El Pinto Restaurant and Cantina, Albuquerque, New Mexico

From Sichler’s we drove to the next stop on the ultimate New Mexican chile pepper tour which was El Pinto Restaurant and Cantina, a family owned Albuquerque landmark since 1962.  There we met Operations Manager Jim Garcia who gave us a personal tour of the restaurant as well as the large manufacturing facility where they produce their own range of nine different Salsa recipe’s.

One of the many chile adorned patios at El Pinto with seating for up to 1020 guests.

Located in the North Valley and set in a few acres of Cottonwood trees the sprawling complex of luxurious dining rooms and patios can accommodate up to 1020 guests making it the largest restaurant in New Mexico.  Huge chile ristra’s and mature chile plants with chillies on them, along with other plants and flowers adorn the customer sitting areas and give it a warm and welcoming feeling.
Dozens of photographs hang in the entrance to the restaurant and fill a further hallway to the left of the entrance.  These pictures document many visits to the restaurant by a huge number of celebrities, personalities, and VIP’s.  We saw pictures of Hillary Clinton, President George W. Bush, and President Barak Obama all enjoying the sights, sounds and flavours of El Pinto.  The restaurant was even invited to the White House to cook a special meal for Cinco de Mayo.
During the 1990’s many El Pinto’s customers began buying jars of El Pinto’s famous salsa’s to take home to eat.  Initially the salsa’s were cooked and jarred at the rear of the restaurant kitchen; however, as the products gained popular attention El Pinto constructed an 8000 square foot purpose-built production facility in a separate building behind the restaurant.  Health and safety requirements meant we couldn’t actually enter the production area, however, Jim did bend the rules a little and give us a peak through an office window at the line while it was in operation.

The El Pinto chile sauce production facility!!! Awesome!

The first thing I noticed was the conveyer that automatically inverts the jars and sprays warm water into them to eliminate any risk of any foreign matter (for example pieces of glass) originating from the jars.  The conveyer then turns the jar back over and feeds it into a multihead depositer which fills the jars from the cooking vessel.  I didn’t actually ask about the cooking vessel but the sauce is hot filled into the jars, lids automatically fixed and torque tested.  The filled jars are then processed through a cooling tunnel which reduces the temperature of the jars by spraying them with water of cooler and cooler temperatures thus stopping the cooking process. I didn’t actually catch where the jars are labelled…it might be before cooling.  It was an impressive operation to say the least.  Jim said the plant can produce 4000 cases in a day but they need one day of clean-down for every day of cooking.  The whole operation can be run by a team of 10 people and El Pinto salsa’s can be found on the shelves of major supermarkets across the country.
On our way back to the restaurant we passed through the kitchen.  I was rushing to catch up because I’d stopped for a moment to chat with the guy who grows all the chile plants.  Although it is clearly a large restaurant kitchen it was smaller than what I thought it could have been.  I quickly snapped a few photo’s including one of a young lady who was stripping seeds from some green chillies.  Later I would learn what they were for.

De-seeding green chile in the El Pinto Restaurant kitchen.

We sat down together in the restaurant and enjoyed a terrific lunch.  The starter was those green chillies I’d seen being de-seeded and sliced into strips which were coated with a secret recipe and deep fried.  They were served in a large basket along with a garlic chipotle sauce if I remember correctly.  I’ve had deep fried Jalapeno poppers before but never deep fried green chilli strips.  A signature dish if I’ve ever seen one.
I think Dave ordered Carne Asada Tomales.  It’s not on the menu but he said they’d prepared them for him before and sure enough, they produced it for him again.  Joanna and I tried the buffet.  Every day they serve an all you can eat New Mexican buffet with terrific dishes ranging from Tomale Pie, Green Chile Enchilada’s, Pozole, as well as a fully-stocked taco bar.  Chile Rellano’s, again made with green chile instead of poblano, are available to buffet customers and cooked to order.  Dave and Jim emphasized that chile rellano’s should always be served immediately after they’re cooked.  The food was delicious and again we enjoyed several more examples of how chile is being used as a food and not just to spice something up.
Before we left the restaurant my beautiful and fast-thinking wife asked Jim if he’d mind a quick picture with us in the lobby.  I’m sending him the high resolution version of the picture and I hope he finds room for us somewhere on his wall.

