by Charles Myers, chef/owner of Big Sky Cafe

1/2 lb butter (2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
7 oz diced, roasted green chilies
1 1/4 cups creamed corn

1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.

When smooth beat in the eggs, green chilies, creamed corn and grated cheese.

Sift the dry ingredients together and stir into the wet meixture.

Bake in a greased cake pan or muffin tins at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes, depending on the size of the baking pan. The objective is to get a toasty crunch on the outside while remaining moist and chewy inside.

by Chef/owner Charles Myers

2 cups white pozole (Hominy)
2 cups blue pozole (Hominy)
2 oz. baking soda
4 dried chilies (we use pasilla, ancho and guajillo any combination of chilies as long as there is a little variation for increased complexity)
4 tbsp. olive oil
3 cups diced onions
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. roasted, ground cumin seeds
1 tsp. roasted, ground coriander seeds
2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes in juice
1 lb. tomatillos, peeled and cut in quarters
1 gal. vegetable stock
1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro

Soak the different colors of pozole in seperate bowls of water overnight.

Roast the cumin seeds and coriander seeds in a dry skillet over high heat until they toast —about 2 minutes.  When cool grind in a food mill, mortar & pestal or clean coffee grinder.

Drain the pozole and put each in its own pot, generously cover with water. Add half of the baking soda to each, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 2 hours.  Add more water as needed. Check pozole for tenderness —it does not have to be completely cooked as it will be cooked further in the stew.  Drain off the cooking water and rinse the pozole.

While the pozole is cooking, soak the dried peppers in hot water. When soft, remove the seeds & stems and dice.

In a separate stock pot heat the olive oil and saute the onions and garlic with the salt, black pepper, oregano, cumin and corriander until the onions are translucent.

Add the diced tomatoes, tomatillos, chilies, vegetable stock and cooked pozole.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer for about 1-and-a-half hours. The pozole stew is done when the hominy is cooked through.

Add the lime juice, cilantro & final salt and pepper to taste. Pozole, like many stews, improves with age, so cook ahead and reheat. Freezes well.

Serving suggestions: garnish with queso fresco, toasted pumpkin seeds and cilantro. Also for a delicious breakfast, serve vegetarian pozole over cornbread with a poached egg on top.

Note: You may use a combination of different kinds/colors of pozole and you may cook them together in one pot if you wish. However, the different colors will cook in slightly different times with different consistencies.  The blue or red pozole will break down more during cooking than the yellow/white kind.

Native corns are available at redcorn.com and most Latino markets.

Yield: 10 – 12 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Inactive Prep Tme: 8 – 10 hours
Cook Time: 2 hours

by Charles Myers, chef/owner of Big Sky Cafe
(six to eight servings)

I’ve run across many different kinds of gazpacho, from the cold “Campbell’s tomato soup” type in U.S. Spanish restaurants, to the ultra-pureed blender gazpachos that are like vegetable smoothies, and on to the flavorful, crisp, bright-tasting ones around Valencia, served with a big, garlicky crouton on top.

At Big Sky Cafe we use the following highly requested recipe I developed years ago as a middle path. Balancing the extremes of American gazpacho with the authentic versions I’ve had in Spain, it’s like a salad in a soup bowl. The olive oil accounts for the entire fat content, so you may be tempted to eliminate it. But without it, the recipe pales.

3 cups fresh tomatoes, diced with juice (you may use two or three kinds or colors of tomatoes)
1 cup cucumbers, seeded, peeled, and diced
1/2 cup each red peppers, green peppers, and red onions, all finely diced
2 cups tomato juice

Stir the above ingredients together. Place one-third of this mixture in the bowl of a food processor, and puree. Then add that back to the unpureed portion, and season it all with:

6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons any quality red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar (optional)
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce to taste.