I get home Tuesday night to a big Fed-Ex box waiting at my doorstep.  Immediately I act like it’s Christmas, I tell Mando “Grab some scissors so I could pop this box open.”   I spy to see the return address is Melissa’s Produce, this sets excitement to my creative mood.  Pulling the flap up to the box  a crowd of HATCH CHILES reveal themselves.  I see the chiles have decided to group into cliques labeled “HOT” and “MILD”…. Who do I want to enjoy first?  I know,  I will test the waters with the mild chiles initially and work my tolerance up to the hot…. Sounds like a plan.  Here’s what happened next:  Brainstorming, market run, roasting chiles over an open flame, and peeling all the charred skin away. Corn bread strata is what I came up with for the mild hatch chiles, wait a couple of days and I’ll deliver what kind of dance the hot hatch chiles did for me! Thank you again Melissa’s Produce!

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

Ingredients for hatch chile corn bread:

3/4 – cup milk

1 – cup grilled corn

1/2 -cup melted butter

2 – beaten eggs

3/4 – cup mild hatch chile (roasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped) (about 3 chiles)

1 1/2 – cups yellow cornmeal plus 1/4 cup

1/4 – cup flour

1 – teaspoon baking powder

1/2 – teaspoon baking soda

1 – teaspoon sugar

1 -teaspoon salt

1 – cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

First start by roasting hatch chiles over an open flame. Then once skin is charred place in a ziplock bag and let steam for an hour. Remove from bag, and peel off charred skin under a slow stream of water. Then remove stem and seeds from chile. Lastly cut into long strips then chop into small pieces.

Next take your grilled corn on the cob and remove kernels.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Then take a 9×13 metal cake pan and grease with butter and shake with 1/4 cup of cornmeal. This will ensure your corn bread does not stick.

In a mixing bowl add milk, grilled corn, butter, eggs, and mild hatch chiles. Mix well.

In a large mixing bowl add cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Whisk together. Then add wet mixture to dry mixture and mix until combined.

Pour into prepared metal cake pan, and spread evenly. Then top with 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese.

Bake for 25 minutes.  Corn bread is done!

Ingredients for strata:

1 – pan of hatch chile corn bread

1 – cup grilled corn

4 – mild hatch chiles (roasted, peeled, seeded, and butterflied)

5 – ounces artichoke hearts (chopped)

1/2 – cup pepitas

2 – cups grated jack cheese

1/2 – cup chopped green onion

1/2 – tablespoon dried chili flakes

1 – teaspoon black pepper

1 – teaspoon Lawry’s

2 – cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 – tablespoon spicy brown mustard

8 – eggs

1 – cup milk

1 – cup 1/2 & 1/2

Butter a 9×13 glass baking dish. Then take corn bread and cut into small pieces. Then line glass baking dish with corn bread pieces. Make sure to leave 1/8 of corn bread behind for a later use.

Then sprinkle with grilled corn.

Then add butterflied mild hatch chiles to the next layer.

Now add the artichoke hearts and pepitas.

Now for the jack cheese, chopped green onion, dried chili flakes, black pepper, and Lawry’s.

Now take the remaining cornbread (that 1/8 you saved), and break it up over the top.

Let’s be fair and sprinkle in some sharp cheddar cheese to the top.

In a bowl beat mustard, eggs, milk, and 1/2 & 1/2.  Then pour mixture over the top of the strata.  It should look like this from the side.

Now cover the strata and place in the refrigerator for 12 hours or over night. This is the hard part. Waiting.

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.  Bake strata for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean!

Enjoy!  Serve for breakfast with some sausage on the side or with a side of black beans and sour cream.  I’ll take both. 🙂

No compensation was received for this post. I was provided with a sample of  Melissa’s Produce hatch chiles to aid this recipe. The recipe and opinions are my own.

In the words of Annabella from Bow Wow Wow…. “I Want Candy!” Aside from wanting candy all the time, I also want my favorite nut, pistachios. Why not combine the two for a perfect pairing and take my sweet nutty cravings to a new level of BIG LOVE.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley and Mando Lopez

Ingredients for pistachio toffee:

1 – cup butter (melted)

1 1/3 – cups sugar

1 – tablespoon corn syrup

2 – tablespoons cold water

1/2 – teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 – cup salted Wonderful Pistachios

12 – ounces chocolate chips (melted)

First line a cookie sheet with a non- stick baking mat or wax paper. I use both, but I’m a freak… One method is good enough.

Then take your bag of Wonderful Pistachios, cut it open and GET CRACKIN! I like to shuck my pistachios before I start making the toffee.  Once done removing shells place 1 cup of pistachios to the side, and with the remaining 1/4 cup coarsely chop.

