it recently dawned on me that the easiest way for everyone out there is cyber land, especially the non-New Mexico natives, to prepare traditional New Mexican dishes is to own one of my favorite cookbooks – Simply Simpatico, from the Junior League of Albuquerque.
My copy was given to me by my pal Patty Williams, back in 1988, and the pages are, quite appropriately, smeared with evidence of red chile sauce, avocado, batter from chile rellenos. I’ve USED this cookbook.
Especially during the years that I was exiled to Kansas and North Carolina, I tried almost every recipe in the “Comida Simpatica” section, which is introduced as the section which will “. . .introduce the novice cook and the newcomer to the basics of New Mexican cookery.” At the time I didn’t necessarily consider myself a novice cook, but without a Sadie’s or Frontier around the corner where I could order rellenos smothered in green chile, I knew I had to learn very quickly how to make my own.
So I learned to make red chile sauce and rellenos and bizcochitos and sopaipillas and quelitas and fry bread and tamales and carne adovada and albondigas and empanaditas.
I improvised with local ingredients – once my mother sent an extra suitcase home with Johanna, full of fresh green chiles. I even made tortillas from Simply Simpatico, and in the process impressed the folks where I was living with what they considered very interesting cooking. I took green chile stew to a potluck in Greensboro, North Carolina, handed out the recipe, and still hear from the girls in that office every time one of them makes the dish. They taught me to make grits in exchange (wonder how grits with green chile would taste?) for my bizcochito recipe.
Simply Simpatico is a great gift – especially for yourself. It’s essential in my kitchen, still. It’s full of recipes that use fresh, local ingredients – Michael Pollan would be proud. It’s an easy way to follow his Food Rules.
So as you’re prepping for the holidays, or maybe just a Tuesday… you can look to this simply wonderful cook book for some native New Mexico inspiration.
One of my favorite recipes in the book is for sopaipillas.
There are actually 2 different sopaipilla recipes in the book, but I’ll let you in on the secret of the slightly easier one.
Ingredients:
4 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup lard
1 1/4 cups water or more, if needed
Honey ( as much as your heart desires)
Makes about 4 dozen –
Sift dry ingredients together, Cut in lard until crumbly. Add water and mix until holds together. Knead 10-15 times until dough forms a smooth ball. Cover and let set for 20 minutes. Divide dough into two parts. Roll dough 1/8″ thickness on lightly floured board. Cut into 3″ squares or triangles. Do NOT allow to dry; Cover those waiting to be fried. When ready to be fried, turn upside down so that the surface on bottomwhile resting is on top when frying. Fry in 3″ of hot oil until golden brown, turning once. Add only a few at a timeto maintain proper te,perature. Drsin on paper towels and serve immediately with honey.
Enjoy!