We're back at the Ranch in Texas, Mom and Dad decided to follow the same plan back that they did heading out to NM, 3 shorter days instead of 2 long ones.
We stayed at the exact same campgrounds and in the exact same sites as we did on the way out, it was Cactus RV Park in Tucumcari, NM the first night. This is a seriously no-frills park, but with our Passport America membership it was quite the frugal overnight stop. It did take the folks a while to settle in, there was a bit of wind that caused various things to make noise outside the coach, and they couldn't "leave it" when told, back to manners school for them.
The following day was a drive back to the Ole Towne Cotton Gin RV Park. This is a really convenient park if you don't want to drive all the way to Amarillo or the Metroplex, and the owner really seemed to think of everything for the overnight RVer when she completely renovated the old gin property. Best of all, the low-cost continental breakfast includes "bag with pancakes", which is right up there with "bag with squeaker".
Mom made one last recipe for us, actually a combination of 3 she "investigated" based on our tour of eastern New Mexico. The day they visited Los Alamos' Bradbury Science Museum, they ate lunch at the Hill Cafe, where Mom had something called a "tortilla burger". She said it was quite tasty, and even though she brought some back in a white box, we never got a sample.
Tortilla burgers take a freshly-grilled burger (Mom used buffalo ones purchased at the Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage in Santa Fe), wrap it in a flour tortilla with some cheese, then pour chile sauce over (red or green, your choice), and top with melted cheese, shredded lettuce, diced tomato, and a little sour cream (or Greek yogurt), if desired.
Since she'd made homemade flour tortillas twice in the coach, she used those for the wrap. She also had just found a good recipe for Hatch Green Chile Sauce, one of the two answers to "Red or Green?" in New Mexico (ok, there are three answers if you include "Christmas", which is a little of each).
The recipe Mom used for the tortillas was
Homemade Flour Tortillas
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 to 2 tsp. salt
4-8 Tbsp. vegetable shortening (or half shortening, half butter). Mom found 6 tablespoons of fat worked well, better than 4
about 1 cup warm water
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Add vegetable shortening (and butter if using). Use your hands to mix, rubbing shortening into flour.
Add warm water a little at a time until your dough is soft and not sticky.
Knead the dough for a few minutes. Let rest 10 minutes.
Divide into pieces of dough to form 16 dough balls. Let them rest for at least 10 minutes, longer if you like, up to 20 minutes.
Heat a cast iron skillet or comal or griddle or your Cuisinart Griddler to somewhere around 450F. This is about medium high and with the Griddler this means as high as it goes.
Dust each ball with a little flour just before you roll them out. Roll from the center, turning often, and try to get as thin a round as you can (early attempts will definitely resemble amoebas - not to worry, you'll get better with practice.) Work fast and roll one while the previous one cooks. If you aren't a fast roller, bug a friend to help you.
Lay the tortilla on the pan or Griddler. It takes just a few seconds to cook, watch for puffy areas and light browning. This will take 30-60 seconds. Flip to the other side. When they are done it should have lots of nice brown speckles. Tuck inside a folded clean towel as they are done.They are ready at this point or let them cool completely in the towel then put in a gallon zipper bag and refrigerate.
The recipe for the Hatch Green Chile Sauce was
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 -3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
>1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or stock
1 cup roasted, peeled, chopped Hatch green chiles
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 heat through. You can add a little ground coriander and/or Mexican oregano to taste if you'd like.
Use immediately or refrigerate and use within a few days.
To make a Green Chile Tortilla burger
Season 1/3-1/2 lb. burgers with salt, pepper, Dizzy Pig Cow Lick, etc. Grill until done
Warm flour tortillas so they're nice and pliable.
Put a small handful (a few tablespoons) grated cheddar, monterey jack, or a mix onto the center of a warm tortilla, top with a cooked burger, then carefully fold and pleat the tortilla to encase the burger. Flip over (so loose tortilla ends are under burger) onto a microwave-safe plate.
Top with Green Chile Sauce (you can also use a New Mexico Red Chile Sauce if you prefer), enough to coat the tortilla and run down the sides a little. Top with another small handful of grated cheese. Microwave for 1 minute to melt cheese and heat sauce.
Serve with shredded lettuce, diced tomato, and a little dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt (Mom uses the yogurt to save calories). A little guacamole might be nice, too.
Dad ate two. We got nuthin'.
Recipes we forgot to post:
Mom isn't always the sharpest knife in the drawer, and didn't initially realize we were at high altitude for baking when we were in Albuquerque. She didn't know you aren't supposed to be able to bake popovers at altitude. She *did* know/believe/was convinced they weren't supposed to work unless you had a metal popover pan or muffin tin.
With blatant disregard for the rules, Mom made popovers using ceramic ramekins in the RV at elevation and they came out FANTASTIC!!! Of course we say this because we each got a taste, with a little of Aunt Dulcie's homemade Maine wild BLUEberry jam, but she changed nothing except for making only 1/3 of the following recipe and baking it in a total of 4 ramekins which were set on her Doughmakers pizza pan:
Popovers
6 eggs AT ROOM TEMPERATURE or WARMER
2 cups milk AT ROOM TEMPERATURE or WARMER
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease each cup of the popover tin with a teaspoon of the butter (Mom used a silicone basting brush). In a mixing bowl, whisk, whisk, whisk until the eggs until frothy. Whisk in the milk and remaining butter. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt together. Whisk the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix until there are no lumps. Pour the batter into 12 of the prepared popover tins. Bake the popovers for about 50 minutes, undisturbed. Remove from the oven and serve hot with butter and jam (or the Spuds' other favorite, pats of butter and a spoonful of powdered sugar) .
Mom says that at home she makes the batter in a blender instead of whisking. Oh, and the key to successful popovers is that everything be AT ROOM TEMPERATURE or WARMER.
And lastly, for all my minions, I mean fans, I, the Princess Ree, lover of sweet creamy things and Mexican baked goods am pleased to share with you a recipe for Marranitos that Mom found and has made for me (using a heart shaped cutter since she doesn't have a piggy cutter):
Marranitos - Piglet Cookies (Mexico)
A soft, spicy gingerbread cookie commonly found in Mexican bakeries and supermarkets throughout the Southwest. These are also known as "Cochinitos."
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbs ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
Glaze
1 egg white
1 Tbs water
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a cookie sheet
2. Sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, cloves and pepper into a bowl.
3. Cream together butter and sugar. Add the sour cream, egg, honey, molasses and vanilla extract. Stir in the dry ingredients. The dough should be fairly moist. Cover the dough, and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
4. Roll the dough out and cut with a pig-shape cookie cutter. After putting cookies on prepared cookie sheet, brush with glaze made by mixing egg white with water. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
Servings: 30
Yield: 2 1/2 dozen