Joanna Plumb, Jim Garcia, Shawn Plumb, Fil Plumb at El Pinto Restaurant and Cantina.

At nine AM on 31 October our ultimate chile tour resumed and Dave collected us from our hotel and took us to visit Sichler Farms Albuquerque where we met owner Eleanor Sichler.  She showed us her retail operation which specializes in roasting fresh New Mexican Green chile right there while you wait.  I’ve always heard about these chile

Having just been roasted these New Mexican green chillies are being packaged in a plastic bag for the trip home.

roasting machines but we actually got to see them in action.  They’re fantastic to watch and and they produce a wonderful aroma as the chillies are turned inside the large metal cages over a gas flame.  After a few minutes they’re emptied into a cardboard box lined with a plastic bag.  Apparently if you leave the freshly roasted chillies in the bag for about five minutes you can literally peel the skin off of the pods.

Sichler’s Albuquerque is only open between August and October (the chile picking season of course) and Eleanor informed us that we’d actually visited her on the last day of their season, which was very lucky for us.  

The Sichler family knows a thing or two about chile.  They’ve been farming in the Rio Grande Valley for six generations and started growing chillies in the early 1900’s on their farm near the town of Los Lunas.  In 1987 John and Eleanor Sichler entered the family business opening Sichler Farms, Albuquerque.  All their chillies are grown on the family farm just 25 miles outside of Albuquerque where they’re picked fresh daily except for Sunday’s.  They specialize in four main varieties including Joe Parker (mild), Big Jim (medium), Sandia (hot), and Barker (extra-hot).  These are all what I would describe as “Anaheim” or classic “New Mexican” chile varieties.  They’re typically large, green pods (or red) averaging between 50 and 150 grams in weight. 

I’m guessing Eleanor is only about five feet tall at the most, maybe less, but she more than compensates for her modest stature with the enormous passion she has for her business and her customers.  She spent several minutes explaining to Joanna and I how fortunate she feels to have such a business where she can make such great quality food available to her customers. 

Eleanor explained that her customers will purchase either a bag or a bushel (25 pounds) of roasted peppers.  They then take them home and freeze them in one-quart plastic Ziploc style bags.  Some customers will peel the skin from the chillies first while others will just freeze them as they come and peel them later.  Typical New Mexican recipe’s include salsa’s, soups or stews, and the classic favourite of red or green enchilada’s. 

Sichler’s also sell fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen green and red chile, dried red chile pods, a variety of chile powders, salsas, and sauces.

A trip to New Mexico in the USA wasn’t what we originally had in mind for our family holiday this year but two unrelated events collided that would propel us towards a terrific 10 days in the Land of Enchantment.  First my wife, Joanna, was awarded a bursary (part-funding) for a business-related educational visit to an international destination.  We initially wanted to use the opportunity to try to visit a tomatillo grower in the United States.  Demand for the precious ‘Mexican husked tomato’s’ has been on the rise and we wanted to see how other growers are growing them.  At about the same time I met Dave DeWitt on facebook.  I saw his name on someone’s friends list and sent him an introduction and told him we that we are commercial chilli growers in England.  After ‘friending’ each other I mentioned my interest in finding a tomatillo grower in the USA.  Dave replied telling me that New Mexico is the biggest producer of chillies in the USA and he invited us to come along on the chile “tour of a lifetime”. 

North of Santa Fe New Mexico.

