June Dinner Party

Appetizer- Chile Con Queso (from La Posta De Mesilla in Mesilla, NM- p. 58) and El Tovar Fire Roasted Corn Salsa (from El Tovar Lodge in South Rim Grand Canyon, AZ- p. 209)



These were both delicious! The cheese dip recipe's introduction addressed how Velveeta has fallen into culinary disrepute, but that it really is a magical product. And if a fancy retreatment can use it, so can I. Great roasted peppers and onion (that were sautéed in bacon fat, so yoou know they were yummy) made this dip really good. And the roasted corn salsa was great- with just the right amount of spice.

Soup- Pepper Picasso Soup (from Ghini’s French Café in Tucson, AZ- p. 97)



So, this was not my favorite. The soups in this cookbook have either been really amazingly flavorful or... not. This one was not. Some people said they really liked it, but I think they were just being nice. It was pretty bland. It was basically roasted bell peppers and half and half.

Entree- Tequila Braised Ribs (from Graze by Jennifer James in Albuquerque-NM- p. 151)
Side- Canyon Ranch Tamales (from Canyon Ranch in Tucson, AZ- p. 184)



I have never made ribs before and- to be honest- have not really had too many ribs in my lifetime. I am not a huge fan of really messy foods. Very prissy... I know... These were marinated in a homemade dry rub overnight, then each one was browned and put in a pan and covered with a sauce of tomatoes, broth and peppers, braised for hours, then taken out and the sauce was simmered to reduce to a thick BBQ sauce. They were really tender and the sauce had a really unique and good flavor.

Again- never made tamales before and was I was pretty nervous. I made the corn meal batter, spread it on corn husks that I had soaked, spread roasted peppers and cheese on them, then folded them up. It was the folding that had we worried, but after a few tries I got it right. I steamed them, and we kept opening them up to test them, and they would be runny. We finally just pulled them from the pot anyways and discovered that if you let them rest a little, they firm up. Good to know. But this recipe was really great with yummy flavor- I will definitely be making tamales again. And I can’t wait to experiment with meat fillings too.

Dessert- Brown Butter Berry Tart (from Yavapai Restaurant in the Enchantment Resort in Sedona AZ- p. 218)



I personally believe that anything with browned butter is delicious. You heat butter until it goes from yellow to a delicious nutty brown. I mixed that browned butter with eggs and sugar and poured it over fresh berries in a pie crust and baked into something pretty darn good. Very simple, but very good.