Several of us excitedly met each other in Dallas and warmly hugged our reunion with each other.  The rest met us in Mexico City.  The enthusiasm for our tour was for real, once we landed midst the bouganvillas and beautiful flowers at the Oaxaca airport.  Even the rain did not dampen anyone's spirits.

We were off to a wonderful introductory dinner at the main xocolo where we sampled traditional Oaxacan moles and other specialties--yummm, yum.  Here's a picture of all of us the first night where we dined overlooking all the festivities of the main plaza...called the xocolo.

THe next day we were off to the public market in Etla, where we had a sampling tour of the village specialties and were able to see all their beautiful produce and crafts.  Following, we cooked a sumptuous dinner at Seasons of My Heart Cooking School with Susanna Trilling .  Here we see Carey Head, daughter Erika Martin, and Janet Banks making a Roasted Chile Poblano Bisque. 

The next day started with a trip way back into the pages of history with a visit to Monte Alban, one of the Ancient Seven Wonders of the World.  It is truly amazing in a totally beautiful, top of the world setting.  The Monte Albanians were doing brain surgery, other types of operations and really understood all types of mathematics and solar relationships and amazing amounts of technology.  Here is from left: Erica, Carey, our tour guide-Hector Gazga Mendez, Janet and Bill Banks.

Following, we had a delicious lunch of Tlayudas, the popular served dish at the green pottery village, Santa Maria Atzompa, and then off to view the colorfully painted wood figures famous in the town of Arrazola.  Here we see Janet  almost overwhelmed with the over selection of the little wood figures as all of us were.  This is Janet viewing just one of the collections to choose from.  Next we toured to San Bartolo de Cayotetepec.  This is a picture of us with all of our black pottery selections!

The next day, we were back with Susana Trilling where we learned how three Oaxacan cheeses were made from the same batch of cow's milk, right before our eyes.  Here we see a local lady demonstrating cheese making at Susana's cooking school. 

The main dishes that we prepared Sea Bass in Tomatillo Sauce with Acuyo Leaf Wrapped in Banana Leaf served with Saffron Rice with Caramelized Pineapple.

After two wonderful days cooking with Susana and her staff, we had our picture made in from of the school.

Our third cooking class in Teotitlan de Valle consisted of learning how the Zapotecs, the predominant Indian tribe of Oaxaca prepare their barbacoa with baby lamb or goat, a red chile rub and layers of wild avocado leaves.  Rosaurio and Ernesto showed just how it is done at a demonstration followed by a full participation session on making corn tortillas with squash blossoms and local salsa.  We learned how they make salsa on a metate, their beans with the herb, conejo and following they served a corn custard dessert. 

Following, they hosted a weaving demonstration showing how they card the wool, spin it, color it with all natural dyes by hand and then weave beautiful rugs.

After a shop til you drop day, we flew off, vowing to return!

Note:  We are currently assessing the interest in a tour of the culinary culture of New Mexico for 2008.

You will have lots of fun looking at our Cooking Club. Just go to the home page of www.janebutelcooking.com and you will be guided on how to join.  There are six features and four videos completely detailing how to make the featured dishes.

In this current, May issue you will receive my favorite ideas for a really festive Fiesta party complete with time lines on how to prepare everything in advance for a "no hassle" event...just pure fun.

Do you know the history of the margarita?  For starters, they were  named for Margaret; but which one and where?  I detail several of the accepted histories and tell you the recipe for my favorite Perfect Margaritas, which we always make in our weekend and week long classes from premium tequilas.

Chiles are the most healthful food you can eat.  I give you some insight about enjoying them.

Recipes are featured for a story on quick and easy to make wraps for snacks or light meals.

Gifts kids can make this summer are shared in the "Off the Plate feature.

And Jim Hammond explains the best wines to select for serving with bold foods such as these.

I would love to have you check us out--its absolutely free for the first month and you can stop your subscription at any time.

Here's to good health with chiles,

Jane Butel

In addition to celebrating Cinco de Mayo and perfecting all the recipes for this month's Cooking Club, we also had a great time watching the Kentucky Derby, particularly interesting since the winning horse was such a long shot and from here in New Mexico.

Do you ever watch the Kentucky Derby? Growing up partly on a Kansas farm endeared me to horses and watching them race has always been a super high.  After living in Louisville, Kentucky while managing the General Electric-Hotpoint Consumer marketing department, I have never missed a Derby on television.

I don't know whether you like horses or bourbon or even house parties, but if you like even one of them--the Derby has always created a focus for a fun, fun party.  Living now in New Mexico, I find my friends never turn me down for a Derby watching party.  It was super fun this year--Julie Roberts brought her big hat, a dozen beautiful pink edged white roses and a fine bottle of local San Geovasie wine.  Linda Brown joined in the fun and here's what we looked like.

