Good morning folks!

Here we are again.

I thought what might be an interesting idea for a menu would be to focus on a region as opposed to a specific recipe. Today we will be taking a look at the cuisine of New Mexico, a state that is equal parts beautiful and fucked up at the same time. There’s a reason that “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” are both filmed and based there.

What do you know about New Mexico?

While it may technically be considered a “flyover” state I think of it more as a “drive through” state.

I’ve driven through New Mexico MANY times. Most recently back in the early “aughts” when I made a solo road trip from LA to Memphis to visit my best friend who was suddenly hospitalized. As a kid we drove through this state almost yearly as my Dad drove the whole fuckin’ family to visit his family in Texas.

Know what route we took to get there?

Goddamn right.

Good old pre-interstate Route motherfucking 66. It was about a 1,500 mile trip each way and took 2-3 days to do. Look at that picture again. Notice anything unusual about that road? It’s a two lane goddamn highway! EVERYBODY and their bastard redhead offspring took this road during the summer and guess what happened when you got behind a really slow truck being followed by a line of about 65 cars? You drove really fucking slow too.

Holy shit would my dad cuss up a fucking storm when this happened. That’s why there were plenty of stops along the way. Some of them may be familiar to a few of you. Anybody recognize this?

Stuckey’s! Home of the pecan log. There was one of these every couple hundred miles on the Mother Road and many of them sold real simulated Indian jewelry.

And some of them sold fireworks.

Boom!

Here’s another fun one.

The Thing! There were signs about every 10 miles that read shit like “The Thing! What is it?” “The Thing! Visit us in only 240 miles!” And so on. We always bugged the crap out of my dad to stop so we could see The Thing! He always told us “It’s going to be a bunch of tourist shit and I don’t want to stop the goddamn car!” Finally one year he stopped. There it was. In all of it’s goddamn glory. Finally, The Thing.

Supposedly it was a mummified corpse but! The hair and nails continue to grow TO THIS VERY DAY! My dad was pissed. “I told you it was going to be a tourist trap, goddammit!”

Did I think the same? FUCK no! The Thing was fucking awesome.

My dad used to wake up every morning on these road trips fartin’, spittin’ and cussin’.

Every road traveler knew the real destination for any and all tourists along Route 66 was this beauty.

Motherfucking YellowHorse! Hell yeah!

This beauty resided right on the New Mexico side of the border with Arizona and it was a fucking wet dream for any kid travelling along Route 66. I fucking love this place! Did I stop there on that trip I took to visit my buddy in the early “Aughts?” Bet your goddamn fur I did. It’s still there and a must stop if you’re travelling the road. Yes, you can even access it off of Interstate 40 if the allure and the grandeur of travelling Route 66 ain’t your style.

A quick note on the “tax free cigarettes” sign in that picture. Yellowhorse was situated on tribal land and was therefore unencumbered by federal taxes. This was back in the “every fucking body” smoked days so this was a real selling point.

I swear to fucking God this is true; back in the day there were signs telling you to stop at “Yellowhorse” just like the signs for The Thing and while I couldn’t find photographic evidence, the signs said “Get a green weenie at Yellowhorse.” I swear on my unholy soul that this is true. Did I go into the men’s room and personally check every time we stopped?

Fuck yes I did! Not once could I prove the sentiment on those signs.

After some research, it turns out that Moses “Chief” Yellowhorse, a full blooded American Native of the Pawnee tribe and the founder of this place was once a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The first full blooded native to play in the major leagues. Former Pirates broadcaster Bob Prince came up with the idea of the “green weenie” as a way to taunt and jinx players on the opposing team. More info here. It was a plastic hotdog shaped rattle that fans used to annoy the other team. So technically they really did sell a “green weenie” at Yellowhorse.

Finally a lifelong childhood memory is confirmed in the usual anti-climactic way. Ain’t that just like fucking life?

I also remember stopping for food in Albuquerque on a few of our road trips and two of the meals I remember to this day! Almost 50 years later. Both of those meals involved chili, one was a red chili and one of those meals involved green chili.

A quick little diatribe: I got inspired to make this meal while watching some shows on the Cooking Channel. The shows visited New Mexico and talked up the cuisine. On one of the shows there was a restaurant that made a big ass burrito and served it “wet” or covered in sauce. It was half covered in red chile and the other half in green chile. The proprietors of this restaurant called this “Christmas” style.

Ahem.

Christmas style you inbred motherfuckers? You live in “New” Mexico and call this “Christmas” style? Know what else features the colors of red and green? The national flag of Mexico you goddamn morons that’s what! The country your twisted little state is named after.

Fucking heathens.

Christmas style my ass.

Just needed to let that out. We’ll be fine going forward.

You regular readers may remember that I’ve made chile verde before.

A delicious bowl of slow cooked tender pork in a rich gravy made from different types of green chilies and tomatillos.

