Saturday was like a huge party at the store. Hatch Chile Fest had a nice variety of Hatch Chile based items for sampling. There was a cooking demo. Also, three tables for sampling wine. Not to mention my array of food. A good time was had by all.
This first recipe is from Stonewall Kitchen. I modified it, by adding Hatch Chilies.
Spicy Corn Bread Pudding
16 oz. container sour cream
2 sticks butter, melted
1 jar Stonewall Kitchen
Spicy Corn Relish
15 oz. can sweet creamed style corn
2 to 3 roasted Hatch chilies, seeded and chopped
2 eggs, slightly beaten
½ tsp. salt
1 Box Fisher Cornbread Mix
Optional: TFM Red Pepper Jelly
Preheat oven to 350o.
Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Mix sour cream with melted butter in a large bowl.
Drain Spicy Corn Relish through a fine sieve, just enough to
remove any liquid. Add to bowl.
Stir in creamed corn, hatch chilies, eggs and salt.
Add cornbread mix and mix until combined.
Bake 40 to 50 minutes. Cool slightly and top with red pepper jelly if desired.
Customers enjoyed. They especially liked the idea of topping the corn bread pudding with red pepper jelly.
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Because I had a limited number of hours to prepare food I needed a quick, easy and delicious recipe with Hatch Chilies. My Southwest Mac 'n Cheese was the perfect answer. Especially since it was a customer favorite last year. However, this is version #2 because TFM no longer sells Instant Gourmet Southwest seasoning which I used in last years recipe.
Southwest Mac ‘n
Cheese #2
3 lb.
TFM Prepared Mac ‘n Cheese
4
Hatch Chiles, roasted, peeled, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1 c.
TFM Mild Salsa
1/3
c. chopped onion (optional)
1
tsp. Victoria Taylor Smoky Paprika Chipotle Seasoning
Preheat
oven to 350o.
Place
all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Stir until well blended. Transfer
to an oven save bowl and cover with aluminum foil. Bake until heated through, approximately 35
to 40 minutes. Serve.
This
freezes well.
Additions: diced
onion – black beans, drained – Chorizo or bacon, cooked and crumbled.
Customer favorite this year as well.
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Hatch Green Chile wine and Hatch Red Chile wine. My first thought was ... well, I didn't know what to think. Could be good. Could be bad. It was surprisingly ... not bad. There were recipe ideas on the bottle necks so I had to go for it.
I had to modify the recipe (something I do a lot) on Green Chile wine. It called for V8 juice, lime juice, Worchestershire, and spices. I need QUICK and EASY. I just wanted a bloody mary mix and grabbed a trusty brand - Stonewall Kitchen. No time for salted rims, so for garnish - Tillen Farms Pickled Crispy Asparagus.
Hatch
Green Chile Bloody Mary
¾ c. Hatch Green Chile Wine
¼ c. Stonewall Kitchen Bloody Mary Mix
Garnishes:
Tillen Farms Pickled
Crispy Asparagus Spears
garlic salt
celery stalks
lime wedges
Mix wine and bloody mary mix in a shaker with ice. Serve in a chilled glass with a garlic salt rim, garnished with an asparagus spear, celery stalk and/or lime wedge. Ice optional.
Customer's enjoyed. I must admit I really didn't want to "share" this with customers. Would have been a nice morning pick-me-up while I prepared my food.
The recipe on Hatch Red Chile Wine was for brownies. The topping on the recipe (powdered sugar and sprinkle with red chile powder), for me, was
B-O-R-I-N-G. I thought, "nothing like more chocolate". I saw TFM's Dark Chocolate Sauce on the shelf and gave it a kick with Chipotle seasoning.
Hatch
Red Chile Brownies with Dark Chocolate Chipotle Glaze
1 box TFM Chocoholic Brownie mix
Any other ingredients listed to make the
brownies
(minus water)
Hatch Red Chile Wine
½ c. TFM Dark Chocolate Sauce
1 to 1¼ tsp. Victoria Taylor
Smoky Paprika Chipotle seasoning
Mix fudge brownie mix with other ingredients called for on the box, except substitute
water with Hatch Red Chile Wine. Bake
brownies as specified on the box and allow to cool.
