New Mexico: Rachel's Corner

Before I had to pull out of Santa Fe early due to catching the nastiest cold virus I’ve ever encountered — ugh! — I stopped at Rachel’s Corner  to buy some New Mexican red chile to take home.

What, you may ask, is Rachel’s Corner? It’s where Rachel has been selling whole, dried and ground red chile for 40-plus years.

If you want to make, say, the New Mexican signature winter dish, pork adovada, this is what you need. Or if you just want to give whatever you’re making, from braises to soups, a kick, sprinkle some of the red chile marked “hot” on top, because it is.

I bought one of the hot and the medium, because I’ve learned that New Mexico doesn’t mess around when it comes to heat.

See this ristra? It is not, as many people believe, simply a door decoration. These are dried chiles from Hatch — not Chimayo in Northern New Mexico, where small farms still grow the artisanal, complex Native American chile — and they’re great for salsas, tossed into vinaigrettes, or ground (like the bags above) and used in slow-cooked stews and braises.

I plan to make some Texas chili with a New Mexican red chili twist when the weather turns cold in Dallas…if it ever does.

Some folks love 75-degree winter days. Give me gray, snow, rain and freezing temperatures. That’s cooking weather.