Enjoy Southwest food, wine, beer and festivals. The Southwest is a land of contrasts, unique food and a more relaxed dining style. We provide you with recipes and great places to go to enjoy the best the Southwest has to offer.
Southwest specialty foods, prepared by creative chefs using locally grown ingredients, have beeb a mystery to the visitor. But now local families and chefs are putting together easy-to-follow recipes so you can re-create Southwest cuisine in your own kitchen.
You can go wine tasting just north of Phoenix, Arizona. In this area lies a green and fertile valley known for it's river lined with cottonwoods and the wineries dotting the landscape. It's a lovely place to explore, leisurly taste wine, and, perhaps, end up in Sedona for the night. Here is a list of wineries
The New World Wine & Food Festival offers something for everyone, no matter what your taste or budget. There are huge galas, and burger and brew events. Annually in November.
Foods and food festivals of the Southwest are unique. With a blending of Anglo, Hispanic and Native American tastes, food festivals can be a great way to explore the culture of the Southwest. So whether you are a foodie or just a person that likes nice fresh food, the Southwest is sure to have a food festival to suit your tastes.
I had my first Golden Margarita on the River Walk in San Antonio, Texas and I was hooked on the American favorite, the frozen Margarita. We have selected some Southwest favorites. Do you have a recommended Margarita hang-out that has also received rave reviews. E-mail us and we will consider it for our list.
Wine tasting is at it's best in Southern Arizona Wine Country. The Wine Country is about 55 miles from Tucson, Arizona. The areas you will want to visit are Sonoita and Elgin and the beautiful rolling countryside in between.
I was surprised to find that there are some lovely new wineries in Sedona, a fantastic tasting room where only Arizona’s best are featured, and a little known wine room at the Amara Resort where you can sip the finest with 15 of your best friends
When you head for the Southwest you think more about Margaritas than beer (well, maybe Mexican beer), but we found out that there are plenty of places in the Southwest that cater to beer drinkers.
Fall brings color, smells and special tastes to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Enjoy the Wine and Chili Fiesta, take a scenic drive to see the Fall colors or smell the roasting chilis on the corners throughout Santa Fe.
Foods and wines of Fredericksburg, Texas.
This crisp, puffy, deep-fried pastry resembles an air-filled pillow. The sopaipilla is thought to have originated in Albuquerque, New Mexico, more than 200 years ago. It's a favorite Southwestern U.S. dessert, usually served with honey or syrup.
Bacanora is the most traditional drink in the state of Sonora, Mexico, just as the Tequila is the most traditional drink in Jalisco, Mexico. Is produced from agave Pacifica, also called Agave Yaquiana, a plant that grows in the mountain range of the State.
A great Chile Verde recipe using pork and chiles. A favorite Southwest dish.
You can visit the Santa Cruz Spice Company where they still grind the spices on site. You can buy specialty mixtures of spices. But online, you can find some of their great recipes.
Corn Tamales - Tamales are a traditional serving in Sonora, Mexico and across the Southwest. You will have to know metric conversions for this great recipe.
Anne-Marie makes a mean salsa. It is intimidating to read the ingredients. But if you follow her lead, you may end up with an award-winning salsa!
To help you understand and appreciate New Mexican foods, Public Service Company of New Mexico has compiled this glossary of food terms.
Usually when you buy dried chiles you will buy them in a cellophane package or on a rista and sometimes you can buy them in bulk. In either case you want to use chiles that are whole, not broken or split open
You may encounter Indian Fry Bread at an art festival, a pow-wow or on the reservation. Here's the simple to follow recipe.
Indian fry bread is the foundation of a popular dish called Indian Tacos. Originally known as Navajo Tacos, they have been adopted by other tribes. The Navajo taco was voted the State Dish of Arizona in a 1995 poll conducted by the Arizona Republic newspaper.
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of staying at the Letson Loft Hotel in Bisbee. It was during the Bisbee Lodging Tour. The hotel was lovely but what I remember was the delicious home made bread and muffins served with coffee and tea in the morning. Imagine my delight when their recent newsletter shared this great recipe
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of staying at the Letson Loft Hotel in Bisbee. It was during the Bisbee Lodging Tour. The hotel was lovely but what I remember was the delicious home made bread served with coffee and tea in the morning. Imagine my delight when their recent newsletter shared this great recipe
Often made on New Years morning this authentic menudo is supposed to have medicinal qualities and helps with hangovers.
New Mexico Chile History and Pepper Profile: New Mexican Varieties.
For a time, it was what Arizona drank. A-1 beer was bigger than Budweiser, bigger than Coors. Watch for a possible comeback in Arizona.
The growers are mostly organic and pesticide free, are local and the produce is vine-ripe, highly nutritious and tasty. In addition to produce, the farmers' markets feature value added locally made food items such as jams & jellies, salsas, dips, baked goods of all kinds, herbs and handcrafts.
Posole is dried nixtamal (a type of corn) which has been treated with slaked lime. Posole is also the stew made from the ingredient.
There are as many different ways to cook red chile as there are cooks,and as with all great home cooking, the secret is to use the ingredients you have available.
Check out the recipes for foods of the Southwest Region of the United States.
It's not Mexican food and it's not good old Texas Bar-b-que. It's a unique combination called Tex-Mex.
Two of the staples in her kitchen are red and green chile sauces. She not only uses them as sauces over enchiladas, tamales, tofu and pasta, but she also uses them as flavorings for beans, chile stews and posole.
Tamales de Chile (red tamales) and how to prepare them.
Cooking over an open fire has always been a part of western life and is usually done in dutch ovens. One can fry, bake, or boil anything in them, rain or shine, they became favorites of outdoor people everywhere and quickly made their way west with pioneers, mountain men, prospectors and many others.