I thought perhaps you would enjoy the recipe for great Mint Juleps.  Of course it helps to have silver julep cups (which I managed to collect while in Kentucky), but it isn't critically necessary.   At least 3 hours or more ahead of time, make sugar syrup by boiling 2 cups water, and stirring in 3 cups granulated sugar when it boils.  Stir until it dissolves.  About 30 minutes before you wish to serve the juleps, collect fresh mint or purchase ahead of time.  Using a blender, combine a cup of the syrup with 4 to 6 sprigs of mint and blend to make a puree. 

For each julep. fill glass or silver cup with crushed ice.  Add 1 jigger of mint-sugar puree, then 2 jiggers of Maker's Mark bourbon.  Stab  a fresh stalk of mint you have crushed into powdered sugar in top of glass or cup and serve with a straw---enjoy and watch the race!

We all had such a fun, fantastic time at last weekend's class.  We cooked vegetarian variations of each of the meat laden dishes and had fun tasting the flavor differences. 

In all my 26 years of teaching the weekend and week long classes, I had never had anyone from Mexico take a class.  Well the spell was broked with Rita and Salvador "Chavo" Rodriguez who are now from Michigan.  They kept saying how much they loved the class and that just seemed to "light" everyone up to a higher level of enthusiasm.  Many laughs and giggles and great cooking successes later--the class was complete and everyone was reluctant to leave.  Generally the classes break up at about 2 PM on Sunday afternoons.  Well, this class did not separate until about 4:30 PM!

Here we are featuring a few pictures of the classmates and will soon have a page on our website for the class.

You just gotta take a moment to look at the Cooking Club to see the fun Cinco de Mayo party we whipped up and the stories and recipes.  Check out the history of margaritas and tequilla, the bold wines and fun wraps, to say nothing about the touching Mother's Day story for our Off the Plate feature.

Have you signed up yet for my complimentary Butel's Bytes?  You can on our website under Subscribe at www.janebutelcooking.com.  This coming edition due out in the next few days features Mother's Day recipes, good deals on our classes and much more.

Looking forward to tweeting and staying in touch on Facebook and Linked In too!

Here's to your good health and Happy Mayo,

Jane Butel

I want to get to know more of you and get linked and Tweeted together (if that's how you say it)  We now have our own Facbook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Albuqueruqe-NM/Jane-Butels-Southwest-Cooking/18214705318

You can access our Twitter on our Home Page now and by tomorrow, we'll be linked to the above page.

The weekend got off to a bang with a fun dinner of Guacamole with Blue Corn Tostadas paired with Perfect Margaritas made with Don Eduardo Reposado tequila and freshly squeezed lime juice with my favorite addition of a bit of fresh egg white and Triple Sec.  Very refreshing!   Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas with home stewed pinto beans and strawberry shortcake for dessert made the meal.  We were planning potential TV shows which we could develop--of course they would be about foods of the Southwest and Mexico.

Then Saturday, Farrah, my assistant and I took my cookbooks for an autographing to a local charity for the Albuquerque Christian Children's home, where I was also asked to judge the chili competition.  It was great fun,  the chili's were all very good--some better than others, of course; and we got to meet so many friendly people who just loved my books.  Always fun.

And then, there was a great surprise ending!!! Early in the event, I saw a woman with two darling baby miniature Dachshunds and she said they were part of a silent auction to benefit the Childrens' Home.  Little did I know that I would fall for the little guy and ended up successfully bidding for him.  He is so cute and will make the fourth Dachshund I have had.  Needless to say, I am a dog lover.  I already have a German German Shepherd who is 2 1/2 and very spirited.  It will be great fun to see them interact.

After going home, I really needed to make homemade strawberry jam as I had bought some gorgeous strawberries and needed to get them preserved.   I made 8, 8 ounce jars of jam, which is so beautiful and so flavorful.  It has a fresher, clearer flavor than the bought.  I never use pectin, just quick cook it down, unyil two drops come together and sheet off.  I always use a heavy pot.

My favorite recipe is so simple, just use 1 cup of fresh fruit cut to the same size to 3/4 cup sugar.  (Use more sugar if a tart fruit and less for a sweeter fruit such as the strawberries.  I used about 5/8 cup sugar for each cup of berries.) For this batch of jam, I used 10 cups of berries to 6 1/4 cups sugar.  Here in the Albuquerque area, we are at 5000 feet, so everyting boils quicker but at a lower point, meaning it takes longer to cook foods.  This jam took about 30 minutes of constant stirring at a medium boil.

There's more--I had a favorite friend over who watched me finish the jam, then we hopped into a relaxing hot tub looking at the beautiful rose colored then plum and purple Sandia mountains that are right in front of our yard.  Following we had a luscious dinner of fresh salmon pan grilled with chipotle powder (our brand) and a mango-fresh pineapple and dried cranberry salsa and brussels sprounts and a wonder Australian Cabernet Sauvignon.

