What's Cookin' Wednesday!

As some of you know, I like to cook. I recently decided I'd start a food blog to share some of the recipes I like - but in the end it just became yet another blog for me to neglect (*hangs head in shame*). Soooooo... I've decided instead to share recipes HERE. On WEDNESDAYS. I'm calling it What's Cookin' Wednesday. If you don't like food, feel free to avoid my blog on Wednesdays from here on out. hee hee

And for the first post - I have something TOTALLY FREAKING EXCITING to share with you!!! I've entered a little recipe contest at our local Whole Foods store! (And please read to the end to see how to VOTE FOR ME!!) I just happened to see them send out a tweet about an #ATXFoodFight and went for it! The featured ingredient in this challenge is HATCH CHILES. Don't know what a Hatch chile is? It's basically an Anahiem chile, ie a long green chile pepper, grown in the small town of Hatch, New Mexico. I don't know what's special about the soil there, but they are the yummiest peppers, we go nuts for them here in Austin every August when they show up. So Whole Foods gave each contestant a pound of Hatch chiles and a $25 gift card and said "go create!". Here's what I came up with...

SMOKY SPICY CHEESY YUMMY HATCH SPAGHETTI PIE!!!

Awwww yeah, baby! It's soooooooo good!

Here's a couple things about the recipe: First of all, even though I *do* love Hatch chiles, I'm a bit of a... how shall I say it... WIMP when it comes to spicy food. So naturally my mind thought, if we're using hot chiles (and yes, Whole Foods gave us the hot variety - you can also get milder ones) then I need to counteract the heat with some CHEESE!! For some reason I also immediately thought a spaghetti pie would be fun. Then I was chatting with my friend Lisa and she mentioned this corn spaghetti she had seen, and I thought that would be PERFECT! You can sort of taste the corn in it and it has a different texture when baked in the pie, quite a bit like the corn in a tamale. It worked GREAT for my tex-mex-style spaghetti pie! And bonus for all you gluten-free peeps, you should be able to eat this recipe! Vegetarians too! Woohoo! (Sorry Vegans. See above about the cheese.)

I'll copy the full recipe below, but here are some of the steps. I do not claim to be good at food blogging or food photography - if you want someone who's good at it go visit The Pioneer Woman. But then come back because that woman does NOT make cards! ;-)

First form your crust by mixing the corn spaghetti, egg, butter & cheddar, and pressing into a buttered pan:


I grilled the peppers and corn for the recipe. The peppers are best when roasted & peeled. I also removed the seeds. And I figured the corn could have some extra smoky flavor as well! I have two ears in the photo but I only ended up using one.


The corn was cut from the cob.


The filling is a mixture of cream cheese, sour cream, cheddar, grilled corn, tomato, cilantro and cumin.


I sauteed some onions and garlic in olive oil for the topping, until the onions were nicely golden.


The roasted Hatch chile was added to the onion mixture and then went atop the pie.


Some smoky cheese went on the very top. Any smoky, melty cheese will do - but I asked the cheese guy at Whole Foods what would be the yummiest and he recommended a cheese called Brezain. He's a very wise cheese guy. This is how it looks fresh from the oven!


Then you eat it. And it's spicy and cheesy and ooey and gooey and YUMMY!


And now the full recipe. Because I know you want it!

Smoky Spicy Cheesy Yummy Hatch Spaghetti Pie
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8oz package gluten-free corn spaghetti (regular spaghetti would be yummy too!)
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt & pepper
4oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 medium tomato (heirloom preferred), seeds & juice squeezed out & diced
1 ear of corn, grilled & cut from cob
handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Hatch chiles, grilled, skins removed & chopped
1/2 cup smoked cheese (Brezain preferred), shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To prepare the crust: Cook corn spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. In medium bowl, combine spaghetti, eggs, butter and cheddar cheese. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Press into a buttered pie plate to form crust.
To prepare filling: In medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, tomato, corn, cilantro and cumin. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Layer on top of the prepared spaghetti crust.
To prepare topping: Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until nicely browned. Stir in chopped chiles and heat for a few additional minutes. Spoon on top of the filled pie. Sprinkle with smoked cheese.
Cover and bake for 30 minutes at 350. Remove foil and bake an additional 5 minutes, until melted and bubbling.

Now the important part! I NEED YOUR VOTE!! If you think this recipe looks yummy (or even if you don't) please go to Twitter and tweet this:

RT @stampinlibby Pls RT so I can win? Hatch Spaghetti Pie http://bit.ly/99dj7L @WholeFoodsATX #ATXFoodFight

Don't have a Twitter account? It's really easy to set one up, tweet your vote, and then disable your account. Just kidding, I'd never ask anyone do THAT! (Yes I would. Please go do it right now.)

By the way, I'm @stampinlibby on Twitter. Follow me! Say hi! :-)

And if you try my pie - let me know what you think!!



PS... If you gained 5lbs reading this blog post, I am sorry.