Tecolote Cafe - Santa Fe

Bill and Alice Jennison first opened Tecolote Cafe in the 1980s, and they wanted to serve the best breakfast in Santa Fe. They wanted Tecolote to be cheerful, have a at home atmosphere, and of course not to brake your bank when you come to eat.

Well I am here to tell you that they have succeeded in every way. The food is amazingly delicious and the staff are always friendly and the locals that come are just as friendly, its like having a meal with your family at home.  

This is one of my most favorite breakfast places to go to in Santa Fe. Don't worry if you are not a breakfast person because they have some really good lunch items as well, and they serve breakfast all day so no worries if its lunch time, bring those non-breakfast people and let Tecolote change their minds.  They have everything from the normal egg breakfast items to the local favorites like the breakfast burrito. They have a variety of what they call sweet breads which will be your French toast, and hot cakes. For lunch they have Americana like hamburgers to pork chops, and don't forget the local New Mexican favorites like enchiladas and tamales.

Of course I came here for their breakfast which no matter what I have is great. I am showing you one of my favorite things to eat when I hit up Tecolote. Theres the breakfast burrito with sausage and red chile and fried potatoes, and you have to get the red or green or just get Christmas and get the best of both chiles. There to the right is the Atolé Piñon hot cakes topped with a orange slice.  Atolé is blue corn, and Piñon is a pine nut that grows in New Mexico and is very popular with the locals. O and don't expect to get yourself a side of toast here because they don't serve it. Your breakfast will come with your choice of a tortilla or fresh bakery basket, no matter your choice you won't miss out. Their tortillas are freshly made and are warm and crispy and great with some butter. The bakery basket comes with freshly made biscuits and muffins that are served with whipped butter and strawberry preserves.

The breakfast burrito is awesome made perfectly, you will savor every bite. The chile no matter if its red or green is amazing. The fried potatoes are cut almost chip thin then fired up and are delicious, I could eat an entire plate of these potatoes and be happy. Inside of the burrito is nice and fluffy scrambled eggs and very delicious sausage. Then its topped with cheese and the chile of your choice I was in the mood for red on this particular day.

Now these are the best part of coming to Tecolote in my opinion anyway, and they are the Atolé Piñon hot cakes. The hot cakes are made with a blue corn mix that is great it takes normal hot cakes and kicks their ass. Then you add the Piñon and o boy you have something thats almost undescribable. Well heres my attempt at it, they still have that normal hot cake taste, but with the Piñon you get a bunch of texture or crunch in every bite and burst of flavors. You need to experience these hot cakes for yourself.

The place is very New Mexican and not fancy or anything just a nice place to go and eat. You will find a bunch of pictures and figurings of owls in the restaurant since Tecolote means owl in Nahuatl which is Aztec Indian. There are paintings of local New Mexican scenery all over the restaurant which I love looking at. The service is very friendly and very attentive you never have to ask for a refill they are always on it, which I love because I can drink like 12 glasses of whatever when I go to a restaurant and I hate it when you can't find your server.     

I Give Tecolote:

     

 Rating on a 1-5 Star Score

I was able to find a video of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives with host and chef Guy Fieri when he came to New Mexico and checked out Tecolote. 

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Penne with Spinach Sauce

This is an awesome recipe by Giada De Laurentiis from the Food Network Channel. Its very easy and fast and none the less healthy. If you can boil some water and use a food processor then you should be able to handle this recipe with ease hahahaha. Really it took me 15 minutes to cook the pasta and while that was boiling I was able to make the sauce within 5 minutes or less, so the recipe will take you less than 20 minutes.

I have never made my own pasta sauce before, but this one that Giada De Laurentiis has for you was so good and easy. I mean all you had to do was buy the ingredients throw them in the food processor, and mix all together than BAM all done enjoy.  I may even start making my own sauces for all my pasta now hahahaha maybe don't hold me to it.

Did I mention this recipe is most awesome? Let me answer that for you, yes it is haha. I made this for my family for the first time the other night and they loved every bit of it. I added some freshly baked garlic bread to the dinner which does make it less healthy, but was well worth it in my opinion. I loved this pasta it was like having a spinach salad and pasta all at the same time; it was fresh and filling, and amazingly delicious. One little thing is, I would use the whole wheat past instead of the multi grain, the recipe gives you the choice of either to use. I found that the whole wheat pasta has a much better flavor than the multi grain pasta. Ok lets face it I hate the taste of the multi grain pasta I was trying to be nice, but hey my blog I will tell you how it is in my opinion.  I recommend this recipe for everyone, even if you believe you are a horrible cook this recipe is too good to miss and way too easy not to try out. I enjoyed every bite of it to the last piece of pasta.

