On a good late-summer day in New Mexico, you’ll smell tortillas being made, green chiles being roasted, and the smoke from burning piñon wood wafting in the air. Or maybe just the green chiles. That’s good enough.
Directions
Heat your grill for 5 minutes on high, or fire up the charcoal. Place the green chiles directly over high heat for about 5 minutes, then flip and cook on the other side for 5 minutes more.
The outside of the chiles will be scorched and black, but the flesh of the chiles will cook and make steam, which will make the skins separate from the flesh. Some chiles will pop, or the skins will open up, and that’s good.
Grills usually have hot spots, so move the chiles around until they get charred and blistered. The color will go from a vibrant green to a dull green.
Remove the chiles that have cooked and drop them into a plastic bag, or a covered plastic 5-gallon bucket, and lightly close bag or bucket. The steam will help the skins separate from the chiles.
Don’t worry, the hot chiles won’t melt plastic bags of any sort.
When the chiles are cooled enough to touch, rip off or cut off the stem end, and slide the skin off of the the chiles. You can either tear open the chiles and rub out the seeds, whack them on the edge of a sink to make the seeds fly out of the open end, or hold the chiles by the tip with one hand, and slide the chile between the index and middle finger of the the other hand to squeeze out the seeds.
Skins on left, chiles on right.
After cleaning the chiles, you can save them whole, or chop them for chile sauce. To prevent freezer funk, put chiles in thick freezer bags and wrap the bags in aluminum foil. Each chile weighs about 1 ounce, so about 8 or 9 chopped chiles make a cup.
Notes
It’s best to clean chile outside, dropping the seeds and skins into a plastic-bag line trash can.
Chiles can be roasted in an oven, directly under the broiler, for very good results, though your kitchen might get very warm.
If you clean more than a few pounds of chiles, use plastic or latex gloves to clean them, or your hands will become numb for a short while. These gloves are available in the broom and mop section of a grocery store.
If you rub your eyes while peeling chiles, don’t worry, you’ll never do it again.
Outside of New Mexico, Hatch green chiles are sold as either hot or mild. The best way to test it is to break open a raw chile and eat a piece to see if it’s a heat level you like. The heat of Hatch green chiles change every year, depending on the weather in New Mexico.
Be careful if you’re not in New Mexico, and you have your chiles roasted in a mechanical drum roaster. Some of the operators will roast them at too high a temperature, and the skins will get over-roasted and break into little black fragments that stick to the flesh and a beast to remove.
Some people don’t bother to peel the chiles after roasting, and put them in the freezer with the skins on. That works just fine.
A hot pepper in the Southwest and Mexico is a chile. Texans make pots of chili, with meat and no beans, and chillies are those little hot peppers that the Spanish spread around the world to Asia and other continents.
I tasted 66 different Margarita recipes (not all at once) and most of them were not good. The slight harshness of lime juice combines with the bite of tequila in most of them, while others have too much triple sec, which makes the drink unpleasantly sweet.
The secret of the Best Shaken Margarita Recipe comes from a Houston, Texas restaurant famous for Margaritas. A mere teaspoon of lemon juice brightens up the tequila and lime, and balances the sweetness of the agave nectar. Cointreau or other triple sec is no longer necessary.
1½ ounces of 100% blue agave silver or blanco tequila
2/3 ounce (2 measuring teaspoons) fresh lime juice
½ measuring teaspoon or ½ barspoon fresh lemon juice
½ ounce agave nectar (undiluted)
— Hold a tumbler glass upside down, and rub a cut lime on one half of the rim. Dip, but don’t twist, the outside of the wet rim into a shallow dish with a small pile of Morton Sea Salt (the kind without iodine) or other sea salt. To give you guests a choice of salt or no salt, merely dip half of the rim of the glass into the salt.
Add the tequila, lime juice, lemon juice, and agave nectar into a mixing glass with enough ice to fill the serving glass. Shake 36 times and dirty-pour the entire contents of the shaker into the salt-rimmed serving glass. Garnish with a lime wheel, half of a lime wheel, or a lime wedge on the rim of the glass.
Lunazul Blanco Tequila is an inexpensive tequila that is ideal for Margaritas.