And on Sunday, I had a great time in the backyard, turning on the three tier fountain, planting oodles of brightly  colored geraniums and petunias and fed the grass a good dose of fertilizer.  Then more hot tub, more great friends and fabulous wine from Jim Hammond, our wine writer/columnist for our cooking club and his wife, Barbara Kline.

What a full weekend!  Next weekend,  I teach a full participation weekend class on tradional New Mexican dishes with parallel vegetarian variations.  Come join me if you can.  I have it posted for just half price, due to the economy.

We are all "abuzz" preparing for our Traditional Weekend Class with Vegetarian Variations next weekend, April 24-26, 2009.  For each meat laden dish, we will prepare the vegetarian variationl We will be making the Vegetarian Chili out of my Chili Madness cookbook, which by the way, won the best vegetarian chili recipe in a contest conducted by the New York Times Sunday magazine. (See the recipe below.) Of course, we will also be making the traditional Bowl 'o Red with Fixin's 'n Mixin's. 

Also, we will be making eggplant adovado in addition to the carne adovado and vegetarian posole with seared vegetables in addition to the traditional carmelized pork version. 

I love teaching the classes and watch relationships bond--it is always so much fun.  Also, in the over 20 years I have been teaching the classes, I am always pleased  to see how many of us still stay in touch and many have returned up to five times...which is wonderful to me.

If you can get away, we would love to welcome you as we still have a few openings--and to fit in with the economic crunch, I have made them half price or just $525.00....just about what I charged in 1985 when I started the weekend schools in my home in Woodstock, NY.  You can register by clicking cooking schools on our Home Page, www.janebutelcooking.com.  

 VEGETARIAN CHILI

 What to do when vegetarian friends or relatives are coming to dinner? Good news--they need not go chili-less. This recipe provides the good taste of chili plus the benefit of complete protein derived from the beans and the bulgur. Its also full of flavorful, healthful vegetables; onions, garlic, celery, carrots, bell peppers, and tomatoes. Serve this brew topped with grated cheese for additional protein and flavor.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

2 ½ cups dried kidney beans, soaked over night in water to cover

3 teaspoons salt

1 cup tomato juice

1 cup raw bulgur (see Note)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 medium-size onions, coarsely chopped

4 medium-size cloves garlic, minced

3 stalks celery, coarsely chopped

3 carrots, coarsely chopped

3 or 4 tomatoes, peeled seeded, and coarsely chopped

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 Tablespoons ground hot red chile

3 Tablespoons ground mild red chile

1 teaspoon ground cumin, divided.

½ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

Freshly ground black pepper

1 ½ green bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and coarsely chopped

4 ounces queso blanco or feta cheese, crumbled, for serving (optional)

• 1. Drain the kidney beans, place them in a large heavy pot, and add water to cover. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and simmer the beans, partially covered, until tender, about 1 hour. Watch the water level and add more water, if necessary, to keep the beans from scorching.

• 2. Meanwhile, place the tomato juice in another saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once it has reached a boil, immediately remove it from the heat and add the bulgur. Cover and let stand until the bulgur softens but is still slightly crunchy, 15 minutes.

• 3. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in celery, carrots, tomatoes, lemon juice, ground chiles, oregano, basil, ½ teaspoon of the cumin, black pepper to taste, and the remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Cover the pot and cook until the vegetables are nearly tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the bell peppers, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes.

4. Add the kidney beans, the water in which they cooked, and the bulgur to the vegetable. Stir the mixture thoroughly, cover the pot, and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally to make sure the bulgur does not stick to the bottom of the pot, for 30 minutes. The chili may be thick-add more water as necessary.

5. Taste the chili and adjust the seasonings as needed. Ladle the chili into bowls and sprinkle the cheese on top, if desired.

Note: Bulgur is available at some supermarkets and most health food stores. If bulgur is not available, cracked wheat can be substituted.

It all started with a very successful bid on a beautiful set of 8 Waterford crystal 8 ounce red wine glasses.  I went to a silent auction preceding the annual Goodwill Industries Banquet honoring community service.  I kept looking at their sparkly presence and looking and telling myself I really didn't need them.  Then, I decided to cut loose and bid on them and got all 8 for just $130.00--such a steal.  I even checked the internet for the Waterford site to verify the deal.

With such pretty glasses in hand one of my friends, Barbara Kline said we are free next Saturday night and we were off and running with party planning.  I decided to stage a romantic dinner using the crystal of course with white china, lace and silver. 

It was a chilly night for New Mexico, so a hearty dish that complimented red wine seemed in order. I decided on Beef Bournignone on parsley buttered noodles, for the entree.  I spurged a bit and used T-Bone and Porterhouse steaks for the beef to assure tenderness and wow, what flavor! 