The New York Times has dubbed Dave DeWitt “The Pope of Peppers”.  He’s an internationally renowned chile pepper expert and author of 41 books on the subject.  He’s also owner of Sunbelt Shows Incorporated, the company that puts on The National Fiery Foods and BBQ Show in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  His company also produces the “Scovie Awards” (www.scovieawards.com) which is probably the biggest and most famous spicy food and barbeque awards competition.  They also run several major industry websites including the burn blog (www.burn-blog.com) and www.feiry-foods.com .  In this business, Dave is nothing short of a legend and he sits right smack dab in the middle of the huge American chile industry.  To top it off, he lives in New Mexico which not only produces more chillies than any other US state, but it also has a long and prestigious history of scientific research and development of both capsicum varieties as well as growing technique’s. 

Dave’s books have been around our house for as long as I can remember. In fact, one of my frequently asked questions on our website is answered with a quote from Dave DeWitt.  A tour of the chile industry in New Mexico, hosted by none other than Dave DeWitt, was an opportunity way to fantastic to miss so 39 days later Joanna, Filippo, Nazy and I we were sitting on an airplane on final approach to the tiny Santa Fe airport in Northern New Mexico.  About an hour later, after parking our rental car in downtown Santa Fe, we spotted Dave and his associate Lois Manno who were waiting for us on the sidewalk in front of the Coyote Cafe.  Lois is editor of The Burn blog and has worked with Dave for over 20 years including on the Chile Pepper Magazine, a number of book projects, and as Editor and Art Director for Sunbelt Shows.

Dave was exactly as I expected.  I’d seen him on the Martha Stewart show and he looked the same.  Tall, smiling, and genuinely interested in meeting us.  He sported a colourful shirt printed with chilli peppers under an ”El Pinto” branded sweatshirt.  We’d warned our kids to be on best behaviour but it proved unnecessary and both shook hands and introduced themselves. 

Dave explained that the Coyote Cafe had closed for lunches and he’d made alternative reservations at another Santa Fe eatery just up the street at Cafe Pasqual’s.  The place was full, which is a good sign in my books, and we were seated at a large booth to the rear of the establishment.  I quietly wondered to myself whether they knew who Dave was and whether we’d be getting any sort of special treatment.  In the weeks prior to our visit I’d tried to read as much as I could from Dave’s books.  I’d even ordered several of the titles from Amazon and I specifically read the New Mexico chapter of his book “The Southwest Table”.  My conclusion was that this guy is a foodie on an intergalactic level.  In his books he suggests numerous restaurants across the State and even makes suggestions on what to order in some cases.  If they did know who he was it wasn’t obvious and we were given the same good service that the other patrons were enjoying.

Dave and Lois ordered the Mole Enchilada.  Joanna had Chile Rellano’s, which we both love and remember fondly from our days living in San Antonio, Texas.  The key difference is that these were made with the New Mexican green chile instead of the Poblano.  Nazy had quesidas while Filippo settled for corn beef hash and eggs.  I chose the Blue Lady Enchilada’s.  This would be our first taste of New Mexican cuisine but already one important characteristic of this food was becoming obvious; not only is New Mexican cuisine defined by the dominance of the use of chile but the chile is used as a food rather than just as a spice or seasoning.  Of all the things I learned on our ultimate chile tour, this would prove the most profound. 

I asked Dave how he got started writing books about chile peppers and food and he explained that he’d travelled to New Mexico from his home in Virginia in 1974 and fell in love with the place and the cuisine which is dominated by the use of the famous chile pepper.  He moved there and began making a living from his freelance writing and then embarked on writing books about the spicy pod.  This was at the start of chile craze in the USA and Dave’s idea was to write every conceivable book on the subject… which he duly did.  Try Googling “Dave DeWitt” on Amazon and you’ll see what I mean.  He also had a talent for organising shows and eventually organized the first ever Fiery Foods Festival in 1988.  This event remains today one of the premier fixtures on the global chile pepper calendar. 

At the end of our meal we said goodbye to Dave and Lois.  Our plans would see us first head North 60 miles to spend three days of family time in the Northern New Mexico town of Taos at one of the most beautiful spa hotels in the country, El Monte Sagrado (www.elmontesagrado.com) but our ultimate New Mexican chile adventure had only just begun.  We would meet Dave again in Albuquerque in four days time.  We knew he had a full itinerary of activities planned for us but we couldn’t have imagined what was to come.