Recommended tequilas are Milagro, Herradura, Avion, Siembra Azul, Dos Lunas, Tapatio, Patron, and Corazon. Your favorite silver tequila is recommended.
A few reposado (gold) tequilas mix well in margaritas, such as Dos Lunas and Izkali. Expensive tequilas like El Tesoro or Pura Vida are better left for sipping.
Pitchers of House Margaritas (makes 6)
9 ounces 100% blue agave silver or blanco tequila (Lunazul is recommended)
4 ounces freshly-squeeze lime juice
½ ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2 ounces agave nectar (undiluted)
— Fill a pitcher with the tequila, lime juice, lemon juice, and agave nectar. Add ice, thin lime or lemon wheels, and thin orange wheels if you wish.
Frozen Margaritas
Premium shaken margaritas are great for small gatherings, but if you have lots of guests, the drinks take too much time to prepare. With different proportions, and a little triple sec or orange liqueur, you can make these terrific Cheap Margaritas. If you want Strawberry Frozen Margaritas, just add two fresh or frozen strawberries per drink before blending it.
The Bourbon Julep was born here at the Willard Hotel in Washington DC.
While Maker’s Mark Bourbon, with its wheated sweet taste, remains the popular choice for this Kentucky Derby Day classic, spearmint blends perfectly with the taste of oak from aging barrels. Evan Williams 1783 adds a mild and tasty oak flavor, and a much better price.
Mint Julep
2½ ounces bourbon
1/2 ounce of simple syrup or 1 teaspoon white sugar with a teaspoon of water
6 leaves of spearmint
A neatly-groomed sprig of spearmint, for garnish
A dusting of powdered sugar, for garnish, optional
Lots of crushed, cracked, or powdered ice, or better yet, Sonic Drive-In pebble ice.
— Add the simple syrup and mint leaves to a mixing glass. Press lightly on the mint leaves with a muddler. Add the bourbon, and stir well.
Fill an Old Fashioned glass or silver Julep cup with crushed, cracked, powdered, or pebble ice. Strain the contents of the mixing glass into it. Add more ice to the top of the julep cup or glass, and make a mound of ice on top of the drink.
Insert a sprig of spearmint into the mound of ice. Dust the top of the ice and mint with powdered sugar, if you wish. Cut off the bottom of a straw so that the top of the straw is 1 inch above the rim of the julep cup or glass. Serve, and as the Southern novelist Walker Percy relates, “Then settle back in your chair for a half an hour of cumulative bliss”.
To make simple syrup, add equal parts of white sugar and good-tasting water to a jar with a tight lid. Shake vigorously, rest 5 minutes, shake vigorously again, and rest 5 more minutes. Or you can bring the sugar and water to just below a boil in a pan, and let it cool.
Other Recommended Bourbons
Maker’s Mark and Evan Williams 1793 are standard around our porch, but Old Grand-Dad 100, and Old Forester Signature are also recommended bourbons. Generally speaking, the sweetness of “wheated” bourbons taste best in a Julep.
Don’t be fooled by the party price. This bourbon makes a fantastic Julep.
Ice
Sonic Drive-In sells bags of ice from their drive-thru windows. The pebble ice is perfect for Juleps, Daiquiris, and Margaritas. You can also make powdered ice by using a Lewis bag, or putting ice into a clean canvas tote bag and smacking the ice-filled bag with a wooden mallet.
UPDATE: a considerably better American Spearmint recipe, after the Cuban Hierbabuena recipe.
My first Mojito was made with spearmint. The drink was pretty good, but the taste seemed a little bit off. Maybe it was the wrong rum, I thought, doesn’t mix well with mint.
Weeks later I received a surprise visitor from Cuba, who brought me a souvenir paper napkin with a Cuban bartender’s handwritten recipe from the most popular Mojito spot in Havana.
“What’s hierbabuena?” I asked, “Is that spearmint?
“No. The Cuban mint isn’t very minty,” he replied.
I made him a spearmint Mojito, and he said it was not the Cuban taste. I Googled hierbabuena, and ordered some from a Canadian nursery. The mint has a citrus-like flavor that comes from the stem, whereas spearmint has a minty flavor from oils in the leaves.
