I’m always looking for “the one.” You know, the one recipe that you can count on time and time again to be a crowd pleaser. Sometimes you’ll send me recipes with in-depth stories about the memories behind the meals, which I love. Sometimes I’ll simply get a recipe saying it’s a family favorite. I’ve come to know that if you believe the dish is good enough to pass along, more than likely it’s a winner, and I’m grateful that its landed in my lucky hands. Now you have another one in the Southwest cuisine category–a fabulously simple, incredibly tasty recipe for New Mexico Chili Verde. There’s a great technique in the recipe that really adds to the flavor of the chile verde, one that I have come to use often in stews and chili’s. It’s flour that you heat up in a dry skillet until it turns light brown and imparts an amazing toasted nut aroma. Get those flour tortillas warmed up and pour yourself a big bowl of New Mexico Chile Verde!
shredded cheddar cheese
Twice Baked Potato Casserole
Fly-fishing and baked potatoes. That’s what I’ve been thinking a lot about this week. I just got back from one of my very favorite fly-fishing spots, the Owyhee River, a tributary of the Snake River located in three states including Idaho, where I love to cast my line in search of gorgeous German Browns and Rainbows. Driving to the river, you’ll pass acres of farmland where the state’s rich volcanic soil and extensive irrigation systems make it ideal for growing its famous high-quality potatoes. In fact, 320,000 acres in Idaho are dedicated to growing more than 30 varieties of potatoes. There’s even an Idaho Potato Museum in Blackfoot, Idaho, known as the Potato Capitol of the World. For me, fishing is always catch and release, so I can’t really share a trout recipe with you. But seeing miles and miles of potatoes being harvested reminded me of a favorite dish I’d love to share with you!
This recipe for Twice Baked Potato Casserole is fully loaded with all of your favorite fixings, and let me tell you, it takes baked potatoes up a couple of notches! The minute you start building this sassy side, you can see why it gets devoured by all! It starts with the sweetness of cubed red potatoes and then layered with chopped crisp bacon, sour cream, mozzarella and cheddar cheese and green chiles with a burst of colorful scallions. I find this recipe is so much easier to make than traditional stuffed baked potatoes, and it certainly feeds a crowd! It can be made ahead and frozen (baked or unbaked) and re-heated when ready to enjoy. Twice Baked Potato Casserole is super simple—unlike hooking and netting the Big One!