For appetizers, we had assorted cheeses, duck pate and crudite with chipotle dip.  The side dishes were braised asparagus with lemon, gingered carrots with a caprese salad and for dessert home grown cherries in crisp ala mode. 

The real treat was the wine.  Jim Hammond who is a wine columnist and authority and Barbara's husband brought a 2005 Eagle Crest Barolo wine--quite wonderful for initiating the beautiful crystal glasses.

Linda Brown filled out the guest list and brought a very good Fetzer cabernet 2006 and suggested we all wear red.

Here's to great romantic evenings.  All you got to do is go to an auction and buy crystal glasses.  By the way the Beef Bournignone recipe is in my Hotter Than Hell cookbook.

I just love the excitement of Spring!  We are knee deep here in the Rockies with beautiful blossoms of Spring and thinking about when to plant our vegetable gardens. We have had a bit of a chill the last two weeks, and it will be lasting for one more week--discouraging any planting of live plants.  Seeds are fine to plant now. Last year, I wanted to get a jump start and planted my large tomato plants in mid-April, only to be frozen.  They did come back however but were very stunted. 

The last two years I have lost most of my tomato plants in mid-July only to finally learn that there is a mite that dwells on wild mustard and bites and lays eggs on the tomato plants soon after they are planted.  This sets up a death trap for the plants when the eggs mature into mites, they kill the tomato plants.  The owner of the Garden store where I get most of my live plants said I need to put plant dust on the tomatoes as soon as they are planted to prevent this.  I am passing this on to all tomato lovers who may be having this problem.

To keep me healthy, I keep on eating chiles, both green and red.  The red chile powders are a much better value in the winter as the green chiles are seasonal and do not start producing locally until about the middle of July.  I featured lots of ideas for including red chile in your diet in the Bytes that went out yesterday--Butel's Bytes is my free enewsletter. (You can sign up for it at my website, www.janebutel.com).

You may have heard or read some of my chile facts where I reccommend eating chiles at least 24 days out of 30, which will keep you amazingly more healthy and ward off the ravages of stress  induced diseases, such as cancer, heart trouble, digestive trouble--the list is nearly endless.  I am frequently asked, " how much do I need to eat?"    Actually just a little bit of chile each day will do you--say a good fat pinch at the very least.  I have found that with my crushed chiles on the table at all times, I find myself sprinkling them on all manner of vegetables, meats and nearly everything.  They truly add spice to life!

Here's to your good health,

Jane Butel

Last night we were so excited to see so many come to our Chiles and Chilis demonstration at the Tramway branch of the Albuquerque Public Library.  The event had a waiting list of 40, which inspired us to lock in another date as soon as possible.  The next date is July 8, 2009, at 5:30 PM at the Albuquerque Downtown Library, which has a much bigger room.

I had such a great time seeing many familiar faces who had attended my classes in the past, some had attended way long ago and remembered me when I first started my career for the electric utility, PNM. 

Chili has such a rich history of the cattle drives, the Blue Nun from Spain who had visions of chili back in 1620 up to the current moment with all of the chili cookoffs.  No single food is so American and conjures so much excitement.  I just love to share this history and the Basic Fitness Plan for perfectly fabulous chili every time.  All of this history, plus my favorite chili recipes are in my newest book, the revised and expanded "Chili Madness", which I have been touring the country doing classes, TV and media of all sorts.  The book is for sale on my website at www.janebutel.com under products.  ( And, I will autograph a copy for you.)

Chili is such a perfect dish for right now!  With the economy is such a slump,  cooking and serving chili makes perfect sense.  It is a dish that can be cooked in huge amounts,  improves with storage in the refrigerator or freezer, can be served myriads of ways, as is with toppings, which I call Fixin's 'n Mixin's or as a filling or topping for potatoes, egg dishes, on tortillas openface for pizzitas, in tacos, as an enchilada sauce and with macaroni--you see, the list is almost endless and so much fun.

Why is chili fun?  My take on it is that chili gets it's life blood, so to speak, from chiles--which are one of my very favorite topics.  Chiles have long been known by the Native Americans who first developed them and took them back to their native Asian areas--primarily Mongolia and Tibet.

Chiles help your body to be healthier in so many, many ways!  And to begin with, chiles excite, almost ignite our endorphin system--creating kind of like a runner's high.  Chiles have a greater ability to do this, due to their unique possession of capsaicin--the substance that we know of as the spicy quality of chiles.

Chiles, red or green, help clear plaque from our arterial system, improve digestion, fight cancer, aid our kidneys and fight aging ( I am increasingly interested in this one!) among many other properties such as aiding weight reduction. 