Spearmint smells like chewing gum, but hierbabuena has an herbal fragrance with just a hint of mint. The Mojitos they make are completely different, so here are recipes for the Cuban Mojito (hierbabuena) and the American Mojito (spearmint).
Cuban Mojito
1½ ounces Bacardi Superior or Havana Club 3 Anos white rum
1½ teaspoons white sugar (or 1 heaping teaspoon or barspoon)
1/3 ounce (2 teaspoons) fresh Key (or Mexican) lime juice
2 sprigs hierbabuena (preferably with dark stems)
2 ounces and a splash of sparkling mineral water (Topo Chico is recommended)
2 or 3 large cubes of ice
Add the sugar, lime juice, and hierbabuena with a splash of mineral water to a tall glass. With a muddler or a wooden spoon, press lightly on the stems, rather than the leaves. Add the 2 ounces of mineral water, then the ice cubes, then the rum. Serve with a straw, cut off to about 2 inches above the rim of the glass.
If you put 2 teaspoons of sugar in this drink, it’s noticeably sweet. Cubans often add a dash or two of Angostura bitters to this drink, and it’s good!
What Kind of Lime?
Many Cuban and Caribbean cocktails taste better if they are made with Key lime juice. Key limes can be found in Latino markets and most Walmart stores in the United States.
Regular limes aren’t as good in this drink, but they’re good enough. A better taste, if you don’t have Key limes, comes from mixing 2 parts of lemon juice with 3 parts regular lime juice. Use ¾ ounce of this mix, with 2 teaspoons of sugar and 3 ounces of mineral water.
The Rum
Bacardi Superior is the original rum for this drink, and it’s recommended. Havana Club 3 has a stronger sugarcane taste, and is the preferred rum in Cuba. Gold rum will make a slightly sweeter “dirty mojito”.
This hierbabuena recipe is adapted from La Bodeguita del Medio, the famous bar in Old Havana, Cuba. Click on link below to order hierbabuena from Richters herb farm in Canada.
8 to 10 thumb-sized spearmint leaves (removed from stems)
2/3 ounce regular lime juice (or 4 teaspoons or barspoons)
¾ ounce simple syrup
1 lime wedge
2 ounces mineral water and a splash of mineral water
cubes of ice
A neatly-groomed sprig of spearmint, for garnish
A dash of Angostura bitters, optional
— Muddle the spearmint, lime juice, and lime wedge in a mixing glass. Add the simple syrup, rum, and 3 large ice cubes, and shake until chilled. Pour all of the contents of the mixing glass into a tall glass or Collins glass, and add 2 ounces of Topo Chico or other sparkling mineral water. Garnish with an optional mint sprig, and serve with a straw.
Do not muddle spearmint stems in this drink, because, unlike hierbabuena, the stems have a bitter taste.
Flor de Cana for American Mojito
Check your local nursery, as some of them are now providing mojito mint. Note: The Bonnie brand mint being sold as Yerba Buena at Lowe’s and Walmart is spearmint (mentha spicata). Cuban Mojito Mint is mentha villosa.
Growing Mojito Mint
Like spearmint, hierbabuena (also called hierba buena, yerba buena, or yerbabuena) grows like a weed, and is harder to kill than to grow. However, there’s a way to get better sprigs.
Plant in rich soil that drains well, but retains moisture
Use a 10-inch or larger pot. If planted in a garden, confine the roots, or they will take over the garden.
The plants like lots of water, but don’t waterlog them. Let plants dry out a little before watering again, to develop more flavor.
Fertilize every few months.
Keep plants cut back to 10 or 12 inches tall, or it will get spindly and ungle. I keep most of it cut back, except the sprigs I plan on using.
Hierbabuena grows best in the sun or partial shade. In hot summers, it likes morning sun or partial shade. Planting in pots allows you to move them around.
After cutting sprigs, be sure to rinse them before using, or you may get a cute tiny spider in your drink.
If the leaves are chewed up, or have holes, look for little green worms on the undersides of leaves. They’re hard to find, as they match the color of leaves and stems.
