Northern New Mexico

Northern New Mexico



I'm visiting Northern New Mexico at the moment - starting in Santa Fe, we spent the day skiing at Ski Santa Fe a hidden gem with interesting terrain; the bonus was that it was quiet even on Saturday.

We ate at the Coyote Cafe; my impression was that it's brilliant, but not consistent. The sweet potato soup with Chipotle was amazing, as well as the apple and duck comfit tamales, however my pork tenderloin was a bit dry and bland. Geoff had the Muscovy duck, and seemed to enjoy it. The desserts were a big success: pumpkin panna cotta and chocolate pots de creme with chili whipped cream. The next night we ate at The Shed, which had a more relaxing, casual atmosphere and good New Mexican food. The Margaritas were refreshing, the chips with guacamole and salsa are a must. I had the blue corn taco and enchilada plate with pinto beans and posole. I'm not a refried bean fan so the pinto beans, which were firm but yielding, were tasty.


We are in Taos now, staying at the Casa de las Chimeneas

The room is charming, the service is excellent, and the food is good. Our room rate includes breakfast (this morning it was blue corn pancakes with walnuts, ham, honeydew melon with rasberries and lime dressing, and a strawberry peach frappe.

The scenery is amazing: even the most modest home has a 365 degree view of the mountains. We spent two days at Taos Ski Area. Sunday was too busy for our tastes, but today was really quiet and fun. We had lunch at the The Bavarian - I never say no to German food. We both had a cup of goulash and the Bavarian Spaetzle, which was basically high-style mac and cheese with sliced German sausages. Heaven. We washed it all down with a couple of Franziskaner Weissbiers and waddled back to the lift.

Mostly Onion Soup

In my never-ending quest for soups that can be made from whatever's in the pantry (read: I'm too lazy to go to the supermarket and Geoff is too busy) I have found one that isn't too fattening, and can be made up from stuff that's kicking around. I love onion soup, but I can't help screwing around with it, with sometimes disappointing results. This soup is a tasty exception, and it doesn't appear to be loaded with calories. You can cut back on the wine and not add carrots if you are doing the South Beach thing; I don't think there are enough dried tomatoes in there to do anyone on a low carb diet any harm.

Soak 3/4 cup of dried mushrooms in enough warm stock or white wine to cover, meanwhile:

Saute in olive oil until very soft and sweet, with some golden brown bits:

8 yellow onions, sliced
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried

Heat 12 cups of stock and 1/2 bottle of white wine in a stock pot

Chop fine and add to stock:

1/2 - 1 cup carrots
2 tablespoons dried tomatoes
1/2 cup heart and leaves of celery

Add 1 cup of lentils and the reconstituted mushrooms - it's a good idea to chop them up before you put them in - I didn't, and though the flavor is still great, the mushrooms are still slightly woody

Simmer for 20-25 minutes, until lentils are soft and mushrooms are tender

Add 1/4 cup chopped parsley and simmer 5 minutes before serving

Garnish with grated cheese and/or croutons.

Life without Hockey, and snow in general

I'm back from Canada, a country full of lost, unfulfilled hockey fans.

We had a fun trip - there wasn't an overabundance of snow, but we worked around it, eating our way through Vancouver.

Following tradition, we had dim sum at Flamingo and a feast at Tama Sushi. Geoff's sister and brother are very accomplished cooks so several meals, and leftovers, were consumed at home. We were going to take a day and drive to Mt Baker in Washington State, but the conditions sounded bleak, so we blew it off for the abovementioned yummy Chinese snackfest. Conditions at Big White weren't that great either, but 5 inches of snow the first day pulled it out of the dumpster.

We got home and made a batch of gumbo for the weekend, and tried out the holy grail of stock starters from More Than Gourmet Demi-Glace Stocks & Broths, specifically the Glace de Fruits de Mer Gold - Classic Seafood Lobster Stock. I have to say that it tasted as good, if not better than our home brewed stock and saved a bunch of time.