I am going to continue telling you the many,many benefits of eating chiles on a very regular basis--this is truly a life's mission with me.  Let me hear your thoughts and questions.  Until later,  have a healthy and fun life,  Jane

If you join our cooking club right now, you will really get a great discount--it is our first time to offer such a low price.  Just go to Cooking Club, once you are on our home page at www.janebutel.com and click join now.

This month I am featuring some "go green" entree ideas for St. Patrick's Day that are not the usual corned beef and cabbage. In my Southwestern Saint Patrick's Day story,  yummy recipes for my favorite Green Chile Stew, Calabacitas, Clam and Green Chile Chili, and Mole Verde with Comino Rice are the stars.  So spicy and so good.

Also fun dishes for a stay at home dinner party featuring delicious easy to make Spicy Carnitas appetizers with a duo of salsas and a choice of 3 entrees--Chili Mac, Chiliquiles and my award winning Tortilla Meat Loaf steal the show. I suggest that these, plus luscious dessert choices  are the meal for a Dinner and a Movie evening.  I even give you timelines that literally take all the rush and most of the work out of entertaining.

And there is much, much more--an educational feature on the best and reasonable wines to serve, a board game entertainment evening, an ode to your health with chiles and freebies, discounts and a whole passel of potato recipes.  You just gotta check us out and join!  I look forward to having you as my cooking buddies.

Here's to your good health and cooking fun,

Jane Butel

Eating Chiles and Chili Makes One Happier

You know, I read the other day that the happier you are-not only the healthier you are-but also the more money you will make (and even if that is not important)-the more fun you will have!

And you know, eating chiles and chili makes that happen. Chiles are about the most healthy food there is-no kidding. And one of the very best delivery systems is chili-big bowls of the red and green stuff, that have simmered for hours.
Nothing like eating it, year ‘round. And you ask-how does that work? It is because chiles stimulate the endorphin system or simply put-they stimulate all of you-your entire body, making it have a sense of euphoria or happiness-a high in other words.

The healthiest cultures around the world all seem to eat lots of chiles-at least 24 days out of 30.

I keep having so much with my Chili Madness promotion. The presentation at the Smithsonian was a total blast and it was filmed. I will work to get it on twitter-which you just have to check out.

I seriously love to share chile knowhow and cooking hints and tips with chiles-are you getting my free e-newlsetters-Butel's Bytes and are you a member yet of my cooking club-"Cooking with Jane"? Go to www.janebutelcooking.com to sign up. All of these, plus my cooking classes, whether live face-to face full participation or on-line classes, really feature chile and chili know-how.

Here's to chile health and happiness and until next time,

Jane Butel

An Evening of Chili Madness
With Jane Butel at the Smithsonian, Washington DC
February 25, 2009

I am so excited! As I write this, I am anticipating my presentation Wednesday night, February, 25, 2009, at the Smithsonian Atrium Café to a sold out audience. We are serving a full menu from my new Chili Madness. The menu will be -

Pecos River Bowl o Red With Fixin's ‘n Mixin's

Mexican Tortilla Chili

Corn and Bacon Chowder Chili

Apple-Blue Cheese Slaw

Blue Corn Parfait Bread

Creamy Margarita Pie

Iced Tea

Selected New Mexican wines from Gruet and Southwestern Winery

I will be giving a review of the history of chili, how to prepare award winning delicious chili, the trends in chili and end with the history and health of chiles.

In our cooking club, these same hints and tips will be presented in forthcoming issues. AND, in our online cooking classes, in the section on chili and the health section on chiles-all the information is presented. It total, there are 40 modules or lessons in the online class, just check it out at www.janebutelcooking.com and register for both.

This is an outreach program operated by the ResidentAssociates.org of the Smithsonian Museums in Washington DC. For more information go to the website or, call 202-633-3030.

I will let you know how it turns out. In the meantime,you can join our new "Cooking with Jane" monthly subscription cooking club by clicking to my website at www.janebutelcooking.com. Also, check out our 40 session long on-line cooking class, our live full hands-on weekend, week long sessions and our alumni tours to Mexico. We also sell all my cookbooks and the chile products and spices.

Here's to good health and a great life,

Jane Butel

 Chili Madness continues and has been a great and rewarding experience!  It is so wonderful seeing so many of my alumni friends and book owner buddies.  In fact in many of my book signing events, I have been so pleased to see book owners of Chili Madness and other books I have written bring in the stained, often very damaged copies of my books to get me to autograph them.  Of course they always buy the new revised, expanded book too—oftentimes many copies of it for friends and family.

I am reminded of one very nice lady at the St Louis, Mo signing at the new Left Bank Bookstore, where she brought her first printing of Chili Madness in a plastic bag.  She had driven 2 hours to get to the signing and it was just fabulous to see her and the so well used copy of the book.

