Potatoes with Green Chile and Cheese – Papas con Chile Verde

This brings back many memories of good friends — Lupe and Nayo Chavez, who lived about a city block away from our house on the ranch and have known me forever, since I was a small child and Nayo was working for my grandfather.  Nayo says he first met me in the corral when I was two, and my first words to him were “Cojeme el mayate” — catch that bug for me! (One of the beautiful iridescent green bugs that like to hide in cow patties. We loved to tie a thread under their wings, twirl them around, and let them try to fly. Not a very humane amusement, but we were not so enlightened then!)

When I was growing up we practically lived at their house. We would go over there after lunch and Lupe, “la de Nayo” (in Mexico, we often refer to a married woman by calling her “la de” so-and-so), would tell us the story of their courtship and elopement. We insisted on hearing it at least once a week. At Lupe’s I would do all the things they couldn’t get me to do at home when I was a child. We used to do embroidery together, all sorts of things in bright Mexican colors. She also taught me to iron using heavy cast-iron irons. Or in late afternoons during the summer we would walk around the rolling hills looking for pitayas (the fruit of a ground-hugging thorny cactus) or manzanitas (a berry that grows on shrubs and is mostly pit but, oh, so delicious). When the capulines (a sort of wild cherry) ripened we would ride out on horses and pick them. We kids used to eat so many we really got sick. Acorns were another favorite — we enjoyed eating even the worms, which you feel making this squeeching when you bite into them!

 Anyway,  I probably never had better friend.  Lupe and Nayp were my rock of Gibraltar when I was going through the obligatory l960s adolescence. By then they were living on an ejido — a type of government-allotted parcel of land that is a loaded political subject in modern Mexico. The ejidos were meant as a land-reform measure. The government expropriates plots of land from large landowners and turns them over to rural families to farm as they wish. It was always a sore point with my family and every other rancher who had had land taken for ejidos. So my parents were less than thrilled when during one stormy patch I went to live with Lupe and Nayo on the ejido which used to be family land.

 Lupe and Nayo listened to me moan, groan, and be miserable, but they never complained. They pulled me through my depression and I can never thank them enough.

Lupe is also a great ranch cook, and I learned her recipes. She was giving me instructions once on how dark to toast the flour for a roux we were making and she said, “Hasta que este del color de una cucaracha” — until it is the color of a cockroach! I think about it every time every I toast flour and always strive to get that particular color.

 Lupe and Nayo at the time of their elopement and Lupe recently

Lupe used to make this simple but irresistible dish with potatoes and fresh green chiles. It’s a good filling for burritos with freshly made flour tortillas — a form in which I met it years later when I was working as a social worker in El Paso. Every morning a woman would come to our offices at morning break time, bringing a batch of burritos with eggs and chorizo and another batch filled with these potatoes.  This version makes a great portable lunch.

2                      pounds boiling potatoes (Red Bliss or other thin-skinned  variety; about 5 – 6 large potatoes)

l/4                    cup lard or vegetable oil

l                       small onion, sliced or chopped (about l/2 cup chopped onion)

2                      garlic cloves, minced

2                      Anaheim chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped

                        chopped (use more or fewer to taste)

l/2                    cup shredded white cheddar or mozarrella cheese (optional)

                        Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Peel potatoes and cut into medium-sized (about l/2-inch) cubes. In a large saucepan, bring to a boil enough salted water to cover potatoes. Drop in potatoes and cook until almost done but still a little crunchy, about 5 minutes. Drain in colander.

Heat lard or vegetable oil in large skillet until hot but not quite smoking. Add onion, garlic, and jalapenos and saute on medium heat until onion is golden, 2 – 3 minutes. Add drained potatoes and lower heat. Cook, tossing occasionally, 5 minutes or until potatoes are golden. They should be just tender, not mushy. Add optional cheese and stir thoroughly to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately as a vegetable or filling for burritos.

Serves 4 as side dish.