Roasted Poblano Soup

I'm a big fan of poblano peppers, so when I see them at the farmers' market, I buy 'em. In the past, I've stuffed them, used them in pimento cheese, chili, and in black bean soup. This time, they star in a soup of their own. It's a bit spicy, only somewhat creamy, and overall fairly light. We ate it hot, but it would be lovely served chilled as well.

Roasted Poblano Soup

1 pound poblano peppers
1 cup diced onion
Olive oil
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
Handful of cilantro, both leaves and stems, roughly chopped
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup half and half
Pinch smoked paprika
Pinch ground cumin
Pinch ground coriander
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup cooked corn kernels

Roast the peppers over a gas flame or on a grill until blackened all over. Put them in a plastic or paper bag to sweat. When cool enough to handle, rub off the blackened skin then deseed the peppers and cut them into strips.

Sweat the onion in a bit of olive oil for a minute or two before adding the pepper and garlic. Cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and add the half and half and seasonings (you can add more to taste, but don't add so much as to overpower the flavor of the peppers). Add salt and pepper to taste and cook for 2-3 minutes more.

Remove soup from heat and allow to cool. Place cooled soup in a blender and whiz to puree.

Garnish soup with corn kernels and some cilantro.

Serves 2-4



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Multi Chile Chili

It's football season, and that usually means my Sundays are consumed by Ravens' games. Since most games start at 1pm, they cut into my normal Sunday afternoon cooking and baking time, which means I have to come up with something that doesn't involve a lot of prep or a la minute cooking for dinner. My go-to Sunday dish is chili.

I feel like I make chili a lot, so I find myself trying to alter my usual pretty-darn-good recipe so I don't get bored. One week, there was a surfeit of poblano peppers at the local farmers' market, so I bought a bunch. I figured I could make a chili that had several kinds of peppers in it, since I usually do have various dried chiles in the cupboard and always a jar of chipotles en adobo in the fridge. I also added a couple different chile powders, including the smoky-flavored pasilla negro powder I recently purchased at Spices Etc.

The resulting bowl of red was meaty and spicy, which more than made up for the Ravens' lackluster performance.

Five (or More) Chile Chili

6 poblano peppers
4 dried New Mexico chiles
2 onions, chopped
oil
pinch salt
3 lbs ground beef
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
2 teaspoons pasilla negro chile powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
2 chipotles en adobo, minced
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon Sriracha
1 cup beef broth
Salt and pepper to taste
chopped scallions for garnish

Roast poblanos over an open flame until charred all over. Place charred peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. When cool enough to handle, rub off the skin, remove the stem and seeds, and cut the peppers into small pieces.

Snip stem end off New Mexico chiles and shake out seeds. Soak chiles in boiling water to cover until chiles are pliable. Break into pieces and put in a blender or mini-prep food processor with enough of the soaking water to make a puree.

In a large pot or dutch oven, cook the onions in a bit of oil and a pinch of salt until onions are translucent. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until meat is cooked through. Add garlic and spices and stir well to combine.

Add poblanos, New Mexico chile puree, tomatoes, Sriracha, and beef broth to the pot and bring chili to a boil. Turn heat down to a bare simmer and cook for about 2 hours, or until meat is very tender. Add more cumin, coriander, and chile powders to taste, along with salt and pepper.

Serve garnished with chopped scallions.

Serves 8-10



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Pimiento Cheese

Pimiento cheese sounds like a mistake from the Kraft labs, doesn't it? Like some pinkish-orange paste that would come in a little jar in the dairy case. Something my mother would have regarded with near disgust had I indicated that perhaps she buy a jar (despite her own love for Velveeta), you know, just to try it. Like I had to try lima beans before I decided that I loathe them.

Oh wait, pimiento cheese does come in a little jar in the dairy case. Lookee there!

What exactly is a pimiento anyway (and why doesn't anyone pronounce the second "i" - pih-mee-ento)? They're the red thingies in green olives, right? That taste just like roasted bell peppers? Ah - they are peppers, but a cultivar also known as a cherry pepper, and not your standard bell pepper. But why mash them up with cheese and mayonnaise? That seems a little cruel, to both the pepper and the cheese.

...and I've just offended scores of Southerners with my ignorance. I may live south of the Mason-Dixon line, but I am a yankee at heart. (Notice I spelled that with a lower-case "y" so as not to be confused as a fan of a particular New York sports team, which I am most definitely not.)

I must admit I've always been a leetle, tiny, weensy bit curious about pimiento cheese, but I've never tried it. That is, not until Richard Blais' cookbook, Try This at Home, came into my life. In it, he offers a recipe for a decidedly non-traditional pimiento cheese with jalapenos, poblanos, and nary a pimiento to be found.

The white cheese + the green peppers makes a pretty Spring-like color combination that reminds me more of egg salad than of pimiento cheese. And the addition of cilantro and lime takes the flavor profile in a westerly direction, so the result is more Austin than Atlanta. But - cheesilicious. And, if you think about it, I still haven't tried pimiento cheese, at least not the authentic stuff.

I used Kewpie mayo; if you do, too, omit the salt. Also, I didn't like the texture at first - it was like cheese salad. Food processor to the rescue!

Richard Blais' Pimiento Jack Cheese (adapted from Try This at Home)

8 ounces white pepper jack cheese, coarsely grated
1 small poblano pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded, and finely diced
1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced (or more to taste)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
Grated zest and juice of 1/2 lime
Kosher salt to taste

Combine the cheese, chiles, mayo, cilantro, lime zest and juice, and salt. Pop the mixture into the food processor and give it a couple of pulses to break down the cheese a bit more and better amalgamate the mixture.

Serve with crusty bread or crackers or use in a grilled cheese sandwich.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Red Robin - Yum!

I am not afraid to admit that Mr Minx and I frequent Red Robin. We are foodies, but we are not snobs. Red Robin happens to be located near our regular grocery store, and when we don't have other ideas for dinner, a burger is quick, easy, and usually delicious.

Not delicious, however, are RR's potatoes. They're thick cut steak fries, horribly tough and dry and not particularly crispy. For me, no amount of ketchup can salvage them, so I just order a side salad with balsamic vinaigrette instead.

Our favorite burger is the Santa Fe: roasted Poblano pepper, guacamole, sautéed onions, crispy tortilla chips, Pepper Jack cheese, lettuce and Ancho mayo on an onion bun. I had never been a fan of mayo on hamburgers, but this one's combination of chewy, gooey, and lightly spicy elements all working as a delicious whole converted me. While there is more topping than meat on these burgers, I find them to be well-balanced, and the patty itself does taste like actual meat. Perhaps not as meatalicious as the burger from Stoney River, it's satisfying enough.

I've also enjoyed the Blackened Bayou burger, and a discontinued one that had onions and peppers, marinara, and a breaded wheel of Mozzarella cheese. Their chicken sandwiches are pretty good too. Haven't tried any salads because hey - if I'm going to a burger joint, I want meat on a bun.

What do you think about Red Robin? Are there other chain burger restaurants you prefer that you would recommend?