Last weekend I was in beautiful Fair Hope, Alabama, a gorgeous gulfside town all decked out in beautiful flowers along the main street.  The book signing there was at a huge chili cookoff, which was just a hoot.  Right behind us they even had a mechanical bull bucking away with all manner of kids and adults.

This coming week, I will be at the Smithsonian Museum in the Atrium room presenting Chili and chiles along with New Mexican wines presented by Jim Hammond, a Southwestern wine authority.  The wines are donated by  Gruet and Southwestern Wines, both of New Mexico.  This will be a very special event.  For more information, phone the Smithsonian at 202-633-3030.  All attending will be treated to a special chili dinner featuring my famous Bowl o Red, Mexican Tortilla Chli, corn and Bacon Chowder-Chili, apple Blue Cheese Slaw, Blue Corn parfait Bread and Creamy Margarita Pie.  Hope to see you there!

Our new Cooking with Jane is really taking off.  Be sure to take a peek at our premiere issue and join as a charter member while you still can.  Charter membership gives you 10% off all of our products—even our cooking schools.   Just click here to join.

Want to study more about chili and chiles—sign up right now for our “All About Chili” online cooking class while I have it on special.  Click here for more information.

And don’t forget to sign up for Butel’s Bytes where every month I share favorite recipes, hints, tips, discounts and more.
Let me hear from you!

I have been having so much fun travelling all about promoting my new Chili Madness book.  It has been a total hoot, meeting so many of my friends, alumni and owners of my cookbooks.

Also I have been introducing our new Cooking Club, "Cooking with Jane", which is getting off to a great start.  I would love for all of you to join--check it out on our website at www.janebutelcooking.com.  Each monthly issue contains at least six features which will give you lots of fun, timely content.  Each month there will be a story featuring timely recipes and hints and tips, an entertainment story, a health story, a time and budget stretcher set of recipes, reasonably priced bold wines to go with bold foods and an "Off the Plate" story about decorating and serving meals.  Plus freebies and hints and tips and more.

My online course is getting ready to start again.  It is totally amazing in the amount of information and recipes you will learn--over 150 of my alltime favorite tested recipes.  Check it out on our website at www.janebutelcooking.com.

Let me hear from you.  I would love to know your thoughts, ideas and questions.  Here's to health,  Jane Butel

 Are you a Charter Member of “Cooking  with Jane”?

“Cooking with Jane” is our newest product and we would just love for you to be a part of it.  We have a sneak peek setup at www.janebutel.com.  Go ahead and have a look.

It is not just any old recipe site.  Each month there will be special features that include healthy, quick and easy  cooking, fun entertainment menus with timelines, budget stretching ideas, hints and tips  as well as features where we explain the culinary tips and techniques that have made our cooking school rated as the best in the US by Gayot.com and one of the four best in the world by Bon Appetit.

In addition to a range of culinary stories, videos and recipes, we will have a special wine story each month, written by columnist and wine authority, Jim Hammond titled Bold Wines for Bold Foods.  And to round out our monthly offerings, there will be “Off the Plate” featuring décor, and kitchen and dining ideas.
You will actually save more than you make, once you are a member.  There is no other site like this!  So I know you will want to be a part of it.

Charter membership is the best, because you automatically get 10% off all our products and cookbooks, and after six months of membership, you get 10% off our cooking classes.  Membership has its privileges indeed!  Hurry to sign up, because the charter membership drive is over January 31, 2009.
I am just about to take off on the tour to promote “Chili Madness” .  Sunday, I leave for Phoenix and visit the Southwestern States, then the Mid-Central and Southern states the next week.  Hope to see you and serve you a sample of Bowl o Red!

Christmas in New Mexico is very traditional, combining centuries old customs of the Native Americans with the four hundred year old Spanish traditions.  If you haven't experienced Christmas in New Mexico, plan to real soon.  From the luminarias lighting home after home, block after block combined with all manner of colorful lighting to the special foods--Christmas here is indeed memorable.

Candlelighted choirs are everywhere.  Both secular and religious music are very popular and singing in the plazas, churchs and auditioriums fairly ring with beautiful music.

In addition to the luminarias which are candles nestled in sand in  paper sacks to small bonfires made from pinon wood shich scent the air in a very special way.  The crisp, clear high altitude air mades for a very special setting.

The culinary traditions are to serve the state cookie, Bizcochitos with hot chocolate after viewing the outdoor lighting and singing. Families vary with their traditions.  Many native families serve posole on Christmas eve for dinner, other always serve posole for good luck on New Years.  I am including my favorite Posole recipe from our cooking schools.