But we’re not making that today. Today I am bringing you…

Corn and green chile chowder!

Corn and chilies are both very prominent in the regional cuisine of New Mexico and more often than not the chilies are Hatch green chilies. Chimayo chilies are also prevalent in the cuisines but today we are focusing on these.

Of course they are better freshly purchased, fire roasted and chopped but they ain’t exactly in season out here in LA. Therefore? Amazon.

Let’s go!

First though, as I was doing my standard planning and research, it dawned on me that what I was about to attempt was… VEGETARIAN! Did I amend that?

Because without some bacon this dish would be completely vegetarian and we can’t fucking have that now can we?

Fuck it. Here’s the recipe.

Corn and Green Chile Chowder.

3 Strips of bacon cut into lardons

4 cups of fresh or frozen corn. It ain’t exactly corn season so frozen is fine

2 russet potatoes cut into small cubes

1 cup of Hatch green chilies fire roasted and diced

1 small onion diced

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 pint of heavy cream

4 cups of chicken stock – homemade would be best but store bought is fine

1 tablespoon of smoked paprika

1 tablespoon of cumin

1/2 tablespoon of salt

1/2 tablespoon of black pepper

1 tablespoon of fresh chives – minced

Over a medium heat let’s get that bacon rendered down.

When the bacon has cooked to a crispy state, remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon and let drain on a paper towel. Leave that damn bacon grease in the pan!

In addition to using the bacon as a garnish we will also be using some fresh chives – from my herb garden!

Yeah, the rosemary is looking a bit rough but it’s almost time for new herbs for the garden anyway. I refresh the plants every Spring.

Chop the chives up.

One ingredient that is not fresh and in season is the corn. Still too early for that shit out here but for this dish frozen corn will work.

That’s (2) 12 oz bags of frozen corn.

We’re going to take about 1/2 cup of the frozen corn, add in about 1/3 cup of the heavy cream and get this blended up.

I used my immersion blender but a standard blender or even a food processor would work too. This is going to be used to thicken up the soup.

To get the chowder started we need to chop up the onion. While we’re at it go ahead and mince the garlic.

Get the onion into the bacon grease over a medium heat.

The onions will cook for about 7-8 minutes or so until they’ve achieved a rich golden brown appearance.

Next we are going to add the chicken stock, the garlic and the salt, pepper, cumin and paprika. Get to a low simmer.

Next up for the chopping block? A couple of peeled russet potatoes.

Chop these up fairly small. To the size of potatoes that you would normally find in a chowder. Give the potatoes a quick rinse to discard some of the excess starch, then use a paper towel to dry the potatoes.

Now get the potatoes into the simmering pot.

Let these cook for about 10 minutes before we add in the other ingredients. Since these started out as raw potatoes we want to make sure they cook through.

Next thing is the corn. Get it in there! This is the corn that we haven’t blended with the cream. Be sure to set aside another 1/4 cup of the whole corn for later.

Simmer for another 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender but not quite too tender. Then in goes the green chili, the blended corn from earlier and the cream.

This will simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the soup has thickened.

This will be ladled into a bowl for food service and garnished with the bacon and the chives.

You know what would also benefit from the combination of corn and green chilies and maybe a handful of cheese?

Some Gatdamn cornbread that’s what!

Remember when we discussed “profiles” for a meal? This is what it means. Using the primary components in multiple dishes.

You know the cornbread drill by now.

1 cup of flour

1 cup of corn meal

1/4 cup of sugar

1 tablespoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of whole milk

1/3 cup of vegetable oil

1 beaten egg

and for today’s variation

1/2 cup of sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup of the Hatch green chilies

1/4 cup of frozen corn.

Mix your dry ingredients together then mix the wet ingredients together. Now add the corn, chilies and cheese to the dry ingredients.

Mix the wet with the dry ingredients to form a batter. Remember, don’t over mix here. Pour into a greased baking vessel.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and get this in there for about 22-25 minutes.

When it looks like this?

That shit is ready.

Grab yourself a bowl and ladle in some of the chowder. Take some of that cooked bacon and some of the minced chives and sprinkle over the top.

Then cut you a piece of that nice warm cornbread and set it alongside the bowl of chowder.

Let’s get us a look at the closeup of this meal, shall we?

There it is!

While the jar of chilies said “hot” this wasn’t “hot” hot. It had a low sustained, let’s call it a “simmer” on the tongue that was offset by the presence of the cream, potatoes and the corn.

For what could easily be a vegetarian meal

/shudders

it is deeply rich and satisfying. The familiar notes of the corn, green chilies and cumin rise to the front and that cornbread could just be considered fucking “stupid” for it’s deliciousness.

That’s my version of New Mexico cuisine.

This shit is so good you may get a green weenie!

As always Sunday Gravy wouldn’t exist without you regular readers.

It’s been a pleasure having you along for the road trip.

PEACE!