Crispy Cauliflower Tacos

Crispy Cauliflower Tacos

Crispy Cauliflower Tacos

Fried Seasoned Cauliflower Florets
Roasted Hatch Chile & Roasted Corn Salsa
Shredded Cabbage, Charred Corn Tortillas, Pickled Red Onion
Cilantro, Edible Flower Petals, Baja White Sauce

Sometimes a vegetarian taco just hits the spot. Especially if it is made with crispy seasoned cauliflower and smothered in Hatch chile & corn salsa. These tacos are fantastico! They’re crispy, crunchy, fresh, spicy, herby, charred, creamy, tangy, colorful, and mighty tasty. Don’t wait ’til Taco Tuesday to give them a try!

Crispy Cauliflower Tacos

Crispy Cauliflower Tacos Recipe

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Cream of Hatch Chile Soup

Cream of Hatch Chile Soup

🔥 Cream of Hatch Chile Soup 🔥
Garnished With
Tortilla Strips, Mexican Cheese, Jalapeño, Cilantro

With only three (3!) ingredients, this soup is astonishingly complex and flavorful. Chiles grown in the Hatch Valley have an ideal balance of smoky heat and sweetness. Their unique flavor is a result of the Southern New Mexico sun and terroir.

By the way, this soup is muy picante but the cream and shredded cheese help to temper the spiciness. The heat level is customizable though… the hot, medium, or mild chile ratio can easily be adjusted to taste.

And while Cream of Hatch Chile Soup could simply be served naked, garnishes take it to another level where home-made tortilla strips add crunch, while thin slices of jalapeño and cilantro leaves add fresh complementary flavors and visual appeal.

Cream of Hatch Chile Soup

Cream of Hatch Chile Soup Recipe

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Hatch Chile Stew, Chicken, Heirloom Beans

Hatch Chile, Chicken, Heirloom Bean Stew

⭐️⭐️ Hatch Chile Stew ⭐️⭐️
With Chicken and Heirloom Beans
Tortilla Strips, Sour Cream, Avocado, Radish, Cilantro

Hatch Chile Aficionados, you’re gonna love this stew! It is chock-full of a whole pound of fire-roasted chopped Hatch chiles. But don’t worry, I used the mild ones so it is not too spicy, just bursting with New Mexico green chile goodness. There is also red Hatch chile powder in the recipe for another layer of chile flavor and so you can adjust the spice-level to your liking. 🔥

Chicken and heirloom beans make it a hearty meal while all the garnishes give it pizzazz. Home-fried tortilla strips are dusted with Hatch chile powder and give the stew a spicy Southwest crunch. Sour cream, avocado, radish, and cilantro bring creamy, peppery, and herby notes. Unlike some stews where chicken and/or beans take center stage and chiles play a supporting role, here, the chiles are the star. ⭐️

Hatch Chiles are chile pepper varieties commercially cultivated in the Hatch Valley of Southern New Mexico. It is said that the soil and climate of the area contribute to the especially pleasing flavor of the chiles. (from Fresh Chile Co. here) 🌶

Hatch Chile, Chicken, Heirloom Bean Stew

Hatch Chile Stew with Chicken, Heirloom Beans Recipe

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Camarones con Rajas

Camarones con Rajas

Camarones con Rajas

Don’t get me wrong. We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at Javier’s in Las Vegas, but I simply wanted to serve the dish with more shrimp, and more rajas! So here I re-create a version of that fabulous Camarones con Rajas at home. It’s overloaded with succulent Alaska spot shrimp atop poblano chile strips and onions smothered in a garlic butter cream sauce.

Rajas con crema is a popular Mexican dish consisting of strips or slices (rajas in Spanish) of roasted poblano peppers in a cream sauce.

At Javier’s, we dined on aguachile del rey with bay scallop, shrimp, and octopus; empanadas de camarón; chile verde with braised pork and tomatillo sauce; and the camarones con rajas – all accompanied by their hand-shaken signature margaritas. This stunning upscale Mexican restaurant is located in the Aria Resort right next to the casino floor where hundreds of rope strands form an impressive canopy in the bar area.

Javier's Las Vegas
Javier’s dishes with Camarones con Rajas (top right)

While Javier’s prepares their dish with Mexican white prawns, I am elevating my dish with Alaska spot shrimp.

Alaska Spot Shrimp are sweet and plump. And if cooked correctly, they are luscious and much more tender than the Mexican prawn variety. With their slightly briny hint of the sea, spot shrimp taste like a sweet-buttery cross between lobster and Dungeness crab. They are just heavenly served over the poblano garlic butter cream.

Receta de Camarones Con Rajas

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Grilled Artichoke, Hatch Chile Garlic Mayonnaise

Grilled Artichoke, Hatch Chile Garlic Mayonnaise

Grilled Artichoke, Hatch Chile Garlic Mayonnaise

The year was 1978 at The Chart House in Aspen, Colorado. My date, Jeff, was instructing me on how to eat the curious appetizer that he had ordered. It was something I had never encountered before. It was an artichoke.

He happily showed me how to pull the outermost petals from the globe and dip each one in the ramekin of melted butter, how to scrape the meat from each petal with my bottom teeth. The nutty-earthy flavors, the divine melted butter, the fascinating method for consuming this unique vegetable…I was hooked.

Fast forward to today and it is hard to believe that I’ve been living in Las Vegas for two years now. In addition to the swimming pool, one of my favorite outdoor amenities of the new home is a built-in Blaze Grill.

After having a propane BBQ at my home in LA for all those years, it is such a pleasure to know I will never run out of fuel! And the fabulous Blaze is so much more powerful, the total grill BTUs equal 66,000! It’s hot. And awesome.

So we grill, and eat in the pool ALL THE TIME…today an amazingly good and very popular appetizer of grilled artichokes with our favorite Hatch Chile garlic mayonnaise.

Grilled Artichoke Recipe

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