Chilies In The Desert

[Jaymes]

No need for that to be "the last time" you ever taste green chiles.

Yep, it's probably going to be difficult to get fresh-roasted green chiles where you live, but many companies sell canned ones. I've lived all over the world and can tell you that canned green chiles are a perfectly fine substitute when you can't get fresh ones.

[Abra]

I have a couple of carefully-hoarded cans in my cupboard right now, in fact, thanks to our last guests from the US who were kind enough to bring them in their luggage.

Chiles en nogada, I love that dish.

[Chufi]

Day 18 - Continued

We fell in love with Silver City. It´s really hard not to love it.

It´s beautiful

It´s extremely relaxed

It´s surrounded by gorgeous countryside

It has an amazing grocery storewhere they sell everything from Dutch licorice to weird Indonesian peppers to Indian chapati´s to Italian Arborio rice to Israeli couscous

Oh and gfron1 lives there, with his spouse, and these 2 are some of the most generous-spirited, lovely-to-be-around people I´ve ever met. Despite their hectic schedules they made lots of time for us, to eat with us, go hiking with us and talk to us. We had an amazing couple of days in Silver City thanks to them.

The first night we were there we wanted to go eat at the brewpub, but true to Silver City standards there was a written notice on the door that said "I´m taking a break, will be back in a couple of days" so we went to Jalisco´s instead.

[Chufi]

Day 18 - continued

crab tostadas

my combo platter (with a great chile relleno)

gfron1´s fish taco´s

we were pretty full after that but not too full to go THE gelato place in town:

Alotta Gelato

Edited October 22, 2008 by Chufi (log)

[Chufi]

Day 19 - Silver City

Next day Tyler took us hiking near Cherry Creek. It´s really beautiful up there, peaceful and green with a little creek that crosses the trail every now and then.

Before we took off we stopped by the Curious Kumquat to get lunch. Some of Rob´s fantastic bread, some Maytag cheese

and this..

aren´t you all jealous??

Edited October 22, 2008 by Chufi (log)

[CaliPoutine]

*raising hand* Soooo Jealous!!

Was that a brownie you're holding up?

The sourdough bread looks amazing too!!

[Chufi]

*raising hand*  Soooo Jealous!!

Was that a brownie you're holding up?

The sourdough bread looks amazing too!!

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it´s gfron1´s amazing brownie. I think it´s a good thing I don´t live in SC after all... I would have to have one of those at least twice a week I´m afraid

[gfron1]

You can find my top secret recipe HERE. It is a bit over the top, and you don't need the raspberry to make it, but I prefer the flavor mix.

The funny thing about the Brew Pub (we may hear more about it from Chufi) is that yesterday I heard he only opens for special events now because he got tired of dealing with drunk customers and lazy staff...note to owner - don't go into hospitality industry if you don't like people.

[Chufi]

The funny thing about the Brew Pub (we may hear more about it from Chufi) is that yesterday I heard he only opens for special events now because he got tired of dealing with drunk customers and lazy staff...note to owner - don't go into hospitality industry if you don't like people.

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if I ever come back to Silver City, you´ll have to convince him that that is a special event.

[markemorse]

That is a brutal brownie.

[gfron1]

I don't know if he could be convinced. Silver Citians are an odd lot. They think "life" should come before work. Clearly that's not a concept that has sunk in for me (he grumbles after his third straight 16 hour day prepping for a tasting menu)

[Chufi]

Day 19 - continued

for dinner that night we went to the neighbouring hamlet of Pinos Altos. We had passed the restaurant in the afternoon when we came back from our hike, so I was able to take a picture by daylight. This place has been in business since 9I think) the 1860's, and it supposedly has the bulletholes in the walls to prove it, although unfortunately it was so dark inside that I could not see them!

we had quesadilla's and potato skins

and a very good but humungous burger that nobody finished but me... and I should not have.