Let’s get the toffee rockin and rollin…. In a big pot over a medium flame with a candy thermometer attached to the side, drop in butter and allow to melt. Mix with rubber spatula.

Then add in sugar, and mix in completely before adding in corn syrup and water. From this point forward you will be mixing constantly.

Keep stirring your buttery sugar mixture until your candy thermometer reads 300 degrees fahrenheit.  This will take about 15 to 20 minutes and your mixture will go from pale brown to deep golden brown. Then remove from flame and add vanilla. Your mixture will bubble and pop. This is good news!

Add 1 cup of Wonderful Pistachios, and mix well.

Then pour onto prepared cookie sheet and top with melted chocolate.

Spread chocolate carefully over top of toffee to coat it!

Then if your anything like me…. you’ll run off and hide somewhere and eat the chocolate off the spatula.

Okay back to work…. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup pistachios on top of chocolate, and place in the fridge overnight or for at least an hour.

When ready to eat. Break it into pieces or eat the whole slab! Enjoy!

No compensation was received for this post. I was provided with a sample of  Wonderful Pistachios to aid this recipe. The recipe and opinions are my own.

Makes my mouth water.

So many reasons to love the movie Saturday Night Fever.  First and foremost it arguably has one of the best soundtracks of all time attached to it.  Yes,  the Bee-Gee’s are genius in my world.  A very young John Travolta played Tony Manero so well strutting down the street or getting down on the dance floor.  I love that SNF caught the heart of the 70’s on celluloid to be treasured forever.  The White Castle burger scene stuck with me, being a west coast girl, I had never seen a slider before.  I remember thinking  a tiny burger was the cutest thing.  The first chance I got to travel east I tried a white castle burger.  That was years ago and at that time sliders were not readily available here in California.  At first bite I became a fan of the size. Fast forward to 2011 and you can pick up sliders anywhere and everywhere.  I like it.  I just wish more places would make them with turkey.  Since they don’t I make them at home, and my entire family loves them.  Here’s my recipe.  Enjoy.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley and Mando Lopez

Ingredients for turkey sliders:

2.5 – pounds ground turkey

1 – egg

2 – teaspoons black pepper

2 – teaspoons Lawry’s seasoning salt

5 to 6  – big squirts of worcestershire sauce

1/2 – teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 – tablespoon minced  fresh garlic

1 – teaspoon spicy brown mustard

1/3 – cup chopped green onion

1 – cup chopped portabello mushroom (small pieces)

1/4 – cup chopped fresh basil

1/3 – cup bread crumbs

In a big mixing bowl combine  all ingredients together and mix with hands to ensure all ingredients come together.

Then take a small handful or a heaping tablespoon of meat mixture into your hand and roll into a ball. Then smash down to form your patty. It should be no bigger then the palm of your hand.

On a wax paper surface lay your patty down and get to work on the next one…. Should make about 24 – 26 patties.

Now how you decide to cook these patties is entirely up to you.  If you throw them in a frying pan add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and fry on each side for 7 minutes.

If you make them on the bar-b-que (this is the way I usually prepare my turkey sliders), grill them on each side for 7 to 10 minutes or until cooked all the way through.

Top with  a slice of sharp cheddar cheese when the patty is still cooking on the grill or in the pan to melt.  Then take a bolillo bread (I’m a true latina eating my burger on a bolillo… I know) and cut in half to make two separate buns. Slice them across the middle then spread with your favorite condiments and fillings. I use mayonnaise, mustard, a dill pickle stacker, a piece of green leafy lettuce, grilled onions, and a nice slice of tomato. HEAVENLY!

I have a confession to make.  You see this sandwich pictured above, I eat it often and more than anyone should admit.  I’m trying to cut back, but it’s so banana fresh, salty, sweet, flakey, and chocolatey.  Usually I have it on a big croissant, but recently Thomas came out with pre sliced sandwich croissants that are slightly bigger than my palm and only 160 calories.  The way I look at it…. I am cutting back with the perfect sized croissant sandwich.  Now I could enjoy the best of both worlds and not feel guilty about it.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

Ingredients for BNB croissant sandwich:

1 – Thomas sandwich croissant

1  to 2 – tablespoons Nutella (depending if you want to spread on both sides of croissant)

1/4 –  sliced banana

4 – slices of thick sliced cooked bacon

Take your croissant and spread nutella on one half or both.

Then take a few slices of banana and place on top of nutella.

Then take your scrumptious bacon and place on top of banana.  Top with other half of croissant.  That’s it your done.

Sink your teeth into happiness

No compensation was received for this post. I was provided with a sample of  Thomas sandwich croissants to aid this recipe. The recipe and opinions are my own.