I meant to shoot a couple pix of dinner, but spaced it (lots of balls in the air, trying to get everything to finish cooking simultaneously), so you’ll have to settle for a shot of the aftermath.
We started off with a sparking rosé, corn tortilla chips and the pico de gallo salsa I made last night, segued into chicken and jalapeño quesadillas, and then dove into the main meal, a blend of red and green chile in honor of the holiday — chicken enchiladas smothered in green chile, Anasazi beans with chipotle chile, red chile roasted potatoes and posole. Dessert was an excellent raspberry cobbler prepared by Herself, as I’m not much of a baker.
I wound up having to make two batches of green chile, because the first one tasted not quite right. Not inedible, I thought, but not top shelf, either, and I’m not quite certain why. I ordinarily use a 50-50 mix of hot and mild Hatch chiles, and I suspect the hot ones may have gone slightly off thanks to an overlong stay in the fridge after defrosting. So, thinking that a case of the Chihuahua cha-cha would make a poor holiday gift indeed for my sis and brother-in-law (to say nothing of Herself and me), I whipped up a second batch using only the fresher mild chile and that proved serviceable, after I needled it a tad with some ground green and a dash of ancho powder. I had a few poblanos squirreled away, but there was no time to roast and peel the buggers. As it was, I was still cooking when the kinfolk arrived.
Nobody had to talk to Ralph on the big white phone afterward, so I consider dinner a smashing success. If you’d like to take a whack at these recipes, they’re all in the Santa Fe School of Cooking Cookbook, except for the variation of posole that I make, a one-pot jobber with diced pork that’s so old I can’t remember its origins.
What was on the menu at your place? Leave me some recipes in comments — but don’t expect me to cook ’em anytime soon. We’re gonna have leftovers for days.
Late update: Almost forgot another holiday tradition: Dancing with Herself to “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues.
Mad Blog Media 
I’ve a got recipe: Swedish pancakes. They pass muster with my Minnesota-born, Swedish-American girlfriend so they can’t be all bad.
You’ll find it on my blog: http://my.opera.com/unlisted/blog/yes-i-can-cook-dammit
At Sis’s in CT. Last night deep fried turkey, sweet potatoes and many other side dishes. Tonight, homemade lasagna, salad, beans etc. Simple fare for 20 relatives. Now Saturday, when we get home, it’s latkes for 80 people at my annual Latke Fest. If you care to fly in you’re welcome to join us.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanuka to all.
Thanks for the tip of the hat for the recipe book. My mouth was watering with your description. The best part is the whole gang is heading to Santa Fe tomorrow to partake in more festivities. Happy Christmas.
Burp….buzz….wheeze….
We and our guests had polenta topped with a wild mushroom, cheese, and cream sauce, freshly cooked beets, and green salad. Dinner preparation was helped along with generous rooting from a bottle of ’06 Cartilidge and Brown Chardonnay and the goods served up with an ’07 Saintsbury Garnet Carneros Pinot Noir. Dessert was fudge, decaf, and some added enthusiasm from a Late Bottled Port.
Details available on request. That is, once I wake up tomorrow.
Main issue with the polenta is that it takes about 20-25 minutes of nonstop stirring to get it cooked properly so that it is custard-like rather than looking like it came out of a can. One ends up with forearms looking like Popeye if one does this too often.
Best for all and a happy new year,
Khal
Herb’s Squash Soup-Take one good size butternut squash, core and peel. One good size sweet potatoe, peel it. Cut the squash and tater into assorted chunks. Do the same to a medium size onion, the sweeter the better. Toss the veggies into a roasting pan and coat with olive oil, mix in 1 teaspoon of minced garlic and a dash of sea salt and one mixed teaspoon of rosemary and thyme. Leave Simon & Garfunkel completely out of this! Roast in 350 degree oven for one hour turning every 20 minutes and sort of remixing.
Once the roasted veggies have cooled a bit, put in food processor or blender with one tablespoon of butter and a small glass (8 oz) of real orange juice, 8 oz of water and blend. Dump into sauce pan to finish cooking and you can thin to the consistency you prefer with a little chicken or vege broth or depending on the boldness of the squash-water. Grate some parm-reg cheese over it when you serve it and smugly remember that Rocky’s charges $8 for a little cup of this.
“Fairytale of New York” has been a Christmas tradition in the Coursey household for what — 20 years? Can it be that old?
Our feast is scheduled for tonight, delayed to allow the farthest-flung offspring to spring west on the big bird. We’ll be diving into a couple of big pans of enchiladas — one verde and one rojo in honor of the season.
Mele Kalikimaka, you haole gringo Irish redneck.
CC
You out in Paradise, Chris? Mele Kalikimaka to you, too!
Nice picture. Here’s mine from Thanksgiving. Help is hard to find, apparently.
Spent the day on the folks’ farm in Nebraska, trying to fatten up the skinny little hairless ape who’s mooching off of us for a while.