Volume 10, Issue 094 - May 11, 2006

Hello ,

In Carolyn Niethammer's book, The New Southwest Cookbook, not only has she wrangled some of the best chefs from some of the fanciest resorts out of their prized recipes, she also takes the time to educate us on those ingredients that make Southwestern cuisine what it is. Today she will share recipes featuring Prickly Pear Fruit and Chilies.

Prickly Pear Fruit

The prickly pear cactus is native to the Americas, from Chile to Canada. Columbus took the plant back to Europe at the end of the fifteenth century, and from there it has spread all over the planet. Because the prickly pear produces an abundance of sweet succulent fruits in hot dry climates that aren't very hospitable to other fruits, it has gained great popularity in arid parts of the world.

The fruits appear in the summer through the fall and are about the size and shape of a hen's egg. The flavor of prickly pear fruit depends on the variety, ranging from a light watermelon or honeydew taste, to berry-like, to a bit like cucumbers. The deep garnet-colored syrup known to many as a popular ingredient for Prickly Pear Margaritas comes from the Engelmann variety of prickly pear or its close relatives. Englemann prickly pears grow wild over thousands of acres of Southwestern desert. Other varieties, such as the tall tree cactus called Opuntia ficus-indica, produce yellowish-pink fruits preferred by many people in other countries.

Prickly pear fruit has been a folk medicine - as well as a popular food - in Mexico for generations. Now new medical research has confirmed that prickly pear fruit or unsweetened juice prepared from the fruit helps control diabetes, cholesterol, and high blood pressure.

If you have access to prickly pears, it is easy to make your own juice or syrup. Pick the pears with tongs, clean them, simmer them briefly, then whirl in a blender and strain out the seeds. Add sugar or sweetener to taste, simmer, and you have syrup for interesting drinks, baked goods, glazes for meats, or desserts.

Source: The New Southwest Cookbook by Carolyn Niethammer

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Rattlesnake Empanadas
Furnace Creek Inn, Death Valley National Park, California

To people unfamiliar with the desert, rattlesnakes and cacti are things to fear. But Furnace Creek Inn chef Michelle Hansen removes the threat and turns them into delicious appetizers for guests visiting Death Valley National Park. You can find canned rattlesnake meat in many gourmet stores or on the Web; you can also substitute chicken - and just tell people it's rattlesnake. Puff pastry is available frozen at most grocery stores.

Makes 16 empanadas

Ingredients:

1/2 pound boneless rattlesnake meat, or chicken
2 1/2 tablespoons chicken fat or butter
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell peppers
1/4 cup finely chopped yellow bell peppers
1/4 cup finely chopped green bell peppers
1/4 cup diced nopalitos (prickly pear cactus pads) (see note)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon powdered garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground red chile
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 defrosted puff pastry sheets
1/3 cup shredded Colby cheese
egg wash (one egg, fork-whipped with 2 tablespoons water)

Garnishes (optional):

salsa fresca
guacamole
sour cream
ranch dressing

Preparation:

In a food processor or blender, grind rattlesnake meat and chicken fat together until it looks like ground pork. Sauté peppers, nopalitos, and ground meat together over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Add everything else to the skillet except the pastry, cheese and egg wash. Cook for 5 minutes more. Drain if necessary and let cool. Add shredded cheese to mixture.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly flour a surface, spread out pastry sheets and roll each to approximately 8x16 inches. Using a biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or empty can, cut out 8 circles, 4 inches across, from each sheet. Place a tablespoon of the mixture in the middle of the circle, fold the pastry together, and crimp closed with fingers or fork. Place on a nonstick baking sheet and brush the pastry with egg wash. Bake for about 12 minutes until golden brown.

Serve with your choice of garnishes.

Note: Prickly pear products can be found in Mexican specialty food stores or in the ethnic section of most grocery stores.

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Chilies:

Although Christopher Columbus set out on his voyage to find spices such as black pepper, what he encountered in the New World was not pepper, but chiles, which made their first appearance in Mexico around 7000 B.C.

Skip ahead six hundred-odd years and chiles have spread around the globe. Tucson chef Donna Nordin, of Terra Cotta, has called chiles both the foundation and the superstructure of Southwestern cooking. Not all Southwestern dishes contain chile, but you won't get far without knowing one variety from the other. Identical chiles can go by several different names and sometimes have a different name for both the fresh and dried forms (such as Poblanos when fresh and Anchos when dried; or jalapeños when fresh and chipotles when dried). Chiles are frequently called chile peppers - thank Columbus for that. Another nomenclature oddity: Chile, with an "e", is the spice, while chili with an "i" is the dish made with meat, chile, and sometimes beans. Ground chile contains nothing but pure ground-up chile pods; chili powder contains other spices in addition to chile.

As a rule of thumb, the larger chile varieties are milder than the smaller ones. The heat is usually concentrated in the stem end as well as in the ribs and seeds. Capsaicin, an alkaloid, is the chemical compound that gives chiles their heat and, interestingly, is currently being studied as a stroke-preventive, is touted as helpful for allergies, and is used in pain-relieving creams. Other chemicals in chiles are potent antioxidants and may protect against such diseases as macular degeneration.

The relative spiciness of chiles is determined by their rating on the Scoville Scale, with zero for the mildest bell peppers and up to 400,000 for the hotter-than-hot habañeros. Individual chiles within a single variety can also vary in hotness due to growing conditions. A particularly hot Anaheim can be as hot as a mild jalapeño. It is always good to take a tiny taste before adding the full complement of chiles to any recipe.

It is always wise to wear gloves when handling any chiles - their heat won't blister your hands, but you might forget and touch more sensitive skin on your face or eyes. Should you get a mouthful of something way too hot, neither water nor beer will help. Try milk or ice cream. The casein in the milk will attach to and wash away the capsaicin. If you do get a fleck of chile in your eye, quickly flush repeatedly with cool water.

Source: The New Southwest Cookbook by Carolyn Niethammer

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Cream of Green Chile Soup
Café Central, El Paso, Texas

This recipe has been handed down through several decades of Café Central chefs. When planning to make this soup, you will have to assess your own tolerance for picante. If you prefer milder chiles, make sure the Anaheims you purchase are a milder strain, otherwise you can substitute poblanos for some or all of the Anaheims. If the chiles you are using are spicy enough for you, you can eliminate the jalapeño.

Makes about 6 servings, 1 cup each

Ingredients:

2 medium yellow onions, chopped
6 to 8 minced garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil plus 1 tablespoon butter
1 pound roasted and peeled green Anaheim chiles, chopped (about 2 pounds fresh)
1 jalapeño chile, minced (optional)
1/3 cup white wine
4 cups heavy cream
4 cups half-and-half
3 chicken bouillon cubes
1 1/2 cups sour cream
white pepper
salt to taste

Preparation:

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, sauté onions and garlic in olive oil and butter over medium-high heat until softened. Add green chiles and jalapeño and continue to sauté until the chiles are tender and some browning has begun on the bottom of the pot. Add wine and scrape up browned bits with a wooden spoon. Continue cooking until the wine reduces to almost dry.

Add heavy cream, half-and-half and bouillon cubes. Let the mixture come to a boil, then reduce heat to low to allow a small simmer. After 45 minutes at low simmer, add sour cream, salt and white pepper. Stir until the sour cream dissolves.

Let simmer another 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a blender and purée, working in batches if necessary. Pour the blended soup through a fine strain and serve warm.