The Santa Fe Bar and Grill - revisit

The Santa Fe Bar and Grill This is a reliable, convenient, choice in the DeVargas Mall. The room is nicely designed, the service is attentive and professional and the food is good almost all of the time. I love their carefully prepared salads, the soups and burgers are also good. The New Mexican items are not their strong point, but the menu is full of other tempting options.

Black and Fall

Refreshing Beverage of the Week
This is a very fabulous drink made with many types of intensely-flavored liquor. And this beverage might make going to answer the doorbell on Halloween a little less tedious and the night wears on. Do not operate heavy machinery after 2 of these.

Ingredients
3/4 oz Cognac
3/4 oz Calvados apple brandy
1/4 oz Cointreau orange liqueur
2 - 3 dashes Pernod licorice liqueur

Procedure
Stir together in a large mixing glass filled with ice cubes. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, and serve, preferably while seated.

Pear Bread Pudding

The Altitude Adjustment Section
Keeping with the Halloween theme, I thought an appropriate dessert would be some sort of warm-and-fuzzy comfort food, so let's make some pear bread pudding with rum raisins! This is one of those recipes where you can use any kind of leftover bread you have. If you are feeling crazy, you could even use black bread. Raisin pumpernickel would be great if you could get it!

Ingredients
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup dark rum
1 tablespoon butter
2 cup ripe pears, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups bread (Brioche or Challah), torn or cut into cubes
3 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream or evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Procedure
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat rum mixture and pour over raisins, set aside. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in frying pan, add pears and cook 5-8 minutes. Add 1/4 cup sugar, stir and cook 2 more minutes and then put aside. Put bread cubes in bowl. Scald milk, evaporated milk, or whatever dairy you choose and pour over bread. Let soak 5 minutes. Add raisin mixture and pears with syrup. Beat together eggs, rest of sugar, vanilla and stir in bread mixture. Pour in buttered baking dish, bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until golden and set.

Smoky Pumpkin Soup

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
The red edition of the The Silver Palate Cookbook has some great recipes in it. This one is for a smoky pumpkin soup and — needless to say — the smoky flavor comes from my main man: bacon. Check it out.

Ingredients
6 slices bacon, diced, cooked crisp, fat reserved
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 cups peeled, cut up, cubed pumpkin (1 inch pieces)
6 cups beef broth or canned beef broth
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Toasted pumpkin seeds to garnish (optional)

Procedure
Heat the bacon fat and the butter in a stockpot. Add the pumpkin and sauté for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour in the stock and simmer covered for about 30 minutes, till pumpkin is tender. Remove from heat and stir in the Marsala, thyme, salt, and pepper. Process the soup in the blender or food processor till smooth and return to the stockpot. Now add the reserved crumbled bacon. Simmer for 10 minutes and serve garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds. This recipe serves 6 people.

Make Your Own Hot Chocolate From Scratch

Refreshing Beverage of the Week
Do you drink hot chocolate or hot cocoa? What makes it good? Good quality chocolate and full fat dairy products. Maybe a little cinnamon, or a splash of alcohol. However you like it, making it from scratch is easy and so much better.

Procedure
In the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine 2 to 3 ounces of your favorite semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped or as chips. Add 1 measuring tablespoon each granulated sugar and good-quality Dutch process cocoa powder, as well as a few grains of salt. Cover, and process in ten second “bursts” at high speed just until finely ground (a few larger chunks of chocolate are okay). In a small, non-reactive saucepan, heat 3/4 cup whole milk plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream, or 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of water. If using the milk-cream mixture, stir frequently, preferably with a small whisk, until mixture is steaming hot (if you use water, it should be almost at a boil). Add the processed chocolate mixture. Whisk in well until dissolved and mixture is steaming hot. Serve immediately, preferably garnished with lightly sweetened whipped cream. Yields one large or two more reasonable servings.

German Pear Pudding

The Altitude Adjustment Section
I love pears, and this is definitely pear season, so how about baking a German pear pudding? It’s like a pudding-like cake, soft and tender, so serve in a bowl. Real easy and yummy too!

Ingredients
1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup dry red wine
3/4 cup sugar
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 whole cloves
4 ripe Bosc or Anjou pears, cored peeled and quartered
1 egg separated
2 egg whites
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whipped cream for garnish

Procedure
Preheat oven to 375. Coat a 9-inch square pan with non-stick spray and set aside. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, set aside. Combine the wine, 1/4 cup sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon and cloves in a medium sauce pan and bring to the boil. Add the pear quarters and simmer for 15 minutes, covered, till pears are tender. Lift out pear slices, drain well, and transfer to baking pan. Add one cup of liquid to the baking pan. In the bowl of your electric mixer whip your egg whites till soft peaks form. Fold in egg yolk, vanilla, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Sprinkle the flour over egg mixture and gently fold together, spread mixture over pears. Bake till topping springs back and top is golden 35-40 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream.

White Bean Dip and Pumpkin Dip

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
Here are 2 easy tasty dips for fall, which are great to serve with bread and wine, or pita crisps, or raw vegetables.

White bean dip

Ingredients
2 cups cooked white beans
1/3 cup EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)
1/3 cup lemon juice
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons olive oil, mixed with 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
lemon wedges

Procedure
In food processor puree cooked beans with oil, lemon juice, and garlic. Add cumin, salt pepper and cayenne. Add a little water if too thick. Spread in shallow serving dish and garnish with capers, paprika-olive oil and lemon wedges.

Pumpkin Dip

Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped red pepper
1 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 ounces room temperature cream cheese, cut into cubes
16 ounces pumpkin puree
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoons black pepper
1 shake Tabasco sauce

Procedure
In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add onion, red pepper, cumin, paprika, and sugar. Cook 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the heavy cream and simmer. Add the cream cheese and cook till smooth and blended. Remove from heat. Add the warm cheese mix to the pumpkin in a large bowl. Stir in the parsley, salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce. Serve at room temperature. This may be made up to 3 days ahead.

Coyote Cafe

Restaurant Review

Coyote Cafe It seems a shame that the most famous restaurant in Santa Fe — the one that started it all when it comes to modern Southwestern cuisine — has fallen this far. The room needs a good deal of care to make it elegant once again. The tables and chairs are beat, and the wall near our table had a big red wine drip on it. The food was beautifully presented, but on some dishes, the presentation made it impossible to eat. General quality was uneven and at that price this just won't do! My Foie gras appetizer arrived cold and had to be sent back. The antelope was superb, but the pork Wellington was dry and not very tasty. Even our chocolate dessert was off. Espresso Panna cotta was just plain weird. Not the meal I had

Cider and Tequila Hot Toddy

Refreshing Beverage of the Week
So I’m thinking apples, New Mexico, Tequila, New Mexico, Cinnamon Sticks, New Mexico... I think we better make one now! This serves six.

Ingredients
4 cups apple cider
1 cup cranberry juice cocktail
1/2-cup tequila
1/4 cup triple sec or other orange-flavored liqueur
Lime slice, for garnish

Procedure
In a saucepan, heat cider and cranberry juice cocktail just until hot (do not let boil) and remove from heat. Stir in tequila and liqueur. Serve toddies in mugs, garnished with lime slices. Note: To spice up a little: add cinnamon sticks, a little cloves, allspice and nutmeg. You can also garnish with orange slices.

Cannoli

The Altitude Adjustment Section
Cannoli are a great treat which really must be assembled at the last minute. But you can make the shells ahead of time and then fill them to order like they used to do in Little Italy in New York. This recipe is from my latest acquisition, The Talisman Cookbook compliments of one of my faithful listeners.

Ingredients for shells
1 1/3 cups flour
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
Pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
sweet wine

Procedure
Mix flour, shortening, salt and sugar. Add enough wine to make stiff but workable dough. Roll into a ball, wrap in plastic and let stand 1 hour. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut into 5-inch squares. Form around a special metal cannoli tube, roll dough on the diagonal to make a tube with pointed ends. Press together. Deep fry one at a time until dark brown. Carefully remove tube and repeat. This can be done hours in advance. Now prepare the filing.

Ingredients for filling
1 pound Ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons chocolate chips
1 tablespoon candied orange rind, diced fine
1 ounce liquor, Crème de cacao or rum
2 tablespoons sugar

Procedure
Just mix everything together well and tube into prepared shells. I like to dip the ends in extra chocolate chips or chopped pistachio. I’m sure my friend Irene will have something to say about that!

Pasta e Fagioli

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
I see snow on the mountains so it must be time for hot soup, especially hot soup with beans and pasta in it. This classic Italian soup recipe is from Nigella Lawson, who I adore. Nigella reminds us that this is the very same dish that Dean Martin sings about in “That’s Amore” Do you know that song?

Ingredients
3 cups dried Cranberry beans
6 cloves garlic
3 sprigs rosemary, 2 for soup, 1 for garnish
1 onion, peeled and quartered
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 tablespoons olive oil
7 ounces mini pasta tubes
cheese cloth, or one old, but clean, knee-high stocking

Procedure
Cover beans with water and let soak overnight. Drain beans and place them into a large saucepan. Mash 5 garlic cloves with the back of your knife or with your fist and put in the pot with the beans. Now take 2 of the rosemary sprigs and cut up onion and put them into the knee-high stocking (or use cheesecloth) and throw that into the pot as well. Cover all this with cold water and bring to a boil. Now turn down the flame and simmer for 1 hour or till tender, then add salt and pepper. Remove the herbs and onion sock at this point and throw away. Take a mug full of beans from the soup and blend in your food processor along with the tomato paste and 1 1/4 cups of liquid from the soup. Add this back to soup pot to thicken. In a small sauté pan, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil and add to it one microplaned clove of garlic, and chopped rosemary leaves, removed from the last sprig. Sauté briefly and add to soup. Now bring mixture back to the boil and add the pasta and cook till the pasta is tender. Drizzle a little extra olive oil on top.