June: Another Exercise in Chile

L.I.C., New York-



Attended the 1st Food Film Festival at Water Taxi Beach and saw George Motz’s film Hamburger America, which features (among others), the be all and end all green chile cheeseburger from the Bobcat Bite in Santa Fe. In celebration they flew in fresh frozen green chile from Hatch, NM and applied it to burgers (unfortunately with embarrassing teaspoon-sized portions). Though I have large amounts of chile in the freezer (as well as in dried form), this got me all riled up to visit the vibrant plates of El Norteño.

Santa Fe, New Mexico-



Huevos Rancheros at the Tecolote Cafe, (corn tortillas with eggs -I like poached- and smothered in red and green chile) served with potatoes.



Enchilada Plate at The Shed (rolled blue corn tortillas stuffed with cheese and raw onions, covered in red and green chile (“X-Mas”), with pinto beans, posole, and an egg over-medium. All traditional dishes are served with a small amount of chopped lettuce and tomato. The Shed serves the best red chile. Accompanied by the classic Silver Coin margarita. Not shown, enchiladas from the Santa Fe Bar & Grill, they have a good red too, very dark and smoky. Also had green chile cheeseburgers from the Zia Diner (organic) and fancy Niman Ranch GCC’s from Santacafe. Breakfast burritos from the Baking Company.





A Frito Pie at the Atomic Cafe. A traditional Frito Pie is served in the Fritos bag, with red chile and meat (like a sauce), and beans and chopped raw onions. The Atomic's is served in a bowl with Fritos, green chile, jack cheese, carrots, red onion, tomato, black beans and a slice of jalapeño. They serve some version at the Levee in Williamsburg, but I'm not sure what its about. I assume they're using a form of chili, not chile. Needs investigation.



The most unusual (and therefore appealing for a sucker like me) was the Kobe Beef burger from Bert’s Burger Bowl ("One Location Worldwide"). A funky burger joint that’s been open forever, Bert’s is never run of the mill. They serve “lime Cokes” and “French Cokes” the first with fresh squeezed lime juice and the second with half and half.









I had the burger with green chile of course, and it was good of course. I should have had them omit the yellow mustard and pickles though, which just sour everything up.