Green Chile Wontons

Still thinking of green chile recipes. This was a request from my dear sweet husband. I usually make wonton filling with ground pork but ground beef was buy one get one free at Market Street and too hard to pass up. You could also use ground turkey if you were trying to be healthy.

Ingredients:
1 pkg of small square shaped wonton wrappers (usually comes in a pkg of 60)
1 pound of ground beef
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1-2 tablespoons hot Hatch green chiles, diced (roasted and peeled first)
1/4 of a small red onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp of minced fresh ginger
salt and pepper
2 tbs rice wine vinegar
2 tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
vegetable oil for frying

1. Mix ground beef, bell pepper, green chiles, red onion, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil together in a small bowl.
2. Lay wonton wrappers out on a clean countertop about 10 to 15 at a time.
3. Place 1 tsp of the meat mixture in the center of each wrapper. (Be careful to not overfill).
4. Wet your fingers and "paint" two edges of the wonton wrapper with water and fold in half. Take care to remove all the air from the center and not allow meat to come out. Then, put more water on the edge of the long side of the triangle. Twist that end around your finger and pinch the ends together.

5. Fry the wontons a few at a time in vegetable oil until all wontons are done. (If you don't want to fry all 60 at once, you can lay the remaining raw wontons out on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer. Once they are frozen, put them in a freezer bag. When you want to use them, just remove them from the freezer and drop them into hot oil) (oh, and if you want to be healthy, you can steam the wontons or put them in boiling soup to cook them and they also taste great).
6. Sprinkle a small amount of salt on the hot wontons when they first come out of the oil. Place in a single layer on a paper towel lined plate.
7. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce as an appetizer or pair with your favorite side dish for a meal. We had rice and cabbage salad with ours.

Andrea's Homemade Potato Salad

I made this for my family and they absolutely loved it. It was also a big hit for our Sunday School party too (I just doubled the recipe). It is easy to put together and makes a great side dish. I am not a big fan of mustard potato salad or egg in my potato salad, so this recipe has neither. Feel free to experiment as your tastes lead you.



Ingredients:
6 red potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 to 1/2 of a medium red onion, minced
2 tbs chopped up dill pickles or prepared dill pickle relish
1 rib of celery, minced (Ron is not a fan of celery, so I leave it out when I make it for him)
1 small jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, diced (optional)
2-4 tablespoons of mayonaise
salt and pepper
red chile powder
dried parsley (optional)

1. Add potatoes and salt to water in a pan on the stove. Boil potatoes in the salted water until they are fork tender. About 10 minutes.
2. Drain potatoes and pour them out into your serving dish (a long flat dish is better). Allow them to cool for 20 to 30 minutes.
3. In the meantime, chop your veggies. Add the veggies to your potatoes once they are completely cool. Add mayo 1 tbs at a time until desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with red chile powder and parsley. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Makes about 6 servings

Turkey Sausage and Veggie Noodles with a hint of "blow your face off"

Angella, Michael, Ron and I have a Hatchapalooza friendly competition going on since both families bought a large amount of Hot Hatch Green Chiles. Taming the heat in the dishes, but still making the green chiles front and center has been a fun challenge. The hot chiles are really hot this year!

Ingredients:
8 oz of egg noodles, boiled in salt water until al dente
1 pkg of turkey smoked sausage, cut into small pieces
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbs Hatch hot green chiles, minced (seeds optional) (about 1/2 of a large chile peeled)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 of a red onion, chopped
1 bunch of fresh spinach, stems removed and chopped into big pieces
1/2 cup of dry white wine
1 large lemon
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
garlic bread for serving (optional)

1. Clean and prepare veggies. Heat a skillet on the stove with the olive oil. Add the garlic, onion, green pepper and green chiles. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Saute veggies until soft, about 3 minutes. Add sausage and cook until warmed through, about 5 min. Add spinach. Cook down until spinach is wilted. Cut lemon in half and squeeze all of the juice into the pan. Add the wine. Cook for about 5- 10 minutes.
2. In the meantime, cook noodles in boiling salted water. Drain water and add butter to noodles. Stir until melted through.
3. Combine noodles with the veggie/sausage mixture.
4. Serve with garlic bread on the side

Makes about 6 - 8 servings

Grilled Pizza Night

We took the recipe that we have for pizza and sauce and cooked everything on a pan on the grill. It takes about 8 to 10 minutes to cook the pizzas on the grill.