New Mexico is special year round, we look forward to welcoming you here next year.  We have great discounts available until noon Christmas Eve--20% off live or on-line classes, free sneak peeks of our cooking club which you simply must join, 10% off our Oaxaca trip and free shipping on our products and cookbooks offered until the end of the year. Check out our website at www.janebutel.com

Here's my favorite Posole recipe--

POSOLE
Dried Corn with Pork and Red Chiles

You may serve this either as a side dish or main dish.  I like to layer toppings such as fresh shredded cabbage, fresh lime juice and fresh chopped onion.

Yield:  15 to 16 servings

1 pound dried posole
1 quart water, or more
2 pounds pork, steak or roast, cut into ½” cubes
1 Tablespoon salt or to taste
2 garlic cloves, minced
pinch of Mexican oregano
1 Tablespoon cumin, or to taste
¼ cup caribe chile or to taste

1. Simmer the posole in unseasoned water until it becomes soft and the kernels have burst open; it usually requires 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

2. Brown the pork in a cold, well-seasoned frying pan; adding no fat or oil to the pan. Saute until very browned, then add to the posole. Deglaze the frying pan with 1 cup water, stirring to loosen the brownies sticking to the pan.  Also add to the posole.

3. Add remaining ingredients, using one-half the cumin and cook the stew for 1 or more hours, to blend the flavors.  Just before serving, add the remaining half of cumin.  Taste and adjust the seasonings.  Ideally, this dish should be started the morning before it is to be served, to allow the flavors to develop.

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We have heard from so many of you who have not gotten our mailings lately--of Butel's Bytes and our specials.  In looking into it, I learned so much!!

There is a definite path to take to receive information you really want.  You have to go through a process called white listing.  Each email provider such as AOL, Yahoo or Outlook has a different method to use for whitelisting, which makes it a bit difficult.  Hopefully, you will want to white list us and then you will always be able to get all of our "goodies"  literally and figuratively. 

Here's the link for the directions for all the various providers.  If you have any problems, please let us know, so we can fix the problem before it gets as big as it is now.
Link for white listing http://www.janebutelcooking.com/help.cfm?topicID=706&happ=Universal&app=janebutel

It is rather fitting to be writing this as it is snowing big, beautiful white flakes. 
I look forward to hearing from you about what you'd like to hear from me. 
all the best,  Jane Butel

Hi all,

I recommended to all my readers on Butels Bytes (my free newsletter, sign up on our website at www.janebutel.com) and in  articles I wrote in November to add chile to your Thanksgiving dinner to enhance the healthfulness as well as to hype the flavor into the "bold" category.  Here's the dishes that I had fun preparing and serving to my Thanksgiving guests:

Blue Cornbread Green Chile, Pecan and Sausage Dressing - I made blue cornbread from scratch and  flavored it with sauteed celery and pecans in sweet unsalted butter, coarsely chopped fresh frozen green chile and sauteed, well drained country breakfast sausage.  I used freshly made chicken-turkey stock from cooking the giblets to moisten the dressing before stuffing the bird.

Red Chile Giblet Gravy - It was amazingly delicious--my guests all said it was the best they ever tasted.  I also added a glug of port wine. For about 2 quarts of gravy, I added 1/4 cup pure ground mild chile.

I served the appetizer of the Beets with Romesco sauce featured in the November bytes.

I roasted the turkey my favortie English method way with the high heat sear and slow overnight roasting in the oven.  After the high heat sear, I doused the turkey with about 1/2 cup sherry and port wine mixed.

My guests all said it was the most delicious turkey and Thanksgiving dinner they ever ate.  I of course was very pleased and wanted to share this information with you for your future cooking.

I hope you enjoy these delicious ideas,  Jane Butel

Hi everyone,  Thanksgiving is fast upon us. I want to share with you my favorite way to roast a turkey.  I always get tons of phone calls from friends and former students trying to remember my way of turkey roasting.  It produces incredibly delicious, rich tasting, moist meat.

I am a great traditionalist, especially when it comes to holiday cooking. Many years ago, I was trained on the English roasting method.  And, I fell in love with the results.  The turkey is so bronze and beautiful.  The skin is almost parchment thin, due to the slow roasting, the fat has almost completely melted away from the under layer.

It is a bit of a process.  Prior to placing the stuffing in the bird, can even be Tuesday evening; rub a scant 1 Tablespoon of kosher or sea salt--can even use a salt substitute--into the inside cavities of the thawed or fresh bird.  Be sure to rub it thoroughly into the underside of the breast as well as the thoracic or neck cavity.  Never salt the skin as it causes it to dry out, burst and release brining the turkey's natural juices.  (This is one reason I like this method better than brining.)  You get the flavoring without the drying out of the skin.

The night before or tonight (Wednesday night) prepare the stuffing. Pull out and render down the turkey fat from inside the cavities. Place the turkey in the roaster, breast up and bring to room temperature.  Stuff the turkey both in the body and neck cavities.  Then either brush on the rendered turkey fat or melt unsalted butter and brush on the outside skin.  (Don't even attempt to rub on the back.)  While the fat is still warm, scatter finely minced herbs--fresh sage, thyme, rosemary or whatever you have.  Dry herbs can work.