If the leaves on top are curled up, check for tiny aphids, which are tiny and black-colored. They cluster together at the tip of a few sprigs, so pinch off the affected sprigs and stomp on them. If aphids get overwhelming, soak the entire plant with Neem Oil Spray, and then wait for new mint sprigs to pop up before cutting off the sprigs that had been soaked in Neem Oil.
When white spots or streaks appear on leaves, it’s usually tiny spider mites. Spray plants with vodka, or 1 part alcohol to 4 parts water, during a time when the plants are in the shade. The spray will also reveal the mite’s tiny webs. Use Neem oil to stop them from breeding.
To get rid of whiteflies without pesticides, place a bright yellow piece of cardstock or plastic coated with motor or mineral oil, and the flies will be attracted to it and get stuck on it. Use Neem Oil to stop them from breeding.
When the roots fill the container, slice down the middle of the dirt with a sharp knife. Remove 1/2 of the root ball and replant it in a separate pot (give it to a friend) or toss it out. Fill the empty half of the pot with new soil, then water.
If the whole plant looks raggedy, cut it all back to soil level. It will grow back. In hotter climates, the temperature will get hotter than Havana in July and August. Keep the plant in a shady area, and cut back sprigs that look too spindly.
In freezing climates, say Chicago, the mint will grow back in the spring, if it’s planted in the ground and not in a pot. You can also keep a plant indoors, in a south-facing window. The plant will not thrive, but it will live until you put it outside in the spring.
Baking bacon in the oven results in evenly cooked strips at the perfect point between crispy and chewy.
It’s so much better than frying bacon in a skillet, which usually gets bacon with crispy middles and rubbery ends as the bacon starts to curl up.
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400° (toaster or convection ovens work well). Line the oven tray or raised-edge cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Lay the bacon down on the foil, without overlapping the strips, or they’ll stick to each other.
2. Slide the bacon into the oven, and cook for 11 to 13 minutes.
3. Remove the tray or sheet from the oven, turn the bacon strips over, and cook another 2 to 4 minutes.
4. When the bacon is cooked, you’ll see bubbles and foam all around the bacon. If the bacon is thick-cut, it may take more time. Remove the tray from the oven, flip the bacon, and cook it some more, checking it every minute to see if it’s to your liking.
When it bubbles, it’s almost ready.
Near the end of the baking, the side of the bacon that is touching the pan will be more cooked than the side facing up. If you cook five or less pieces of bacon, it may take 1 minute less per side.
Tommy Style: We used to tease our brother-in-law Tommy, because he like his bacon so very well done. Then one day we forgot to take the bacon out of the oven after turning the oven off, and Tommy was delighted with the results. Meilin and I tried it, and liked it.
Instructions: Cook bacon as instructed, turn off the oven, and leave the bacon in the oven. After 15 or 20 minutes the bacon will be extremely well cooked, but not burnt, and will crumble easily for bacon bits.
Have you ever been so sleepy in the morning that you put the wrong ingredient in breakfast? I’ve poured cereal into a coffee cup, and cream into a sugar bowl. However, some great ideas are born from stupid actions, like the time I ground black pepper into the French Toast batter I was making for John instead of grinding it onto the eggs I’d just scrambled for Michael. A fine mistake, as it turned out to be the perfect spice to complement the sweetness of maple syrup and cinnamon.
What you will need:
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk (1/3 for thick slices of bread)
salt and fresh-ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
a sprinkling of cinnamon
1 Tablespoon flour
2 slices of bread–fresh, frozen, or day-old–or 3 slices of challah bread
1 Tablespoon butter
What you will do:
1. Beat the egg, milk, and vanilla in a shallow dish or pie plate. Beat in flour, salt, pepper, and cinnamon.
2. Heat non-stick skillet with a few drops of water on medium heat. When the water boils, the pan will be ready.
3. Put bread slices into the egg batter and let them sit for a minute. Then flip them and let them soak in the egg on the other side.
4. When the pan is hot, melt the butter in the pan and spread it around with a spatula. Add the battered slices of bread, and pour any remaining batter on top of the bread.
5. Cook each side for about 2 minutes, or until golden brown.
6. Remove slices, turn off heat, then pour maple syrup into the skillet. As it bubbles, add a pat of butter and let it melt into the syrup, making a warm, delicious topping for your French toast.