Ingredients

• 1 pound whole wheat or multi grain penne
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 ounces goat cheese
• 1 ounce reduced fat cream cheese
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper  
• 6 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the penne and cook until it is tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes.

Mince the garlic in a food processor. Add the goat cheese, cream cheese, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and half of the spinach leaves. Blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Set the cheese and spinach mixture aside.

Meanwhile, place the remaining spinach leaves in a large bowl.

Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Spoon the pasta atop the spinach leaves in the bowl. Scrape the cheese and spinach mixture over the pasta mixture and toss to coat, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Season the pasta, to taste, with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the Parmesan over and serve.

Cajun Steak Sandwiches

This is one of my most favorite recipes that I have stumbled upon. I have made these sandwiches a number of times and they never get old. This is a very delicious recipe and only takes 45 minutes at the most to prepare everything. It's a very easy recipe in my opinion and I am just a "food enthusiast" hahaha. The recipe asks for a bag of frozen sweet potatoes fries, and I have found that the Alexia brand is one of the best out there. My favorite is the sweet potatoes fries with the chipotle seasoning. I also added another side to this awesome meal which was coleslaw. To keep this a fast and easy recipe I was able to go to my local grocery store and pick up a coleslaw pack in the salad area it was fast and delicious, I was very surprised how good it was. This is definitely one recipe you have to try out of all the ones I have posted so far and will post.  

 

Ingredients

• 1  20-oz. pkg.  frozen french-fried sweet potatoes
• 2  8-oz.  trimmed rib-eye steaks or boneless beef top steak, cut 1/2 inch thick
• 3  tsp.  Cajun or blackening seasoning
• 1/4  cup  mayonnaise
• 1  Tbsp.  ketchup
• 1  tsp.  molasses
• 2    ciabatta rolls, split and toasted
• 1    tomato, sliced
•     Sliced green onion (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Spread sweet potatoes in 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Bake 18 to 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cut steaks in half crosswise. Coat both sides of steaks with 1-1/2 tsp. seasoning. Heat a cast-iron or heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Cook steaks in hot skillet for 3 to 5 minutes on each side.

3. In a small bowl combine mayonnaise, ketchup, molasses and remaining seasoning.

4. Place one steak on each roll half. Top with some of the sauce tomato slice, and green onion. Serve remaining sauce with fries. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Facts

• Calories583,
• Total Fat (g)29,
• Saturated Fat (g)6,
• Monounsaturated Fat (g)3,
• Polyunsaturated Fat (g)7,
• Cholesterol (mg)55,
• Sodium (mg)856,
• Carbohydrate (g)59,
• Total Sugar (g)10,
• Fiber (g)6,
• Protein (g)24,
• Vitamin C (DV%)24,
• Calcium (DV%)10,
• Iron (DV%)24,
• Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Big Fat Greek Burgers

Recently I have been trying to eat healthier, and we all know how hard that can be with our full time jobs, families, school and anything else that seem to get in our way and I like to call that life hahaha. Well for those who don't want to spend too much time cooking I found an awesome healthy recipe on the Food Network website called Big Fat Greek Burgers by Ellie Krieger. There is a very helpful video that she provides that shows you step by how to cook this recipe which I have provided at the bottom of the post. I cooked these for my Mom and my best friend and they were amazing.  

Although this is only a recipe for the burgers no side dishes. I added my own which were some steamed asparagus with a little bit of butter, and Alexia frozen French fries the Olive Oil, Rosemary, Garlic fries are very good and went well with this dish.

Ingredients

For the yogurt sauce:

• 1/2 cup nonfat Greek style yogurt
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill leaves
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Pinch freshly ground black pepper

For the burgers:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 2 cups lightly packed baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/4 pounds lean ground turkey breast
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 whole-wheat burger buns
• 1/4 English cucumber, thinly sliced
• 4 small leaves romaine lettuce, hard ribs removed

Directions

In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, oil, lemon juice, garlic, dill, and salt and pepper.

Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the feta cheese, dill and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and stir to combine.

Divide the turkey into 4 equal sized rounds. Make 2 equal sized patties out of each round so you have 8 patties total. Put 2 tablespoons of the spinach-feta mixture onto half of the patties. Top with remaining patties working the turkey around the edges to seal burgers closed. Season the burgers on both sides with the salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Spray a nonstick grill pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat, or prepare the grill. Grill the patties until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.

To serve, place a burger on the bottom half of each bun, top with about 2 tablespoons of yogurt sauce, then 2 or 3 cucumber slices and a lettuce leaf. Top with the other half of the bun and serve.