Rocoto chillies can be as large as a cricket ball, as hot as the hottest birdeye (over 100,000 SHU), with purple flowers and black seeds.

I love most versions of chili con carne.  I also love cooking it and I have my own recipe that I call Rocoto Con Carne made with the rare and unusual chilli pepper from Bolivia.  Today I made the chicken version but this recipe can be cooked with beef, pork, or even quorn and you’ll get great results.

One of the most emotionally-charged subjects when discussing chilli con carne is whether to cook it with beans or not.  The “International Chili Society” is an entire movement devoted to finding and promoting the best chili recipe’s… so long as they contain no pasta and no beans.  I’m definitely in the no-beans camp but you’ll find chick peas in this one.  Also, don’t be afraid to mix up the type of fresh chile peppers you use when you cook this.  With me it depends on what I’m picking.

Rocoto Con Carne ingredients

500 grams of boneless chicken breasts (or pork or beef or quorn)

2 large fresh green chillies

1 large fresh Poblano seeded

2 red Jalapeno’s

2 large Rocoto chillies

1 large red onion

3 cloves of garlic

100 grams of tomato puree double concentrate

1 large tablespoon dried oregano

400 grams of chick peas

1 chicken bouillon cube

2 large tablespoons paprika

1/2 a teaspoon Garlic Salt (or regular salt)

1 generous teaspoon of honey

1 chipotle chilli

One teaspoon Cumin

1 bottle of Cave Creek Chili Beer (or Corona)

1 dollop of red wine

Jamacan Jerk seasoning

Black pepper

25 grams of good quality dark chocolate

Chop and de-seed the chillies.  Peel and chop the onions and garlic.  Chop the chicken into small chunks and season with the Jamaican Jerk Seasoning.

Fry the chillies, onions, and garlic together in good quality olive oil for several minutes.  Dissolve the chicken bouillon cube in one cup boiling water.  Add the chicken broth to the frying pan with the vegetables.  Bring to a boil in the frying pan for about one minute and then decant everything into your slow cooker.

Fry the chicken pieces in olive oil then decant these into the slow cooker.

Chop your chipotle chilli into bits and add to a cup of boiling water.  Leave for 20 minutes then add the water only to your slow cooker straining the chilli.

Drain the water from the chick peas and add them to the slow cooker.

Add the whole bottle of Cave Creek Chili Beer, including the Serrano chilli, to the slow cooker.  Add oregano, honey, cumin, and the dark chocolate.  Add a generous dollop of red wine.  I use my father-in-law’s homemade stuff which is fantastic.

Cook on the high setting of your slow cooker for one hour then turn to the low setting for two additional hours.  Add masa flour as needed to thicken and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with a baked potato, by itself, on top of a chilli dog, or the way Lyndon Baines Johnson, 37^th President of the United States, enjoyed his chilli con carne, with a glass of milk and some saltine crackers.

The River Great Ouse at Great Barford

Are you coming to visit our nursery?  Need somewhere to stay, eat or something interesting to do while you’re in the area?  Below we’ve begun to create a list of local accommodations, restaurants, and links to attractions that you may well be interested in visiting. 

ACCOMODATION

Church Farm Bed and Breakfast

41 High Street

Roxton

MK44 3EB

England

Phone:  +44 (1234) 870234

Fax:  +44 (1234) 871576

http://www.a1tourism.com/uk/churchfarmbedford.html

Premier Inn

Great North Road

 Eaton Socon, Nr. St. Neots,

Cambridgeshire PE19 8EN

Phone: 0871 527 9024

Fax: 0871 527 9025

http://www.premierinn.com/en/checkHotel/EATCRO/st.-neots-a1/wyboston

Holiday Inn

A1 SANDY – BEDFORD

GIRTFORD BRIDGE,

SANDY,

Bedfordshire SG19 1NA

http://www.holidayinn.com/hotels/gb/en/sandy/sdyuk/hoteldetail

RESTAURANTS

Golden Cross

2-4 Bedford Rd

Great Barford

BEDFORD MK44 3JD

Phone:  01234 871727

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?q=golden+cross+restaurant+great+barford&cid=1928331136830394565