Notes: Challah or brioche bread, cut thick, are ideal for French Toast. Use the 1/3 Cup amount of milk.
We generally don’t buy expensive ingredients for most cooking, but maple syrup is an exception. Even a store-brand 100% pure maple syrup is considerably better than the maple/corn brand-name syrup that is most common on store shelves. Vermont Maple Syrup seems to be the best, but maple syrup from other places are plenty good.
Asparagus seems like a pain to cook, and there’s even a special pot available to cook it, but here is a way to cook it fast and easy, and the asparagus comes out delicious every time.
If the spears are thin as a pencil, there’s no reason to peel them. Any spears thicker than that, an OXO, or better yet a Kuhn Rikon peeler will do a great job. Just lay each spear down, take a strip of peel from below the tip of the spear to the bottom of the stalk. Rotate the spear ¼ turn, peel it again, and repeat 2 more times. You don’t have to get all of the peel off, just 4 sides.
Next, cut off the bottoms of the stalks, so that the spears fit in your sauté pan.
Next, boil ½ cup of water, lay the asparagus spears in a saute pan, 1 or 2 layers deep, and pour in the boiling water.
Put the lid on tightly, and turn the heat to high. Cook the asparagus for 4 minutes and 30 seconds (4:30), with the lid on tight for steaming.
Turn off the heat, and drain any remaining water.
Return the heat to medium, and add 1 Tablespoon of butter. As it melts, roll the asparagus spears back and forth until the butter coats them. If the asparagus begins to brown, that’s okay, it tastes great.
Remove the asparagus spears and put them on a serving plate. Salt and black pepper them. A little chopped parsley on top is optional. A few shaves of parmesan cheese is good, and wrapping them spears in proscuitto is a classic way to serve them..
Sauteing them in toasted sesame oil sounds good, but it is not.
How to Store Asparagus
If you store asparagus in a plastic bag, the tips will soon begin to rot. Instead, take the entire bunch and slice off an inch from the bottom of the stalks with one cut of a chef’s knife.
Then I pour an inch of water into a large coffee cup, tall jar, or plastic container (We use large soup containers from Chinese food carry-out) and put the spears in it. Tuck the plastic bag from the store into the cup to keep the water from evaporating. The asparagus tips will stay dry, and the veggie will easily keeps for a week.
We all know how supermarket tomatoes are picked unripe, to get them to market while they are still attractive. But if you want a tomato that tastes like homegrown, the only choice is a Campari tomato, also known as a cocktail tomato.
The only problem with this type of tomato is the small size. However, a small Campari tomato adds way more flavor than a large bland tomato.
If you need a lot of tomatoes for a sauce, use regular tomatoes for body, and add Camparis for flavor.
Due to their small size, don’t try using a serrated peeler on them, but rather use a thumbnail.
Another trick is to fill a Pyrex measuring cup with boiling water, put the tomatoes in it, and scoop it out with a spoon after 40 seconds, if you are using the tomato fresh.
If you are using Campari tomatoes to cook with, leave them in the boiled water for just over a minute. They will be hot, but not cooked, and the skin will slide right off. You can also put a coffee cup half-filled with water in the microwave, for 1 minute on high power, then put the tomato in the hot water.
Tomato and Sweet Onion Sandwich
Toast 2 slices of your favorite bread. Spread mayonnaise and mustard on one slice of toast. Peel and slice two Campari tomatoes, drain the liquid from them, and put them on the mayo and mustard. Salt and black pepper the tomatoes. Add 2 layers of thinly cut sweet onions (such as Vidalia or Texas 1015) to the other slice of toast, and put both sides together.
This sandwich also tastes great with summer tomatoes from the garden.
For successful hard-boiled eggs with yellow yolks, rather than unsightly green-edged yolks, cover eggs with cold water in a saucepan, put a lid on the pan, and bring the water and eggs to a boil. The second the eggs start bouncing and tapping on the bottom of the pan, take the pan off the heat and let the eggs sit in the hot water of the pan for 13 minutes.
