The Hatch Valley Chile Festival in New Mexico is celebrated every fall. The chile peppers are picked and cooked in a variety of ways. From the flavors of the chile peppers come new tastes and recipes to be created. Red chile honey is a very popular flavor trend in the Southwest and its popularity is growing in other states. Chefs have made delicious red chile honey dishes with their own cooking techniques and special ingredients.
Acclaimed chef Loretta Barrett Oden, host of PBS show “Seasoned with Spirit,” travels the world giving lectures about indigenous foods of Native Americans. She owns the Corn Dance Cafe in Santa Fe where she has created a menu featuring buffalo burgers, quail, elk and poultry cuisines.
“Indigenous foods lower cholesterol and improve heart function. Red chile honey is one of my favorite ingredients to use. It adds a distinct flavor to different recipes,” Barrett Oden said.
Grilled salmon with rosehip puree; venison shanks with garlic mashed potatoes and wild turkey with corn bread are part of the lunch and dinner menus at the Corn Dance Cafe. Barrett Oden applies her own red chile honey glaze to the chicken recipes she creates and serves.
“I have been using the Red Chile Honey glaze for years. It is spicy and tangy; sweet tasting. Honey and red chile make a healthy combination,” Barrett Oden said.
She will continue to travel to Indian reservations learning about the foodways of the Native Americans.
“I grew up near Hatch, New Mexico. Naturally, chile is in my blood, ” Tracy Baker, who works as a concierge at the Casa de las Chimeneas Bed and Breakfast in Taos, said. “I have tasted and breathed chile peppers for years. Not every guest likes red chile; I started adding honey to the red chile. My guest liked the taste better with honey. Red chile is a smoked heat and the honey tells the sweet buds to wake up balancing the flavors in the mouth. I use red chile honey in many of my chicken recipes.”
Baker has been in the hospitality business for 22 years while working in different restaurants and bed and breakfasts. As a self-taught chef, Baker hosted culinary students’ internships at the Casa de las Chimeneas.
“I teach each culinary student that every dish they create is waking up the palate to each meal satisfying the body from presentation to smell to tasting,” Baker said.
: To be totally honest, I’m not a huge fan of most steak sauces, but this one absolutely rocks. I found that it’s best to use it at the end of your grilling and let the sauce coat and carmelize. The final result is a really amazing meal. I put it on all my meats. It has a little heat, but nothing crazy.
