For one of the best summer’s yet, plan to take advantage of our half price Memorial Day Special on our July 16-20 week long and our August 10-12 weekend full participation cooking class sessions.  You will have so much fun learning new tips and techniques that will make cooking a lot more enjoyable when you go home.  And healthier too!  I promise to teach you many healthy culinary methods that are life extending as well as time saving.

Our super special is on until midnight on Memorial Day.  In our classes I teach both the history of major ingredients as well as of special dishes.  Did you know why Posole is called the Bowl of Many Blessings and the chicken noodle soup of Mexico.  Did you know how the Ancients survived eating an almost total diet of blue corn?  Did you know that eating chiles in sufficient quantity can help prevent many diseases, assist with your having the waistline of your dreams and aid digestion?

Many of our Participants have come back as many as five times and more. Why?  I think it is because we have such a good time.  Each day, you will get to eat the bounty of your morning’s culinary efforts and share the pleasure of getting to know new friends with similar likes.  Our classes enjoy being rated as the Best in the US by “Bon Appetit” magazine and Gayot.com.  This month we are featured in the “Food Network”  magazine.

Any questions, just email us at info@janebutelcooking.com or call us at 505-243-2622.

For a summer’s worth of barbecue fun, I would like to autograph one of my  “Finger Lickin’, Rib Stickin’, Great Tastin’, Hot ‘n Spicy Barbecue” cookbooks, newly re-published and updated.  Following are my favorite barbeque sauce and a favorite potato salad from my “Southwest Grill” cookbook.

Jane's Best Barbecue Sauce

This is my all-time favorite Barbecue sauce. It will keep almost forever and is the best on Barbecued Pork Ribs and Chicken.

Yield: approximately 1 ½ cups

2 Tablespoons bacon drippings or butter

1 medium sized onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

12-ounce bottle ketchup

6 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 Tablespoons cider vinegar

¼ cup dry white wine

1 teaspoons dark brown sugar, packed

1 to 2 Tablespoons pure ground hot red chile, or to taste

1 to 2 Tablespoons pure ground mild red chile or to taste

¼ teaspoon pequin or cayenne pepper

¾ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon ground coriander seed

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

1. Melt the bacon drippings in a two quart saucepan over medium heat, then add the onion and garlic and sauté until the onion is transparent.
2. Add the remaining ingredients through the liquid smoke, reduce heat to low, and simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set the sauce aside until you are ready to use it.

   BLUE CHEESE POTATO SALAD 

   Hailing from Chicago, Sarah Larson, who joined our Pecos Valley Spice Company, made this for us and we loved it! Her original recipe did not use smoked potatoes; however, we like it even better with them.

   Yield: 4 servings

   8-10 small to medium red potatoes, scrubbed and unpeeled, quartered

   ½ cup diced celery

   2 tablespoons diced red onion

   ¼ cup mayonnaise

   ¼ cup regular or light sour cream

   ¼ cup crumbled bleu cheese

   1 tablespoon vinegar

   ½ teaspoon chipotle chile powder

   ¼ teaspoon salt

   1 teaspoon crushed Caribe chile

   1. Use smoked potatoes or boil them as follows. Bring about three inches of water to a boil with 1 teaspoon salt and add the quartered potatoes. Cover and cook until fork tender, about 15 minutes. Drain water and stir in the remaining ingredients except the Caribe chile and lightly toss together; do not mash potatoes.

   Taste and adjust seasonings. Garnish with Caribe chile.