It all began on the first day of May with this simple plate of Chile Rellenos. I'd only recently had the pleasure of winning a copy of a fabulous new Tex-Mex cookbook by Gloria Chadwick called Foods and Flavors of San Antonio...when Gloria asked me if I'd like to do a giveaway so that someone else could have their very own copy of her book. Well, yeah!! Since May is National Chile Pepper month, and since Tex-Mex cooking uses plenty of chile peppers, I decided to make turn this giveaway into a month-long event. I send out a call for all of your fabulous recipes made (mostly) during the month of May that included chile peppers in some shape or form...resulting in a tasty, spicy, amazing Chile Pepper Roundup!
So, we have a giveaway...patience...to get to, also. We'll get to that after the Chile Pepper roundup. I want to apologize to a few of you who sent me your links and photos as I could not get a few of the photos to show up clearly, and believe I tried everything!! They were clear if they were the size of a thumbnail, but it was so hard to see them this way, so I made them a bit bigger so hopefully everybody could taste that food right through the screen. Please click on the links and visit these fabulous foodies to see clear, drool-worthy photos- you will not be disappointed.
Let's take a look at where it all began, with these tasty Chile Rellenos, straight from the grand-prize cookbook. During the month of May, I made these:
And then I used some of those top-blowing habaneros to send you over the edge with Robert Rodriguez's Puerco Pibil...
My very own mexichef whirled up some reconstituted dried chiles to make a spicy sauce to brush onto these bolillos and turned them into addicting Pombasos...
With all of the heat we've been feeling this month, we headed to the grill and roasted some poblano chiles, peeled them and seeded them, then cut them into strips and ate them in tacos and tossed them in a yummy, grilled Southwest Salad.
Next up we have Dee from the blog that spans two countries, Texas to Mexico. Dee used Chiles de Arbol and ground Chipotle chiles (with Thai rice noodles, shrimp and veggies) to bring Cinco de Mayo Drunken Noodles to the table this month.
Are you a fan of TV dinners? If not, why not try this amazing dish that includes chopped green chiles and chile powder made by Reeni at Cinnamon, Spice & Everything Nice?! Although Reeni doesn't normally turn to TV dinners, her Santa Fe Style Rice & Beans was inspired by "the best TV dinner known to man." I'm in.
From another blog that spans the borders...Mexican American Border Cooking, Teresa brings us bundles of sensory joy with her Asadero Chicken Bundles. Strips of green chiles, chicken and Asadero Cheese..oh my!
The ever innovative Karen from Domestic Muse came up with an original way of transforming a guy's love of chili cheese fries into a hearty bowl of Chipotle Cheese-fries Chili. Oh yes, Karen combines Serranos, chipotles in adobo and chipotle chile powder to make a dish you can't (well, I can't) resist...and can I add two more words- tater tots and Velveeta (okay, that's actually 3 words, but you get my drift)!!!
Not only does she give amazing restaurant reviews, Natasha also uses and creates food in new and innovative ways! Our favorite 5 Star Foodie brought us her Grilled Lamb Chops with Chipotle Mustard in which she utilized her favorite chile pepper. Don't even get me started on her side of Gorgonzola mashed potatoes...
Kristen from Whatcha Eatin? has outdone herself with a big pan of Mexican Casserole...can you say comfort food! Your favorite Mexican flavors are tucked into this tasty dish...can you say green chiles, kidney beans, corn and tomatoes?
The Ungourmet (or so she says) used serrano chiles to make an amazing Jerk Chicken with Jamaican rice and Peas! Kim couldn't find a scotch bonnet chile for her dish, but I bet the serrano still brought the heat...I can feel it!
Chef E not only cooks us some amazing Tandoor/Tiki BBQ, as is her style...she takes us to school and gives us some good old fashioned learnin'! It seems I never click away from Cook Appeal without some new knowledge under my belt...this round included plenty of ground, dried chiles.
Coleen sent a simple, delicious side dish over for the round-up...Chipotle Coleslaw! Refreshing with a kick in the seat...that's my kind of slaw. Head over to Coleen's Recipes to see her work her magic with chipotle chile powder.