Quickly Peel the Eggs
After the eggs have cooked, drain the hot water and cover the eggs in the pan with cold water. Immediately peel the eggs or the shells will stick to the egg white. The best way is to sharply crack the egg in the middle, then start peeling around the equator (or egg-quator) of the egg.
Make sure you get under the thin skin that is underneath the shell, either by rubbing it with your thumb or pinching it. Once you have stripped the shell from around most of the center of the egg, it will be easy to pull off the top and bottom of the shell.
For a warm egg salad, mash up the eggs just after you peel them, add mayonaisse to taste, one green onion that’s been chopped, salt and pepper, along with any other ingredient that is traditional with you. The simpler, the better.
Don’t forget to toast the bread if you are making a sandwich, as the crunch of the toast is a good contrast with the smooth creaminess of the egg salad. We like a thick piece of French bread that’s been Texas-toasted.
Deviled Eggs
We like very simple deviled eggs, with not much effort. Simply slice hard boiled eggs in half, lengthwise, and remove the yolks. Smash up the yolks with a fork, and add some mayonnaise (Japanese Kewpie if you have it), some salt and pepper, with some minced scallion and maybe some paprika or any other red chile pepper sauce. Spoon it back into the holes of the removed yolks, and serve. Make sure to keep them cool, because you know what’s going to happen if they get too warm.
¼ ounce simple syrup or 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
— Pour the Scotch and green tea over the rocks. Stir in sugar if you’re doing it that way. Better than most water.
How It Came To Be
I was not shocked to hear that many Chinese were mixing Scotch whisky with green tea in bars and clubs. Like a Louis Vuitton handbag, Scotch is an icon of affluence and a satisfying reward for hard work. But it’s not an easy taste to acquire.
Green tea is also an acquired taste. It’s very grassy, which is why it’s less popular than black tea, but I do enjoy the aroma of hot green tea steeping in the kitchen when family comes to visit.
The last question, before testing this combination, is what kind of Scotch? I’d heard it was Chivas Regal, which due to strong marketing is the leading brand of aged, blended Scotch in Asia. So I asked Mark Gillespie, the founder of whiskycast.com, who verified that it is indeed Chivas Regal in China, but Johnnie Walker in Taiwan, with Ballantine’s (from Chivas Brothers) being a value-priced alternative.
I decided to take it a step further, and try 4 different Scotches: Chivas Regal, Johnnie Walker Black, Highland Park 12-Year-Old, and just for fun, my resident Scotch, Laphroaig Cask Strength.
Chivas Regal is fruit and nuts, smooth with very light smoke or peat. It’s sweet and slightly malty with a smooth, warm finish. Excellent blended whisky for first-time Scotch drinkers.
Johnnie Walker Black is sweet, malty, creamy, vanilla, spicy, with hints of peat and cooked fruit. It has a mellow, silky, sweet, and slightly spicy finish. It’s so well blended you can find new flavors each time you try it.
Highland Park 12 is smooth, malty, and caramel-flavor, with sea salt, medium smoke and peat. The finish is long and smooth. This is a beautiful introduction to single malt Scotch.
Laphroaig Cask-Strength is smoke and peat and sweetness and fruit and medicine. It finishes with a dry lingering spice. It’s single-malt Scotch at full thrust.
First, I mixed 1 part Chivas with 1 part Ito En Japanese Green Tea from the bottle, on the rocks. The drink had little Scotch taste, with a slight burn, but it was immediately clear that Scotch and Green Tea does indeed mix well.
Next, I tried the same mix with Highland Park. The flavors of this Scotch and the tea were cancelled out by each other.
With the Johnnie Walker, I tried several different mixes. 1 part Johnnie with 1 part green tea was good, you could taste both Scotch and tea, but neither strongly. With 2 parts green tea, the taste was washed out, and with 3 parts of tea the taste of Scotch was just about gone. However, the drink was exceptionally refreshing, something to enjoy for hours of sipping.
Further, at 1 part Johnnie to 4 parts green tea, the drink became like water. The tastes had completely nullified each other, and it was a cocktail that even a Scotch-hater might enjoy.
It’s clear that Scotch & Green Tea was originally a way to enjoy Scotch, without actually having to taste it too much. However, it turns out to be a very good cocktail, and a superb way to ease into Scotch-drinking.
