Restaurant review and much, much more...

OK.........I've got my images now....I am posting this from the parking lot of a motel in Albuquerque. I've only got dial-up at home, and it seems to not remember me. I forgot to bring my cable which would allow me to upload my photos, so you'll have to wait for them until I get home. But in the meantime......

This is the beginning of my favorite season in New Mexico. We are in the midst of our monsoon season, and fall is approaching. The skies dominate now, and the aspens in the high mountains will soon be blazing gold. Sunlight drenches the landscape every day, and the sides of the roads are lined with wild sunflowers.

Clouds gather – huge, billowy clouds, reminding me of the Joanie Mitchell line “These are the clouds of Michelangelo…”

You can see storms in the distance – well defined areas of rain, with sunlight on either side of the storm – and if you’re lucky, you can catch some lightening flashes. Sometimes in the evening, when the sky is turning all sorts of colors, the rain turns pink. No, I’m not hallucinating. I saw it this evening on my drive back from Taos. Pink rain, off to the north of the road as I was driving south.

I drove to Taos the back way – through the village of Chimayo north of Santa Fe. I was thinking I’d stop at Rancho de Chimayo for lunch, but to my shock it was closed due to a fire they had had. This is the first time I’ve ever seen that restaurant closed. The building was obviously still standing, so the fire must have done some internal damage.

So I pushed on, figuring that I’d have to wait until Taos to get something to eat. I was hungry, but there are only small villages between Chimayo and Taos. I figured that the most I’d see would be a Dairy Queen. The road snaked upwards through the mountains, past the villages of Truchas (where they filmed “The Millagro Beanfield War”), and Las Trampas and Peňasco. It was in this last town that I spotted a building on the side of the road that made me slam on my brakes. I read the sign: Sugar Nymphs Bistro. I flipped a U and drove up. I wanted more than dessert, but the “Bistro” part gave me hope.

Serendipity is one of the rewards of travel. I walked into a charming old building which had obviously been someone’s home at one point. Now it houses the bistro as well as a theater. Yep. A theater! In Peňasco, of all places! You’ve got to understand – this is a village that time seems to have forgotten. There isn’t a gas station here. I don’t recall seeing a general store. (Forget supermarket. Those are for cities.) In fact, I don’t recall what else might be in this village other than perhaps a tire repair place. All other automotive needs seem to be taken care of in the front yard.

But here was a bistro, whose lunch special today was local vegetable stew served with grilled chicken sausage. All the veggies were locally grown. The salads were all organic, and the foccacia was house made. Salads, soups, sandwiches and burgers – all served in a cheerful atmosphere. There’s even a request printed on the menu “Please step outside to use your cell phone.”

My grilled summer veggie sandwich came with a choice of soup or salad, and some tortilla chips. I chose the salad with sesame ginger vinaigrette, and asked them to add some green chile to the sandwich. Sorry, but I was too hungry to photograph!!! Afterwards, I checked out the theater. It was too dark inside to photograph (even with flash!), but the room outside the theater had enough charm all it’s own.The trip had much, much more to it, including a drive to Acoma pueblo....perched high atop a huge rock...If you look very closely, you'll see the buildings on the right hand side, on top of that outcropping. Now you know why Acoma is called "Sky City".

Perhaps these photos will give you an idea why I tell people that going to New Mexico is going as far outside the United States as I can get without needing a passport. The landscape, the people, the food....all distinctive, and to me, all spectacular. It's no wonder they call it "The Land of Enchantment".

New Mexico dreamin'

Sorry for the silence, but I flew out of town for a long holiday weekend. And when you've only got dial-up within a reasonable distance from home, well....things like blog posting tend to suffer.

For some people a holiday is a weekend getaway to the beach. For me, it's New Mexico. When I need to "get outta Dodge", I head for my beloved mountains in New Mexico. Imagine my delight when I found that my wild roses were in bloom, as well as the plants I purchased last fall at a local nursery!This is the view from my front door to the courtyard. The portal keeps the heavy sun out in the summer....The tree is on it's last legs, unfortunately, having had a heavy infestation of mistletoe. But it's still alive, so I will let it pass away naturally. Then it will become firewood.
But in the meantime....Yellow roses, yellow irises, pink and white flowers, and the air smells better than perfume. A turquoise sky in the day, and the moon so close at night you can practically hear it spin...

I spent my time in New Mexico painting the ceiling in the living room. (No pictures of that till it's done!) The living room tends to be a bit dark - especially the ceiling - from years and years of using a fireplace. It's amazing what a coat of white paint can do to brighten a room! I've kept the log beams (vigas) natural wood and am painting the boards between them.

And in between climbing up and down a small step stool (low ceilings) and climbing on furniture to paint around light fixtures, I ate chili. Enchiladas, for the most part. Chicken enchiladas in Santa Fe, a chicken enchilada for dinner at a local restaurant called Kokopelli's the night I got there, and one bean and chicken burrito with a margarita for lunch with a friend on Memorial Day.

And then it was back to painting.....

Cioppino, the Italian New Mexican way

When I first moved to New Mexico, my husband did all the cooking. He was a great fan of chili, and used to put chilis in everything. I was from the east coast, however, and not really used to that much spice. One day he put some green chili in a fish dish that he made, and I rebelled. "Can't we have ANYTHING without chili in it?" He said "OK", and from that day he ceased to put chili in anything. After about 2 weeks, I went to him like an addict needing a fix. "Can we please have something with chilis in it?" I asked sheepishly. "Sure!" Chilis were back, and I've relied upon them as a source of comfort (and vitamin C) ever since.

And so I'm dedicating this week's recipe to Bob. Sure, I got some ideas from epicurious.com "Grandfather's Cioppino" but in the spirit of the kind of cooking he taught me, I tweaked it according to whim and what I had on hand. You were right, Bob. Fish with chili is not such a bad idea after all.

2 TBS olive oil

1 large onion

3 celery stalks, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can crushed or diced tomatoes - I think mine was 14oz.

Fresh tomatoes, chunked. I had some grape tomatoes that needed using - about 1 1/2 C

1 C dry red wine

1 TBS red wine vinegar

1 bay leaf

a few vigorous shakes of dried oregano

a vigorous shake of ground cinnamon

1 TBS crushed red pepper flakes

1 whole red chili or jalapeno - kept whole.

2 C water

1 fish boullion cube (shhhhh! Don't tell the culinary cops!)

Fish: I used the following, approximately a big handful of each:

Albacore

Tilapia

Sea Bass

Shrimp

Bay Scallops

In a heavy stockpot over medium high heat, sautee onion, celery and garlic till the onion is translucent

Add the next 8 ingredients and stir, then reduce heat to medium

Cook for about 10 minutes.

Add water and boullion cube (or 2+ cups of homemade stock, if you have any and haven't run out as I did!) and cook for another 10 minutes.

Add fish, starting with the densest, heaviest fish first, and moving to the lightest fish last. In my case, I started with the tuna and sea bass and ended with the shrimp and scallops, as they only take about 3 minutes to cook.

This dish is great to make for parties. You can prepare everything but the fish ahead of time. The pot can be on the stove and kept warm until you sense your guests are ready for food. Turn the heat up under the pot, drop the fish in and voila! A spectacular meal, served with fresh sourdough or baguette slices.

This soup is my response to Alanna's Soup Month over at Veggie Venture. It seems that not all soups need be vegetarian for this event, so if you haven't yet "dished", please do!

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