Per Serving:

Calories 360; Total Fat 10 g; (Sat Fat 2.5 g, Mono Fat 4 g, Poly Fat 1.5 g) ; Protein 42 g; Carb 29 g; Fiber 4 g; Cholesterol 65 mg; Sodium 650 mg

Excellent source of: Protein, Vitamin A, Manganese, Selenium

Good source of: Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus

TasteSpotting

This is a really cool link that I was introduced to by one of my coworkers. I suggest you give it a try, and I am sure you will find something to your liking that you will have to cook. You may even be so inclined to add your ideas and recipes to this awesome collection of food.

www.tastespotting.com

TasteSpotting :

"Founded in January 2007 on the idea that we eat first with our eyes, TasteSpotting is our obsessive, compulsive collection of eye-catching images that link to something deliciously interesting on the other side. Think of TasteSpotting as a highly visual potluck of recipes, references, experiences, stories, articles, products, and anything else that inspires exquisite taste.We don’t use the term “potluck” for the hell of it. Everyone brings something to the party here: the user community submits images/links from around the web and the editorial team reviews the submissions. What finally gets served up on the site is a beautifully refined set of the community’s contributions." (tastespotting.com)

The Flying Tortilla in Santa Fe, New Mexico

I had heard about this restaurant a few years ago and for some reason just never remember to go and check it out. Everything that I heard about this place was always good, and let me just tell you I should have checked it out sooner. The Flying Tortilla is located on Cerillos Road right by the Santa Fe Place Mall, the restaurant used to be called the Kettle Restaurant. It’s not the prettiest restaurant from the outside there in Santa Fe, but the inside is styled like the 60's with a lot of Santa Fe historical photos decorating the walls. It’s a very nice family restaurant that serves everyone from the New Mexican locals to the tourists that are staying nearby.

 This place gives out some nice big portions for mightiest of eaters, and for a price that is hard to beat anywhere else in Santa Fe. I have to say that the service was a little lacking, the hostess was very nice and friendly and got us to our table promptly, however our server could have been more attentive in my opinion. After she had got us our drinks and food it was almost liked she disappeared, but I will admit that it was kind of busy when we arrived at the restaurant.

 Even though our server was a little disappointing the food made up for all that. I order the chile rellenos 3 egg omelet with papas fritas (fried potatoes), apple smoked bacon and wheat toast, and of course I had to try their pancakes. I also got a to try their green chile patty melt and french fries that was order by my wonderful mother who I had ventured out with on that lovely Saturday morning. The omelet was stuffed with a nice big crispy chile rellenos and then the chile rellenos was stuffed with queso blanco (white cheese), and smothered in green chile it was EPIC!!! Just writing this now makes me want to hit the road to Santa Fe just to get this beast of an omelet. Now who doesn't love bacon? Anyone? Good didn't hear any lame people say no hahahaha. The apple smoke bacon that I ordered was cooked to perfection nice not too thick, 5 pieces of deliciousness. They were nice and crispy all the way through which is the way I like it. Nice and cooked no squishy bacon for me please. The wheat toast was toasted perfectly and the type of bread they used had a great flavor I wish I knew what it was. Now the pancake it was nice and fluffy and they even serve if with a little serving of whipped butter, however I believe that they cooked the pancake on the same griddle that they cook on for the regular food. My pancake had a very familiar taste of onions so I would not recommend getting the pancakes. The green chile patty melt that my mom order was amazing. The meat is cooked to order very moist and delicious. The green chile had a great flavor and a little bite to it which is the way green chile should always be. Now the high light of my mother’s order was the french fries. They were so crispy and salted perfectly they were awesome. I could have had the fries alone as a meal they were that good. I suggest that whenever you go, you have to get an order of fries you won’t be disappointed.

I Give Flying Tortilla:

Rating on a 1-5 Star Score

Gizmodo - The Best Food of 2010

In case you couldn't tell, we at Gizmodo love to eat. We do it every day! And we write about it sometimes too. Here's the best stuff we wrote about edibles in 2010

http://gizmodo.com/5722042/the-best-food-of-the-year

China Palace - Dinner

Last night while wasting some time before my college class started I decided to go try out a Chinese Restaurant in Los Alamos New Mexico called China Palace.

I order the Mongolian Beef. The flavor of the entire meal was very good, much to my liking. The sautéed onions and greed chives were very good still had a little crunch to it. The beef was very tender and seasoned well. The only thing I would have liked is a little more spice to the meal, will have to order extra spicy next time.

The presentation was good they came out with the entre was brought out in a bowl and then served on a hot pan that made everything sizzle and smell great. 

The staff at China Palace was very friendly and always made sure that I was doing well with refilling my drink and getting me more white rice when needed.

The restaurant's atmosphere was very traditional Chinese feel and very small town at the same time.

I give the entire experience:  

Rating on a 1-5 Star Score