Place chocolate sauce in a small microwave safe mixing bowl. Heat 10 to 12 seconds until sauce is soft. Add Chipotle seasoning and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Spread sauce over cooled brownies. Cut and serve.
Lucky for me, with the help of my trusy taste testers ... SUCCESS. TFM's brownie mix has chunks of chocolate. It baked up rich, chocolatey and chewy. (I used 2 eggs by the way.) All my taste testers said the chocolate sauce needed more zip, so I increased the amount of Chipotle seasoning. Customers enjoyed and this paired perfectly with the wine.
In all honesty, the wine did not add anything to the brownies. It could have been omitted. In fact, if you do not want to bake brownies, you can use TFM's brownies. The Bakery sells them without frosting, individually or in packs of four.
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Oy! Now for my last recipe. Ham Salad Surprise. I am always trying to sample interesting and delicious products. I enjoy being enthusiastic about whay I'm serving. My dilema here is to be truthful (or should I say brutally honest), or ... not. I'm going with the former.
Mark and Judson came to me and asked the question I hate most, "can you do something with this?" It was three Boat Street Pickle products - pickled apricot, pickled figs and pickled raisins. My first thought (I have a lot of first thoughts) was, "you've got to be kidding me!" Verbally, I said, "sure". Went home and got onto Boat Street's website for recipes. NONE. It was all, serve with meats and cheese. Okay. So my first thought (yup again), serve it over cream cheese.
I went into TFM and popped open all three jars. Pat happend to "wander" in and joined Nicole and I in sampling the three products. If only there was a camera to catch our puckered facial expressions. All three pickle products were oh, so VINEGARY. This was not going over cream cheese. Heck, I wouldn't serve it with meat or cheese. What to do?
Of the three products Nicole, Pat and I agreed the raisins were the least offensive. Pat suggested it needed something salty, like ham. Nicole cut us a couple slices. It worked. With that my ham salad was starting to form in my mind. Not only that, it needed a name. Since Pickled Raisins were the "secret ingredient" ... I named it, Ham Salad Surprise.
Ham Salad
Surprise
¾ lb.
Mickleberry Ham, chopped
1 – 2
stalks celery, diced
¼ red
onion, diced
½
Tbl. Dijon mustard
½
c. mayonnaise
¾ jar
Boat Street Pickled Raisins, drained
Add
all ingredients to a medium mixing bowl.
Mix until thoroughly incorporated.
Serve on your favorite bread, croissants, or crackers.
Lucky for me (yet again) ... SUCCESS. This was THE HIT of Tuesday and Friday. Who knew?
However ... one customer said to me, "Ham Salad Surprise. What's the surprise?" Verbally I said, "pickled raisins". Mentally I was saying,
"SURPRISE it's pickled raisins.
"SURPRISE it's a VERY vinegary product.
"SURPRISE other than this ham salad I have no clue what you'd
do with the pickled raisins.
"SURPRISE it's $9.99!"
If I would have known the pickled products were that price I doubt I would have sampled them. In fact, I was going to try and use the Pickled Figs in TFM's Rotisserie Chicken Salad, but decided against it.
I tried preparing a vinaigrette with the Pickled Apricots. A dressing has vinegar and Boat Street pickled products had plenty of that. Guess what? Huge flop. Nothing could save the dressing or the product. As an aside, the ingredients on the Pickled Apricots stated, "fruits and bits of pits". Seriously? Pits? Well guess what? Yes, pits. Nicole and I each bit into one.
Was I too harsh? I don't recommend Boat Street Pickle products. If you find a use for them, please let me know. I have plenty of first thoughts but am always willing to change my mind.
I think I'll revisit my Ham Salad Surprise and try it with Dillapeno (a new, delicious and addictive product). Maybe even some Wickles Pickles (I love that name). I see some playing in my future. (If I get the hours.)