I also spent some time with the local barfly.. he asked me to stay but Dennis would not let me.

I forgot to mention that on this night we also met one of gfron's customers, a lovely lady who is originally from The Netherlands.. she's in her eighties and it was great fun to meet her and she enjoyed speaking Dutch with us and reminiscing a bit about Holland..

[Chufi]

Day 20 - Silver City

The next day we really got into the Silver City way of life We went shopping, we had coffee, Dennis had a haircut, we had more coffee and tea, strolled around, and managed to spend the entire morning basically doing nothing.. and arrived back at the Curious Kumquat in time for lunch.

Rob's corn and green chile chowder, which is really good.

Edited October 23, 2008 by Chufi (log)

[Jaymes]

Rob's corn and green chile chowder, which is really good.

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Any chance he might part with that recipe?

Pretty please with green chiles on top?

[santo_grace]

Rob's corn and green chile chowder, which is really good.

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Any chance he might part with that recipe?

That's what I wondered! It looks deeelicious.

[markemorse]

I forgot to mention that on this night we also met one of gfron's customers, a lovely lady who is originally from The Netherlands.. she's in her eighties and it was great fun to meet her and she enjoyed speaking Dutch with us and reminiscing a bit about Holland..

←

I'd like to say she looks pretty good for her age, but...

i guess all that desert sun really can be bad for your complexion.

Edited October 23, 2008 by markemorse (log)

[gfron1]

I'm not stingy with recipes...but this is in my head, so adjust to taste.

Green Chile Corn Chowder (serves a small restaurant crowd on a tepid day)

1 L Onion, diced

3 Stalk Celery, diced

1 Stick butter (don't ruin it by trying to make it healthier!)

4 C. Red potatoes, chopped

1 C. Green Chiles, roasted, chopped (canned if you must)

2 C. Corn kernels (fresh when available, otherwise frozen does okay)

2 T. Thyme

Salt and White pepper to taste

1/2 Gal Whole Milk

Melt butter, sautè onion and celery until soft. Add potatoes, chiles, corn and seasonings. Cook for a few minutes, add milk (should cover plus an inch). Bring to a soft boil and immediately bring it down to your lowest setting. Cook uncovered for at least 2 hours or until tender, adjusting to taste throughout.

Simple!

[suzilightning]

Blackened chicken sandwich with roasted green chiles and cheese,  blackened catfish with coleslaw.

and look at those beautiful onion rings

[Chufi]

Day 20 - continued

In the evening, we went for a final Silver City dinner to Isaac´s. I wasn´t really hungry so I ordered this

yes that was plastic cheese.

Dennis ordered a bit more sensibly

and Rob just had guacamole...

...and then we had to say goodbye to Silver City and all its wonderful people.

On every trip there´s a town or city that you feel you want to come back to some day. 2 years ago, it was Port Townsend, and this time it was Silver City. So who knows!!

[Chufi]

Day 21 - Silver City -> Phoenix

we left early fot the long drive to Phoenix. Somewhere along the way, but I´m ashamed to admit I dont remember where, we stopped for breakfast

We arrived in Phoenix, found a motel, rested for a bit, found a computer to check in for our flights, and then went in search of the final culinary experience of the trip: Pizzeria Bianco.

I had read about this placehere on eGullet and all the rave reports had made me curious. I knew we would probably have to wait a long time, but since we really did not have anything better to do on our final night in the US, we decided to go for it.

Finding the place was tricky, and in the car we had our first Real Fight of the trip... your typical car discussion that went something like this

Dennis: ok, so now you have to tell me if I should keep going, or turn left, or turn right.

Me: how should I know, I don+t live here, I´ve never been here before, and this map sucks.

variations on this theme, for about 20 minutes. You get the idea. Anyway, with the help of some friendly Phoenicians (who did warn us: you´re going to Bianco? Ooooh, it´s friday night, it´s going to be a madhouse up there) we finalyy arrived at PB at 5:15. and were informed there would be a two and a half hour wait.

