How to Have Hatch Year-Round

It's is the perfect time of year for those who love Hatch Green Chilies.  Our local upscale market celebrates Chili-fest with these New Mexico specialities by the case, roasted, fresh, or by weight.  As you journey through the store, your creative juices flow along with your salavary glands.  They use Hatch Chili in every department: dairy, breads, soup, cheese, meat, and even desserts. 

My family usually purchases a case of the fresh, unroasted chilies to prepare so that we have them year-round for our cooking.  Since our daughter lives with us and doesn't have flameproof tastebuds, we get the mild ones. 

Keep the case in the fridge until you are ready to prep them for the freezer. 

I am fairly low key about my prep.  This doesn't mean it doesn't take time - it is a whole case of chilies after all - but I don't fuss over them.  You will want to have a good sharp knife, a large capacity food processor, a couple bowls/pots for the throw-away part and another for the good stuff. Lots of quart plastic zipper bags.  I also get the multi-gallon bags to put the filled quart bags into.  Peppers can overpower whatever else you have in the freezer so double bagging helps keep this from happening.  It also keeps all your peppers in one handy place. 

I chop off the top of the pepper.  Cut the bulk of the seed pods out (throw away unless you garden).  Slice the pepper in half.  If it has a particularly thick seam, I cut that out, otherwise I leave it for a bit of heat along with the remaining seeds.  The heat of a pepper is found in the seam and seeds.

Some peppers get sliced for quicker grilling.  Just cook them right from the freezer.  My husband uses his cast iron pans for our chilies.  Chopped or sliced - they roast up beautifully and flavorfully for burgers, steaks, chops...!!!

When chopping the peppers, I use the food processor.  I fill it fairly full then pulse for a couple seconds a time.  If you have a pepper that doesn't want to be processed, just do a couple rapid pulses to force the issue. I pulse until I have the consistency my family likes, somewhere between chunks and pulverized.

If you are going to use the chilies in corn bread, a dip, or something which doesn't take the liquid associated with freezing then thawing - just thaw the peppers first, put them in a paper towel and squeeze out the excess juice.  Be careful though - this juice has a kick.  You might not want to touch your face after this process!  If you like zing in your food, consider substituting the pepper juice (in part or in full) for other liquids in the recipe.

If you want to add chilies to your chili or soup, just dump in the frozen cluster from the bag. I LOVE the unroasted, chopped chilies in tortilla soup and corn chowder.

We froze 26 half-filled quart bags of chopped and 10 bags of sliced - from our one case.

Dakota!

I am visiting Dakota. He is my date when I am in the Hill Country.  I have invited Dakota to help me with this blog.

Our date - "First we went to Taco Cabana, and the fe-a-ter and the store Walmart. That's the date we had."

When we were at the store, we found a truck for Dakota to play with. Here is a photo of him with his truck.










Dakota is about to start school. He is excited about his new backpack and lunchbox. He says the backpack is heavy because of all his new supplies. He is looking forward to riding the school bus.

Dakota has learned to swim, jump in the water, and to write his name this summer.

Recently Dakota came to visit me at my new home, we rode the ferry and played on the beach.






It is such an amazing thing to be loved so unconditionally by this sweet boy. All I can do is love him right back.

God, our Father, sent His Son as a sacrifice to show His unconditional love for each of us.  There is nothing we have done, or can do, to earn this love. It is GRACE. My only response is to love Him and share this unconditional love with others.

Heating Up the Sweet Sauce

I think the perfect flavor combination is a touch of heat added to something sweet.  When I have pork or chicken - I really love to kick up the taste with a sauce of honey and chipotle.  It's such an easy sauce to make.  It's one of those few things that matches perfectly with a variety of foods - think of it like a little black dress that adds versitility in a wardrobe.  I like it as a condiment for meats but it really does a great double as a salad dressing. 

What you need:
1/2 Cup: Honey (I like to buy local)
1/3 Cup: Ketchup
1 Tablespoon + 1 Teaspoon: White Vinegar
1 Tablespoon: Chipotle Powder
1/2 Teaspoon: Salt
1/3 Cup: Water

Putting it Together:
Combine all of above in a saucepan and bring to a boil, slowly.  Simmer for a few minutes.  Let Cool before putting into an airtight container.  Store in the fridge between uses. 









