We had a late lunch when Suzette came home around 2:30 p.m. of
PPI Red chili casserole that we had made for dinner on Thursday night (three
layers of tortillas sautéed in red chili sauce and chicken broth, separated by
two layers of ingredients, one of chicken and shredded mozzarella cheese and
the other of spinach and cottage cheese, with the excess mozzarella cheese
sprinkled on top and the two inch deep? pyrex baking pan filled to almost the
top edge with the remaining red chili and chicken stock mixture. For this recipe we used one 16 oz. bottle of
Cervantes red chili sauce (Costco). It
was delicious, especially with a scoop of crema and a little guacamole on the
top. In the past we have used kale
leaves or thinly sliced Mexican squash instead of spinach.
This recipe was taught to me by Anita
Rodriquez, the now famous enjarradora, in Taos 33 years ago when she was the
tenant at the large adobe house with the large Umbrella Room built by Malcolm
Brown near Arroyo Seco that was then owned by Amy’s friend Marilyn Maxwell (see
Mud Space and Spirit, handmade adobes by Gray, Macrae and McCall, Capra Press,
1976) except her recipe did not use any vegetables, so it was overly fatty and
cheesy. I reduced the amount of cheese by adding more vegetables. Also, her original recipe started with
boiling a chicken, which yielded enough chicken to use on two layers and
chicken stock as a by-product. I have also
made deeper casseroles with four or five layers of tortilla with a deeper
baking dish and more ingredients. One of
the best ways I ever had the dish was in the early 1970’s at El Farol in Santa
Fe where they made baked red chili chicken enchiladas on a single plate.
Suzette wanted to go to Paco’s for dinner because the new
chef she just hired to run the Greenhouse Bistro and Bakery said he hd sworked at Paco's and helped develop several menu items. We went with Willy at around 7:30
p.m. and the small about thirty seat restaurant at the corner of Griegos and
Rio Grande was full and we had to wait about 15 minutes; a good sign.
The menu was interesting with mainly entrees ranging from
$12.00 for a hamburger to $25.00 for a N.Y. strip streak, which I am convinced
is the secret for success for a small bistro style restaurant in Albuquerque (I
call it the middle path). Each entrée
was served with two side orders that one selects from a list of about ten items
combining starches and vegetables. I
selected a dish called pulled pork medallions and chose cous cous with green
chili because Suzette said that that was a dish her new chef had
helped develop. I also tried the sautéed Winter
squash.
Willy ordered the hamburger with sautéed Winter squash and
fried potatoes.
Suzette ordered the
special of Mussels in a coconut milk and chipotle and cream sauce. Her dish came in a deep bowl filled with
about 15 mussels, several fried potatoes and two halves of a sun dried tomato
and several threads of leek. On the side
of the bowl were two halved halves of a baguette brushed with olive oil and
grilled to dark brown or slightly blackened on the edges. Suzette did not like the grilled baguette but
Willy and I liked it and dipped pieces of grilled bread in the coconut cream
sauce.
Suzette drank a glass of Dry
Creek Chenin Blanc and I drank a glass of Italian Pinot Grigio. The restaurant served moderately priced wines
to go with the moderately priced entrees to complete the middle path
formula. The glasses were $6.00 and
$7.00 each.
The pulled pork medallions turned out to be the most
interesting dish, slow cooked pork, pulled apart and seasoned with black pepper
and formed into a round medallion and garnished with a slightly sweet pineapple
and red bell pepper cooked salsa. I
loved it except for the excessive amount of black pepper for my sensitive taste
that interfered with the flavor of the dish somewhat.
We liked the restaurant and all our dishes and decided to
get desserts. Suzette ordered the apple
strudel and Willy and I ordered the flourless chocolate torte. The strudel stole the show, three or four baked
halves of apple, one of which was baked in a light puff pastry shell
accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a bowl resting in a puddle of
the best caramel sauce I have tasted in Albuquerque in a long time.
The flourless torte was just okay. We had had and made better and Suzette did
not like the dollop of chocolate sauce drizzled on top of the torte. It was served with a large dollop of whipped
cream on the side and slices of fresh orange.
Willy and I like it and I took Suzette’s criticism as professional pride
in her recipe for the dish as served at the Bistro.
Conversation during the meal centered on Willy’s kitchen
experience in Vancouver last summer and kitchen staffing issues for various
sizes of restaurants.
When Willy scarfed down the chocolate torte, I finally
discovered that he is a chocoholic, like me.
The three entrees with three glasses of wine totaled $82.00,
a good meal at a good value. I love the
middle path of semi-fine bistro style dining.
I think others do also.Bon Appétit
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