NM2007 - A Taste of the Southwest - Cheryl and Bill Jamison

"America's first couple of outdoor cooking," Cheryl and Bill Jamison are among the nation's most lauded writers with three James Beard Awards and numerous other honors to their credit. They whip up meals on NBC's Today Show, the Food Network, and QVC. Smoke & Spice, a best-selling cookbook, preceded their newest, most comprehensive book, The Big Book of Outdoor Cooking and Entertaining. Other books include A Real American Breakfast, Good Times, Good Grilling, Chicken on the Grill, and American Home Cooking (all HarperCollins/William Morrow). From their home near Santa Fe, they cook up plenty of fun along with great food. Learn more at their Web site www.cookingwiththejamisons.com.

What is the essence of New Mexican cuisine?
Chiles, both red and green, are the core of the cooking, often in fiery forms. That they often are used in cooked-down sauces in nearly their pure form is different from other border cuisines. Chiles may be the heart of New Mexico cuisine, but the soul is the home cooks and kitchens in which the distinctive cooking style developed and where you find many of the best renditions.

What makes New Mexican food special?
While New Mexican cuisine shares deep relationships with Mexican cuisine, they are remote in time and place. Some now-traditional ingredients, such as blue corn and posole, were adopted from the Pueblo Indians. Spanish settlers began to specialize in one variety of chile cultivation, growing the long green pods that later turn to red. By necessity, New Mexicans made more use of pork and cabrito (young goat), rather than the range beef found in most other border cooking. Wheat remained less common than corn until modem times.

If you had one meal to share with good friends, what would it be?
Probably blue corn enchiladas stuffed with cheese and swimming in chile, some red and some green (Cheryl's favorite). For those who like it hot, there would be carne adovada, pork long-cooked in a hearty red chile sauce (Bill's favorite). In summer we'd offer calabacitas, a tasty dish of summer squash with green chile and onions, and in colder weather a pot of soupy slow-cooked pinto beans. Also, some simple dried corn preparation, either hominy-like posole or oven-dried chicos. Around Christmas, we might enlist the guests' help in making tamales, a fun group effort. For dessert, there would be sopa, the local bread pudding that uses caramel syrup rather than dairy and eggs, or maybe a rich creamy flan. We’d definitely serve Chimayó cocktails, a drink originated at the Restaurante Rancho de Chimayó, using local apple cider and tequila. Salud!