done.

I have the ingredients for the enchilada plates arranged on the counter.  You will be layering corn tortillas that have been lightly fried in oil with onions and colby cheese.  Many people like to add meat such as pork or beef to their enchiladas but I prefer not to.  Chicken is just wrong with red sauce but there are people who would argue with me. 

Before layering be sure to place a spoonful of the sauce on the bottom so that the tortillas do not stick and harden.  Stack the enchiladas three tortillas high with plenty of cheese and I like raw onions but you can sautee them first.  Pour the chile sauce over the top.  The individual platesful are baked in the oven at 350 degrees for about ten minutes or until the chile is bubbling and the cheese is melted.

Garnish the plate with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado and you have a meal muy rico y sabroso!  I prefer red enchiladas but my green recipe is not bad either but that is for another day.

Here is a fun musical parody about chiles by my friend Jim Terr: