Is to start with a chile Poblano or perhaps a chile Chilaca. By upgrading your chile you're now standing on a base of deliciousness far superior to the lowly Bell.

More later... Ok, it took a couple days but I finally managed to hit the kitchen.

Stuffed Chile Poblano Peppers

This is the revised version of a recipe I devised for one of our Txoko dinner parties. The trial run was merely good. Which is nowhere near good enough. I want each recipe I publish to be the best version of that dish that any person ever tasted. I'm confident that the recipe below will make the best stuffed pepper you ever put in your mouth

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It hardly seems like ten years ago but the dawn of the aughts found me in Sunshine, New Mexico in the kitchen of New Mexico native, Maria. This tia was resplendent in a patio dress as she hustled about her kitchen making a homey casserole for the assembled throng ready to celebrate New Years eve on the playa.

Women like Maria are getting scarce, good ones who can knock out a batch of blue corn tortillas while the posole simmers in a kettle near the fire.

Last weekend found me racing around my kitchen [not in a patio dress] trying to come up with a dish that could feed a crowd of hungry soccer fans. That's when I thought of Maria. The result follows:

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Out here in Austin, Texas the iterations of enchiladas are endless in all their glory. We've had crab enchiladas in golden tomato butter reduction, carne molida enchiladas in chile seca sauce, roasted chicken enchiladas in sour cream sauce...and about 100 other variations on the enchilada format.

Whenever we need inspiration in the kitchen We just drive up the street to Fiesta Mart [our neighborhood mega super market] and walk through the seafood and produce section sussing out what looks the most appetizing.

The bright pink salmon beckons so we ask the seafood lady for a sniff. She obliges and the wonderful aroma of freshly sliced watermelon has us immediately reaching for our money.

We walk over to the nearby produce section and pluck some fresh goods for a quick sauce and head back to the house.

Here's what transpired back in the kitchen

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When I first came to Texas almost 20 years ago I kept hearing people speak in reverential tones of something called King Ranch.

"It's the king of casseroles"

"It will change the way you think of casseroles"

"I couldn't make a King Ranch and my man left me for a woman who could"- that sort of thing.

It's not a dish you'll find on many menus in restaurants but it's importance in Texas households is not to be underestimated. Many housewives will bang out a batch in a few minutes using cans of creamed soup and whatever's on hand in the fridge but I've been fortunate enough to sup at the tables of some ladies who take their preparation very, very seriously. Here is the fruit of those meals:

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How disheartening to read the Serious Eats article http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/02/eat-for-eigh wherein a writer in San Francisco posits a recipe for the iconic Texas casserole; King Ranch including rice, beans (or ANY diced cooked vegetable!), shredded pork or beef or chicken, and just when it couldn't get any worse she allows how a vegetarian version would work just fine with ROASTED WINTER ROOTS!

While the rules of Texas Red chili have long been established I can find no rules (other than the common law of good Texas kitchens) regarding King Ranch casserole. So here they are:

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Back when I lived in Alabama I became friends with a girl whose grandmother, Agata was from Sicily. We'd ride out to the sleepy little town of Alabaster on Sunday afternoons where the granny would be busying herself in the kitchen-dealing out culinary trump cards of pure deliciousness.

My all time favorite dish she made was an intensely garlicky red sauced lasagna that boasts 3 pounds of cheeses.This recipe needs no meat. Meat would just get in the way of this profoundly Italian tasting casserole.

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