And next we have, I believe an award winning Roasted Yellow Tomato, Garlic & Fingerling soup from Jennifer at Savor the Thyme. Look for this delicious, heart-warming soup with mouth-warming green chiles at Jennifer's site...in all of it's soup-er glory!
Christo aka DoggyBloggy also got busy with the Rellenos...I hear he does that quite often. At Chez What? you have two glorious Chiles Rellenos to choose from...one even includes crab cakes with a delicious "gloppy red-chile mayo"...just throw it all on one plate, I'm not picky!
I don't think anything having to do with chile peppers would be complete without a showing of tacos!! Lauren smothered her Cinco de Mayo Chicken Fiesta Tacos with a gorgeous salsa that included pineapple and mango...I bet it complimented the 3 types of chiles (jalapenos, chipotles and chile powder) perfectly! Go visit her at Bytes from Texas and you can be the judge.
And let me tell you, it would be a pleasure to have an angel in MY kitchen, especially if it was Alyssa whipping me up a batch of her Chipotle Cheddar Mashed Potatoes! I think I may be able to live on these...I mean, come on...mashed potatoes alone have been a favorite since childhood, but add garlic, cheddar and chipotles and not only does there HAVE to be an Angel in the Kitchen, I imagine it'd be heaven's kitchen.
Beans, beans the magical fruit...okay, I totally haven't grown out of that rhyme...but I truly do think beans are magical. Good, good for you, versatile...they are a wonder. Just ask Teresa at A Blog About Food. She found a great recipe for Black Bean Soup that contained Serrano chiles and look how simple & delicious it looks!
Do you know somebody who eats hot sauce on everything? I live with somebody like that. Well, I hear that if you make Kathy's No1Here's Hot Sauce, you'll never be able to leave the house without that recipe in hand again! Go check it out at Three on Food and see if you can resist the flavor punch the Serranos give it.
I think that the perfect way to wrap up this Chile Pepper Roundup is with a few dishes from the inspiration for this giveaway...Gloria Chadwick from Food and Flavors of San Antonio. The winner not only gets to salivate over her home style Tex-Mex food online, now they can just wipe it up with their very own cookbook containing a zillion (okay not a zillion, but I swear it's close) of her recipes. Here's a preview...you'll find jalapenos in this Chili Carnitas...
And you'll encounter some chipotle chile in her Chicken Chimichangas...
Why not end full circle with the very same Chile Rellenos, but made in a casserole form... I started the round-up with? Seems fitting to me.
I hope you take some time to go visit all of these amazing foodie-bloggers who participated in my very first round-up!! Thanks everybody for sharing your talents with us...and sharing the chile pepper love.
And now, the moment we've waited for all month long...the winners of the Giveaway!! Remember, you had several chances to win. You received 1 entry just for being a follower of my blog and leaving me a comment on the original Giveaway post on May 1. You also received 1 entry for being a follower of Gloria's blog and leaving me a comment to let me know. And all of those people who sent over an entry into the round-up...they all received 5 entries just for sending those my way.
I used my very own random-draw system...I've used it before and it works flawlessly. The first thing I had to do was write down all of the entries on little slips of paper...130 little slips of paper. I actually do not know where to find a free computer random-draw, so I'll make that sacrifice. A few pins & needles never hurt anybody. So, 4 winners were drawn...1 at a time. And the winners are:
1. Spryte- You won the Foods & Flavors of San Antonio Cookbook!
2. Katy- You won a chile pepper infused sea salt...I know you're not big on spicy, but the salts just add a hint of flavor, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!
3. Teresa J. (A Blog about Food)- You also won a chile pepper infused sea salt
4. Teresa Cordero Cordell (Mexican-American Border Cooking)- you won some of my favorite mixed, dried chiles...isn't it funny how things work out!
Each one of the winners is also getting a cool San Antonio Chile Pepper refrigerator magnet that Gloria sent along for the winners. CONGRATULATIONS LADIES!! Shoot me an email: girlichef at yahoo dot com with your shipping information!
Thanks again to all who entered the round-up and everybody else who entered the giveaway...this was so much fun and I hope to do something like it again in the future. :)