Anchor Inn

High Street

Great Barford

Bedfordshire

MK44 3LF

01234 870364

http://www.charleswells.co.uk/home/pub-guide/pub/the-anchor

Royal Oak Roxton

33 High Street

Roxton Bedfordshire

MK44 3EA

Phone: 01234870361

http://royaloakroxton.bttradespace.com/

ATTRACTIONS

Experience Bedfordshire website

The definative online guide to what’s happening in Bedfordshire including events, activities, places to eat and stay the night and special offers from local businesses.

http://www.experiencebedfordshire.co.uk/

Riversmeet Hidden Britain

The Riversmeet area, in the North East corner of Bedfordshire, is a place of history, of wildlife, of rural tranquillity and of friendly people. Find out about the six villages of Riversmeet, the local walks, places to stay, local businesses, and the Kingfisher Way Community Arts Festival.

http://www.riversmeetonline.co.uk/

Bodyflight Bedford

Indoor skydiving!

Twinwoods Business Park

Thurleigh Road

Milton Earnest

Bedfordshire

MK44 1RF

0845 200 2960

http://www.bodyflight.co.uk/

Visit Huntingdonshire

Official tourist information website for Huntingdonshire, near Cambridge.  Covering Huntingdon, St Neots, St Ives and Ramsey.

http://www.visithuntingdonshire.org

A number of activities are planned including live cooking demonstrations, a hog roast, and even a chilli eating contest. 

Sponsorship has been announced from both the Times and Citizen and Biggleswade Chronical Newspapers.  A number of specialist chilli-related companies have committed to exhibit at the event. 

The fiesta will open at 11am and close at 4pm.  Free admission for all ‘Dads’ and free parking.

Over 500 professional growers from across the UK attended the award ceremony which was held at London’s Lancaster Hotel and hosted by TV celebrity Paul Ross.  Arranged by Horticulture Week, and sponsored by national brands including ASDA, the National Farmers Union and BBC’s Gardeners World Live, ‘Grower of the Year’ awards are considered the Oscars of the horticulture industry.

Joanna commented, “Quality and freshness underlines everything we do.  We have always encouraged our customers to pick chillies or any of the other vegetables we grow at Edible Ornamentals straight from the plant and use them immediately to get the very best flavours in their home cooking.  Our campaign has been successful, because the demand for our chillies keeps growing, and this award just proves that you don’t have to be a giant in the industry to make a difference. After all good produce is about quality, not quantity.”

Renowned for the fresh chillies she supplies to Fortnum and Masons, Harrods and leading London restaurants, Joanna was awarded Local Food Hero for East Anglia in 2010.  She has appeared on numerous radio and television programmes, and has been visited by many of the UK’s leading culinary experts.

- e n d s –

Date 23^rd February 2011

Editor’s notes

More about Edible Ornamentals

Edible Ornamentals is Bedfordshire’s leading producer of high quality chillies and a range of fresh vegetables that visitors can pick straight from the plant. As well as local farmer’s markets they also supply fresh chillies to Morrison’s stores in Eastern England via the ‘From My Farm’ brand as well as Harrods, Fortnum and Masons and leading London restaurants. Joanna’s special chilli sauces are available from the nursery and local Waitrose stores.

Edible Ornamentals has featured in the national daily press, The Economist and leading national trade publications The Grocer and Fresh Produce Journal.  Joanna has featured as a chilli expert  on BBC’s 3 Counties Radio, Radio 2’s ‘Chris Evans Show’, and Radio 4’s ‘You and Yours’ and has appeared in several TV programmes including  BBC TV’s ‘Ready Steady Cook’, BBC 2’s Economy Gastronomy, Good Food Channel’s ‘Market Kitchen’ and ITV’s ‘Countrywise’.

Edible Ornamentals won the Best Effective Promotional Campaign category in the 2010 Conquest Business Awards, and was awarded the accolade of ‘Local Food Hero for East Anglia by Good Food Channel’s Market Kitchen.

