Final stretch: San Francisco, huge Redwoods, Los Gatos, L.A. + more!
Good food & drinks, including wine tours in Willamette + Napa Valley.
Ridiculous amounts of fun in Saskatoon, Edmonton, Jasper, and Vancouver!
I’m not sure if the heat is finally getting to us or what, but for the past year we’ve been totally cocktail obsessed.
In order to escape the Texas heat we start on a month long road trip up to Canada.
We’ve been in Texas for two years now, but this was oddly only our second time in Houston.
I am honestly completely weirded out that we haven’t made bacon until now. It’s so ridiculously easy!
Homemade Pastrami is one of our favourite things we’ve cooked to date! It’s 3 week process of brining, smoking and braising was worth it.
Our fun first time making Mozza and Prosciutto from Duck Breasts.
Every city has special dishes to call it’s own; in Cincinnati Goetta and Cincinnati Chili top the list.
We have been wanting to try Cajun and Creole food for a long time and now we finally got our chance!
Hatch, New Mexico is known as the chile capital of the world, but up until a couple of weeks ago we had never heard of it or their famous Hatch Chile. So, intrigued by witnessing barrels of chiles fire roasting outside of every grocery store in Laredo, we decided to see what these chile peppers were all about.
You two are so cute! I grew up in New Mexico, and we’d buy chiles by the bushel, and have them roasted in a huge lottery-wheel-thing, then bring them home in huge burlap sacks. Then we’d all get together and peel them, put them in freezer bags, and toss them into the freezer to be eaten throughout the year. There are definitely different heat levels in the chiles… we used to buy “Big Jims”, also called Anaheims, and they varied between burn-your-face-off and pleasantly-hot. Roasted green chiles are a HUGE part of New Mexican food. I miss it so much living in Texas! Anyway, loved the video.
Crystal, Big Jims and Anaheims are two different varieties of chiles. Anaheims are quite mild and consistently so. Big Jims are medium but can vary chile by chile. Big Jims are also considerably longer than Anaheims. Sandia’s are probably the most popular variety for natives.
I grew up in New Mexico, in the heart of chile country, the Mesilla Valley. David, I hope you were informed that saying “Hatch chiles” is just like saying “California wines”. Hatch is a location, not a variety but you have to give the little town of Hatch credit for bringing chile awareness to the masses!
I’m a bit of a chile purist, having grown up picking, roasting, canning, freezing chiles with the family. I knew so little about traditional “American” cooking when I got married and when my husband asked for me to cook a brisket, I had no idea what to do with it! Not sure if you can see my email with the comment, but if you want some traditional New Mexican recipes, email me.
Yes, we read that a Hatch Chile is just any chile that comes from there. From what i’ve seen it looks like the Hatch ones are always pretty similar looking though. Never heard of Big Jim or Sandla, interesting! Down in Laredo we’ve only seen one variety for sale so far.
I can’t believe you guys have a banana tree in your backyard! I would move from Calgary down to Texas just for that!
Its actually a Plantain tree
but yes still cool to have in the yard. We were pretty sad to see that the branch with the heavy bunch of Plantains had broke in half when we came home from vacation; we tried to save what we could the freezer, but hopefully the next season works out better!
My husband and I just moved to Austin in the beginning of August, and had never heard of Hatch chiles before last week. We thought it was just a lot of hype until we tried them in some black beans–so good! I want to reach through my computer screen and grab the ones in your photo.
Ya, to the average chile consumer, they all look the same. The main difference is in the amount of heat they pack. Once you leave New Mexico, it is rare to find more than one variety available. To the native, it is easier to notice the subtle differences in size, color, girth and ‘meatiness’ that each variety has. Some farmers in southern New Mexico also claim better flavor with river watering versus other sources!
Glad you enjoyed your chiles. Hope you get the chance to try some red chiles, they have a slightly higher sugar content than the green (of the same variety) and are equally tasty. This year’s crop of red should be available around December.
Your chili marathon looked awesome. I’m hugely impressed by how many things you made with the chilis for one meal. I roasted eggplant this morning for a Russian dish that I can’t pronounce – in fact, it sounds pretty demonic when I try – and that about burnt me out.
That looks amazing. I’ve never heard of those chilies before. Now I want to try them.
When you guys grilled the chilies it reminded me of the aubergines that I grilled before making them into an omelette. I love chilies and I usually add green chilies when making a green mango pickle. Yum! Anyway, you guys are quite amazing!
P.S.
I am just wondering if you guys self-host the videos you post here or using sort of a plugin for that video player since I think it’s very sleek and nice!
Thanks! For our videos we host them with blip.tv and use their nice customizable player.
Hi guys!
just been watching all the videos after a link sent me to your website! I love all of the great ideas you have and you look like you know how to cook.
I was just wondering (also) what video camera you use, the colour and sharpness is phenomenal and makes the food look even better!
If I ever use one of your recipes I will tell you how it came out!
Hey, we recently started using a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 (first video with it was Braised Cow Lips). We previously used an old Nikon Coolpix 5900 for all of our other videos.
‘Chile capital of the world’ – which really means chile capital of north america because north americans asume that they are the only land mass in the world.
sad but we are all gettig used to it now. It’s cool ,cos they are going down hill very fast as was inevitable.
Having grown up roasting, peeling, freezing and– most importantly– eating New Mexico green chilies (usually from Tucumcari and Albuquerque instead of Hatch), I had a lot of fun watching the two of you discover my favorite food in all of the world. I buy bushels of them every season and keep the freezer stocked. As Patty already said, “Hatch” is a location and a marketing strategy, but these chilies are grown all over the state. In New Mexico (and for those of us who grew up half in New Mexico), they are usually just called “green chilies.” You can also get “New Mexico red” or “red chilies” that are the ripened, dried version of the same pepper. They make an absolutely delicious chili powder (polvo) that might be the best egg seasoning ever.
Mmmmm the egg idea sounds so intriguing!
Nice! Must try that tamal. . .