Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Copycat Plaza Cafe Bowl of Chile


Edit: This post was originally published in April 2012, and I decided to give it a little makeover.

Santa Fe, New Mexico is my favorite place on the entire planet.  We try to make one or two trips out there each year, but that's honestly not enough for me.  I send Mr. Devilish Dish links to Santa Fe homes for sale on a daily basis, hoping some day to wear him down.  We love to visit and  soak up the culture, stock up on green chiles, and pretty much just to pig out.   Mind you when I say pig out we pig out.  Crepes or breakfast burritos for breakfast.  Lunch.  Afternoon snacks.  Dinner.  Dessert.  Another snack.  Usually we just hop from one restaurant to another and share an appetizer or entree so we can fit in all of our adored meals.  New Mexican is hands down our favorite type of cuisine.  There is a little cafe in the plaza that has been there since 1905 called The Plaza Cafe.  Not only does it have awesome, classic American diner food, it also features Greek and New Mexican recipes.  Since we visit Santa Fe so frequently, friends often ask my favorite thing to eat in the City Different.  Without a doubt it is their Bowl of Chile.  It's a very simple, but delicious bowl of awesomeness, served with a big piece of Indian Fry Bread.  Beans, green chile, and your choice of calabacitas, carne asada, chicken or carnitas.  We always choose the carne asada.  It comes with a sopapilla on the side to soak up the sauce.  We just stir it together and dive in.  Since we haven't been able to make it to Santa Fe recently, we have  our own version we created  to satisfy us at home.  I serve it at home with my Homemade Indian Fry Bread, AND my Gluten-Free Indian Fry Bread.  We're lucky to locally find a roasted green chile in a jar that is made in Albuquerque using Hatch green chile so we get that authentic New Mexico flavor at home.  While this certainly isn't the same as enjoying a meal at the Famous Plaza Cafe, it does help the homesickness when we are craving Santa Fe flavor!



My single favorite meal in Santa Fe!

The Line-Up! Simple ingredients
make the best meals.
Heat the pinto beans in a pot.
I usually use canned pinto beans,
but next time I'm definitely making a
pot of homemade beans for this dish.

Warm the green chile in a small sauce pan.
This is our favorite version.
We are lucky to find it locally at our
grocery store.  It isn't a sauce,
it is true Hatch green chile.
Season your meat with salt, pepper, garlic powder
and Chimayo chile powder.
Cook your meat however you like.
In our case we chose flank steak
and grilled it outdoors.


Serve with warm, homemade Indian Fry Bread.
Recipe HERE

Of course I have a GLUTEN FREE VERSION!
Here it is!  My copycat version of
my favorite meal from The City Different.
Plaza Cafe Bowl of Chile.









PLAZA CAFE BOWL OF CHILE

2 cans pinto beans
1 pound sirloin steak or flank steak, seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and Chimayo Chile Powder
505 Southwestern Green Chile
sour cream
finely diced red onion
cilantro

Heat the pinto beans in a sauce pan over low heat.  Heat the green chile sauce in a separate pan over low heat.  Season the steak on both sides generously with salt, pepper, garlic powder and Chimayo chile powder.  Cook over medium high heat on both sides until done to your liking, or optionally grill indoors or outdoors.  Let steak rest a few minutes before slicing.  To serve, ladle beans into bowls.  Top with green chile sauce.  Place steak slices on top.  Garnish with sour cream, diced red onion, and cilantro and serve with Homemade Indian Fry Bread or Homemade Gluten-Free Indian Fry Bread.
Prep Time:  Approximately 10 minutes     Cook Time:  Approximately 20 minutes

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