Preheat the oven to 425F.  Place the turkey in the oven just before you go to bed for 20 minutes for the first 15 pounds and a minute per pound for each additional pound.  After the timer goes off, reduce the temperature to 200 F.  Open the oven and quickly dash some sherry or kirschwasser over the top of the bird--about 1/4 cup for a smaller bird and more if larger.

When you awaken to the fabulous aroma of the turkey, start basting every 30 minutes.  You will be amazed at the bird's beauty and flavor.  Pull out of the oven at least 30 minutes before serving to make the gravy and to carve the bird.

Try adding a Tablespoon or more pure red ground chile to the gravy for extra color and flavor.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and let me know how you like this method.  Some get nervous about the stuffing and the low temperature of roasting--it has worked for over 30 years for me.  Do be sure all of the ingredients in the stuffing are cooked.

Talk to you soon.  In the meantime, check out the cooking club--it is about ready for the sneak peek.  Join us soon for a fun cooking class and be sure to join our club and give it as a gift. Just go to www.janebutel.com and click on cooking school and cooking club.  Join our bytes too!   Jane Butel

I am so glad to finally be able to communicate with you through this medium.

My entire office has been really hopping, working on getting the exciting content ready for our new Cooking Club.  We are going to have a very fun format and plan to have it up in November for each of you to take a "peek".  We will be featuring video clips of me showing how to make popular favorite recipes and will have several features each month. 

The food articles will be mostly written by me on a range of subjects from great to know hints and tips to quick and easy, money saving, healthy, traditional and innovative recipes,  party menus, rescuing mistakes and more .  There will be a chat room, discussion board and live teleseminars with me. Also, members will receive discounts on our live classes, on-line classes, culinary tours to Mexico, cookbooks and products.  Freebies from other companies as well as from us and great to know food facts will be featured.

Susan Stiger, a great writer who also has a food background, having trained in Paris, France; will write a monthly column called "Off the Table" about interesting  dining related features such as pottery, weaving, and so on.

And, we will have wine.  Jim Hammond, a regional wine expert, columnist and author of Wines of Enchantment will be writing a monthly column on Bold Wines for Bold Foods. 

 It is going to be so much fun to see it take shape.  We are producing the club and calling it Cooking with Jane.  The monthly fee will be $10.00 a month.  You gotta join us.

My publicity trip to 19 cities in the US early next year is starting to get very exciting with some national talk shows, a program at the Smithsonian and a variety of great promotional events including satellite radio shows.

I have been presenting week long and weekend full participation classes.  Last but not least I wanted to share a picture of Composed Nachos Robin Burgess and Denise Hoyle from Birmingham, Al made during our week long full participation class this past July.  We have one more full participation weekend class, set for  November 7 to 9, which will be at the height of our red chile and yellow cottonweed season.  (Just call me and mention you saw this in the blog and get 20% off this class.)  The recipe they made is Composed Nachos, recipe follows:

COMPOSED NACHOS

These alone are almost a meal.  When artfully arranged as described below, they are beautiful and look like a sunflower—a picture really worth eating.  The crispy, cheesey nachos serve as a scooper for the guacamole, refried beans and garnish!

Yield:  2 to 4 servings

6 (6-inch) corn tortillas, crisp-fried or bake

1  cup mixed shredded Monterey Jack cheese and Cheddar cheese

¼ cup thinly sliced fresh or pickled jalapeno chiles, or to taste

½ cup Guacamole

½ cup Refried Beans

2 tablespoons each chopped onion, fresh tomato, and ripe olives

2 tablespoons dairy sour cream, optional

1.   Preheat the oven to 425F.  Arrange tortillas in a single layer on a baking sheet topped with a smaller sheet.  Bake 5 minutes, then remove the top, smaller sheet pan and finish baking about 8 more minutes or  until crisp. Prepare Guacamole and Refried Beans.  Generously sprinkle cheeses on tortillas.  Bake about 5 more minutes or until cheese melts.

2.   Cut each cheesed tortilla into four pieces.  Arrange them on a round large plate or platter, placing them in an overlapping chain – the point of one slightly overlapping the top of the next.  Position a mound of Guacamole in the center of the platter.  Spoon a circle of beans  around the outside edge of the Guacamole.  Garnish with jalapeno slices, onion, tomato, and olives.  Top beans with sour cream, if desired.

I'd also like to have you join our Butel's Bytes monthly enewsletter.  For more information about our classes and to register for them and subscribe to our newsletter, go to www.janebutel.com.  Or, call or email us any time.  Our phone is 1-800-473-8226.

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