In 2010, Edible Ornamentals also partnered with Virgin and offers special half day Chilli Experience days.

As well as fresh chillies and chilli plants, Edible Ornamentals also grow and sell a range of fresh vegetables, including tomatoes, aubergines, lettuce, Swiss chard, and sweet corn, which visitors can pick straight from the plant

For further information about Edible Ornamentals Company visit

http://www.edibleornamentals.co.uk/?page_id=2

Finalists for Grower Of The Year 2011!!!

 really fresh locally grown produce continues to win accolades for the chilli specialist who runs Edible Ornamentals in Chawston.
Joanna has just been shortlisted as one of the UK finalists in the ‘Grower of the Year’ award. This competition is run by Horticulture Week and The Grower magazines in association with Asda, the Horticultural Trades Association and the National Farmers’ Union, and celebrates the very best in UK horticulture.  Winners will be announced in February at a glittering awards event at the Lancaster London Hotel.
Joanna has also been selected as a finalist in the Countryside Alliance Awards. These are national awards which celebrate special contributions that have been made to rural life.  Edible Ornamentals, the nursery where Joanna grows over 40 varieties of chillies was nominated as an example of a rural enterprise that supports and promotes their local community.  The winners will be chosen by a panel including TV cook Clarissa Wright and representatives of the Daily Telegraph and Farmers Guardian and announced in March.
“It’s very rewarding that national organisations such as these recognise that even fairly small growers like us can have a significant impact on our communities,” commented Joanna. “Being selected as finalists will spur us on in our mission to encourage more people to use chillies in their own kitchens and experience the subtle flavours that really fresh ingredients can introduce into home cooking”
Edible Ornamentals has received several awards including ‘Local Food Hero for East Anglia by Good Food Channel’s Market Kitchen. Now recognised as one of the UK’s leading authorities on chillies, Joanna has featured on many TV programmes including ‘The One Show’ and Countrywise, was a special guest on Tom Parker Bowles’ Food and Drink programme on LBC radio and is a regular contributor to BBC 3 Counties radio.

- e n d s –
Date  14th January 2011

Posted by Tom Parker Bowles on August 15, 2010 at 16:31PM

Heston Blumenthal talks about winning the Good Food Guide award for best restaurant and Tom tries some of the hottest chillies
‘Chillies are the greatest of all fruits, and far more sinned against than sinning. We tend to see them solely as providers of heat, a way macho men can prove their pungency prowess. But thankfully, those days are over, as even the smallest of supermarkets has a range of at least 3 or 4 varieties. Generally speaking, the smaller the chilli, the hotter it will be. My guest today was Joanna Plumb, the lady behind the magnificent Edible Ornamentals (http://www.edibleornamentals.co.uk/). She grows over 40 varieties, from the mellow poblano and ancho right up to the insane ghoast and Dorset naga. The Mexicans are master of the chilli, along with the Thais, Indians and parts of China. The heat is concentrated in the shoulder and membrane of the chillies, as well as some in the seeds. So if you want to lessen, take out seeds, membrane and leave the top quarter of the chilli aside. Green chillies are actually hotter than red (they change colour as they ripen) and do make sure you wash your hands after chopping. A pee with chilli hands can turn into a rather excruciating experience. Anyway, I’m a chilli freak, in their every guise. If you’ve yet to try one, start mild and build up. But beware, they’re deeply addictive.

I also spoke to Heston Blummenthal, whose restaurant The Fat Duck had been voted by the Good Food Guide as the best in the UK. For the third time. He told me that hard work, and a lot of stress, were the ways to become successful. And not to bother a career in cooking if you’re not obsessed with food. Also, he destroyed the term ‘Molecular Gastronomy’ forever. He cooks good food. That’s it. His new place, Dinner, opens in the Mandarin Oriental in December. I can’t wait.

Here is the link to the page:

http://www.lbc.co.uk/read-tom-parker-bowles-blog-13870/entry/111/5956