Luckily there´s a nice bar next door, owned by the PB people, where you can have a beer or 2 or 3 while you wait, and the girls behind the bar (who are all gorgeous and dressed like they just walked out of a Sex In The City casting) have a list of people waiting for the restaurant, so you don+t have to worry that they´ll give your spot to someone else. Waiting almost 3 hours for PIZZA seems outrageous, but if you think of it as just ´a nice time spent in a bar´it´s not so crazy... I´ve spent many hours at bars without a pizza waiting for me! We talked to some of the people who were also waiting, they had all been there before and said the wait was totally worth it. One couple said they´d been coming to PB since it opened and that nothing had changed.. not the menu, not the pizza, not the care and attention to detail.. the only thing that had changed was the time they had to spend waiting for their pizza!

This was all very encouraging. After about 2 hours our names were called and we were seated at the bar of the restaurant, with a nice view of the oven:

WE had the pizza with fennel sausage and wood roasted onions and the pizza with pistachios and onions, to which we added some prosciutto.

was it good pizza? it was great pizza. Was it the best pizza I ever had? No - I have had better pizza in Italy. Was it worth the wait? Definitely, but mostly because the wait was so enjoyable and did not really feel like a wait. If we had had to stand in line for 2 hours - I would not have thought it worth it.

The crust is unlike any pizza crust I ever tasted. It´s really flavorful, but the texture is unusual - it´s light and airy but also quite chewy. The sausage-onion pizza was my favorite. I thought the pistacho topping on mine was a bit too salty.

All in all, we had a great time and I´m really glad we went and ended our trip with a really good dinner! When we left, the place was buzzing and the wait was 3 and a half hours...

So that´s it. I´ll browse the thread now for questions I missed. For now, cheers to all of you who read along, cheers to all eGulleters who helped plan my trip. I hopwe you enjoyed it and that maybe some day someone reading my report will get some info that´s valuable to them. Cheers!

[Chufi]

Chufi, was it still chile-roasting season when you were there?  Green chile roasting is one of my favorite smells.

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It was, and I agree with you about that smell. It´s wonderful.

I forgot to emphasize to Chufi and Dennis that they should get some posole...it looks like I will have to bring some supplies back from Phoenix this Christmas and make them a batch...

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ah yes, posole! I was SO planning on bringing some back and then I forgot.

Regarding the tequila tasting, what were the results?  Did a winner emerge?

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I liked the darkest one (I think thats the anejo? please don´t make me look at my tequila notes... ) best for drinking straight.

No need for that to be "the last time" you ever taste green chiles.

Yep, it's probably going to be difficult to get fresh-roasted green chiles where you live, but many companies sell canned ones.  I've lived all over the world and can tell you that canned green chiles are a perfectly fine substitute when you can't get fresh ones.

←

I did bring back a little can of Hatch roasted chiles, so now the challenge will be when to use them and what to use them for...

[birder53]

This was a wonderful trip! We hiked through parts of Utah 15 years ago and your photos were just beautiful. Thanks for taking the time to document everything so carefully for sharing with us.

[gfron1]

Great report, and you and Dennis were a joy to entertain. I hope someday the cafè allows me to allow you to reciprocate the hospitality (minus the plastic cheese and closed brew pubs).

Unfortunately all green chiles are now a memory of the past and we go into hibernation until next August.

[Abra]

It looks like you had a wonderful trip! Where to next?

[andiesenji]

Stunning photos and evocative descriptions of the foods you enjoyed.

I got home from southwestern NM night before last, and am still recovering.

Unfortunately my plans to have lunch at The Curious Kumquat were short circuited by time constraints on the day I departed, however I did get to do some shopping in the store twice.

Next time for sure.

None of my meals around the area were exceptionally memorable, other than lunch in Silver City with Rob and Tyler. While traveling alone there is less incentive to seek out unique places.