By Cecilia
Recently someone asked me, "What is something Sonoma County needs but doesn't have?" and one of the first things that came into my mind was "New Mexican food"! In fact, I don't know of a single New Mexican restaurant in the entire Bay Area. It drives me crazy that in an area where you can find food from almost any country, there's nowhere to enjoy the cuisine from two states over. I guess it is a testament to how spoiled we are that I am this upset about not finding sopaipillas.
If any of you feel the same way about New Mexican food I hope you are as happy as I am about our incredible abundance of Numex green chilis. The Numex are our hatch-style peppers that are ideal for roasting and making green chili sauce. I love putting green chili sauce on almost everything I eat- cheeseburgers, steaks, enchiladas, mixed into stews (perfect for our hopefully rainy winter!). We have A LOT of these stored right now and expect to keep having them for weeks to come. I recommend taking a big batch home, roasting and peeling them, and freezing them to use all winter. I have not tried freezing actual green chili sauce but I can't see why that wouldn't work!
PS. If anyone knows of a New Mexican restaurant in the Bay Area that I missed, please let me know!
This Week’s Pick List:
Eggs
Red Gold and La Ratte Fingerling Potatoes
Ailsa Craig and Red Long of Tropea Onions
Takrima Leeks
Winter Sweet Kabocha, Butternut, Gil’s Golden and Tuffy Acorn, Candystick and Zeppelin Delicata, Orangetti and Spaghetti Winter Squash
Yaya Carrots
Rhonda Beets
Hakeuri Turnips
Kossack Kohlrabi
Calypso Celery
Gypsy Broccoli and/or Mardi Cauliflower
Taiwan Flat and Caraflex Cabbage (Lots!!!!)
Emiko Napa Cabbage
Sweet peppers (Lots!!!!)
Bastan Poblano and Highlander Green Numex Peppers (Lots!!!!)
Jalapeno, Serrano, Rodeo, Aji Crystal, and Wenk’s Yellow Hot Peppers (Lots!!!!)
Rainbow Lacinato and Old Growth Palm Kale
Champion Collards
Ruby Red Chard
Dill and Cilantro
Tres Fine Frisee and Leonardo Radicchio
Head Lettuce
Esmee Arugula
Regiment Spinach
Pick your own: feel free to pick seed heads and whatever you can find!
Saltonstall Olive Oil (Please bring your own jars!)
Revolution Bread (Hopefully on Friday… Eli’s oven is broken.)
Filigreen Farm Apples for sale!
Traditional style New Mexican green chile sauce
*Feel free to get creative with spices and seasonings and make it your own!
1 tablespoon oil
1⁄2 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons flour
1⁄4 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper, to taste
1 1⁄2 cups stock
1 cup chopped roasted and peeled New Mexican pepper
1⁄4 teaspoon dried oregano
In a medium sauce pan, saute the onion and garlic in the oil over medium-high heat, until tender (about 3 minutes).
Stir in the flour, cumin, salt and pepper and cook over medium heat, stirring, for 2 minutes.
Stir in the stock and simmer until thick and smooth.
Stir in the chiles and oregano.
At this point you may cool, and store in refrigerator, covered, for up to one day.
To serve, heat thoroughly.