Enchilada Sunday

The sun is shinning, but the air temperature is only 40 degrees this afternoon, so I still can't go outside and start any yard or garden projects. What's the next best thing? Cook your favorite food! My all-time favorite thing to make is green chili enchiladas, preferable hot or medium. Don't skimp on the enchilada sauce, or your enchiladas will turn out blah. My favorite sauce is Hatch. The green chili Hatch brand is a nice thicker sauce, while the Hatch red chili enchilada sauce is a little bit thinner. When I have a choice, I always go for the green chili...my favorite. Tonight I'm using chicken and white corn tortillas. I like to roll my enchiladas and place them in a pan and then bake. I find the enchiladas are easier to eat, rather than stacking the tortillas and meat filling.

When we visited New Mexico last March, I was in seventh heaven with all the fresh New Mexico chili peppers available at the grocery stores. I can't find that type of chili pepper here in the Midwest. Some day I hope to visit the Hatch, NM chili festival in the fall when they are roasting chili peppers around the clock. I've been told the smell of roasted peppers in and around the town of Hatch, NM is overwhelming. People go to the festival just to buy bags and bags of chili peppers.

I'm starting to learn the difference between levels of heat and varieties of peppers. The little red Thai peppers (otherwise known as Bird's eye chili peppers) are just plain HOT, while certain green chili peppers are hot, but also tangy in their hotness and flavor. Then red chili's are smoky hot, which I really like too.

Now you might find this odd, but I don't like the heat or hotness from black or white pepper. I don't like the pepper flavor....it's really hard to explain. Just felt compiled to tell you all about my pepper likes and dislikes.