Yesterday was probably not the best day for me to be making a chile-based dinner. My stomach had been bothering me all afternoon, and by 3PM I had started drinking mineral water to see if I could settle it down a bit.
I had already started the beef cooking for the CHILE COLORADO, so decided to go ahead with it using an old recipe from another old Mexican cookbook. This one is literally falling apart, and has had coffee spilled on it, but still has some of the best recipes we've ever used. I decided that at some point in the afternoon or early evening the stomach ache would eventually disappear and we would be happy to have something hot and spicy for dinner.
In addition to the CHILE COLORADO, I also made brown rice, a squash and corn vegetable side dish, and guacamole. I'm not sure that any of these items would be on someone's list for chasing away a stomach ache. A plate of while rice and a warm corn tortilla might have been a better idea!
Dinner turned out well, but not spectacular. Some of my chiles used in the CHILE COLORADO were darker than usual, and the resulting sauce was dark - like mole. Colorado means reddish colored, so that was a little disappointing. I tried to make a few last-minute adjustments, but to no avail. I let the vegetables simmer too long and they got mushy, and the brown rice stuck to the pan - but only a little.
The saving grace was the guacamole, which turned out great. Because we were having such a spicy main dish, I decided to leave any and all chiles out of the guacamole and instead made it with tomatoes, cilantro, a small squeeze of lime juice and salt. Not our usual way of making guac, but it worked.
I learned a lesson last night: go with what the stomach is telling you. Tame down the meal if the stomach isn't in the mood for thick, hot and spicy. My technique was all off last night. I should have listened to the growling stomach earlier in the day!
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