When I'm finishing a larger bottle of honey, I use it as my storage container for this sauce.  Cut the top off a water bottle and use it as a funnel so you don't loose a single drop.

Here's a tip for easier cleaning of measuring cups when using sticky items.  Give your measurer a quick, light mist with cooking spray.  Your honey will slide right out and the cup cleans up quickly.

This sauce is easily adapted to your taste:

Want more or less spice? Adjust the chipolte powder sparingly. 

Want a sweeter sauce?  Bump up the amount of honey. 

Want your sauce tangier?  Add just a bit more vinegar. 

Wearing My Heart

This is the second time I have knit this shawl. The first found a new home when I wore it while on retreat. It is such a lovely design and seems to me that it must be knit in red because of the hearts worked in the pattern. I LOVE RED. I just had to knit another to keep.  This time I used a more luxurious fiber - Sweet Georgia Yarns Cashluxe Fine, a blend of 70% merino, 20% cashmere and 10% nylon.  The colorway is a deep, rich red called China Doll. I used red glass beads which have a silver lining (there are over 700 beads knit into this shawl). 

God calls us to give our heart away, to allow Him to take and use us as His hands and feet. Many times, my reaction to the overwhelming need in our world is to close away my heart in an attempt to protect it.  Only when we open our heart to sharing the journey of life with others do we find our heart filled to overflowing with love. 

I pray that you find yourself willing to open your heart to all that God has in store for you - no matter how many times you find yourself called to do so.

Psalm 28:7: The Lord is my strength and my shield; my HEART trusts in him, and he helps me. My HEART leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.

Italian Bake (Low Carb)

 

This is a dish filled with favorite pizza toppings but without the crust. This means it is high protein and low carb.  I make this when I want to have a big piece of garlic toast with dinner but can't afford the carbs. 
What you need:
Italian Sausage
Ground Beef
Pepperoni
Green Bell Pepper
Onion
Garlic
Pasta Sauce
Motzerella Cheese

Putting it together:
Brown and drain off the grease from the sausage and beef and saute both with the garlic. 
Slice the pepperoni in half and seperate slices. 
Dice the onion and slice the bell pepper.

Layer the veggies on the bottom of a 9" square baking dish.  Next add the pepperoni.  Last, add the cooked meats.  For an extra burst of cheese, I add a layer of grated parmesan cheese. Pour the entire contents of the pasta sauce over these then cover entirely with cheese.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and browned.  All of the meats are already cooked, so you are just softening the veggies and melting the cheese.  If you like other ingredients on your pizza, switch things around to satisfy your tastes.  Like Canadian bacon and pineapple? - mix these together and bake.  Want bacon or anchovies? - go for it. 

Shrug Jacket: A Lesson in Patience

I did it again - fell in love with a pattern and didn't give any thought to the process of knitting.  This is the Shrug Jacket from the 2013 Spring/Summer Debbie Bliss Magazine.  The yarn is an amazingly lovely pale, dusty blue in a blend of 85% cotton, 10% silk and 5% cashmere.  It is a great weight to ward off the chill of the air conditioner or walking along the beach after sunset. 

Still, with so much that is wonderful about this jacket, it tried my patience greatly.  I recalled that prayer, "Lord, give me patience and give it to me know" a few times while knitting the more than 1700 yards of moss stitch for this project.  For those of you who are not knitters, this means that for each stitch I moved my yarn forward and backward of the needles, basically doubling my hand motion.  Do you recall the Gaither song lyrics: Have patience, have patience, don't be in such a hurry.  When you get impatient, you only start to worry.  Remember, remember that God is patient too and think of all the times when others have to wait for you? Yep, as this gets lodged in your mind it becomes a decent chant for knitting, setting a great rythym to knit moss stitch by and serves as a nearly constant reminder to practice the patience you want God and others to grant you.

Yet, our Father taught me the joy of perservering.  Don't give up.  Understand that you aren't walking alone and that God has a blessing/lesson for you at the end of the path.