A Drive and a Dive ~ A Restaurant Review

What a great day for a drive! Heading North to Santa Fe to drop off husband Micheal's artwork for his solo show at Metallo Gallery (more about that tomorrow) we passed miles of fields full of bright yellow desert flowers. We have had good rainfall this summer so even the foothills were a showy green.

 I love this "blue" highway. We can travel for hours without passing another car.

Shot through the car window...but you get the idea! We were excited to be here for Michael's show, anticipating meeting friends and enjoying all that Santa Fe has to offer. First on our agenda was this tiny café just north of Madrid, New Mexico.

San Marcos Feed Store and Café ~ A Review

The café restaurant at the San Marco Feed Store on Hwy 14 in Santa Fe, New Mexico has been on my foodie wish list for a year now. Open only for breakfast and lunch, our Albuquerque friends have given this quirky, off-road eatery sterling reviews. So, after dropping off husband Michael's artwork at the Metallo Gallery in Madrid, it was a straight shot up Highway 14 for a much anticipated lunch.

The restaurant is quirky indeed, just off this "blue highway" with a rustic, old-timey mining shack facade and live peacocks and turkeys visible from the dinning room windows and traversing the grounds.

It was recommended we make a reservation (really?) which we did, but it was not necessary as there were plenty of open tables. This actually concerned me. Not a good sign for a restaurant that is historically impossibly full. Often an over-rated reputation will be the undoing of a genuinely good restaurant and I believe this to be the case with the San Marco Feed Store and Café, and our experience bore this out.

Michael ordered the green chili stew. This is a staple here in the Southwest. A good green chili stew has a lot to live up to. The dish came with a side of guacamole and tortilla chips...four to be exact. How a person can be expected to eat a mound of guacamole with four chips I just don't know. This didn't make any sense. So we asked for more chips, and received...four more. Unbelievable. To their credit, the stew was good. Although, not a particularly generous portion. On a scale of one to ten, with the most amazingly delicious green chili stew made from Hatch green chilies, chock full of meat and potatoes being a ten, this was pretty high on the list, coming in at an eight. The presentation was nice as well but Michael walked away hungry. The portion was just too small to be considered a main meal.

I ordered the special, chili rellenos plate, red, with a side of calabacitas and the aforementioned guacamole and four chips. The meal came with a side of garlic bread, which we did not eat because it also did not make sense with the meal. The chili rellenos were quite good, although I have had better red enchilada sauce...at the Shed, for example. The calabacitas were flavorful and fresh, with yellow squash, corn and chili. Overall, my main dish was pleasant, clean and fresh-tasting with traditional flavors and well executed rellenos.

I spent the drive up reading rave reviews about their coffee (it is a café!), so we were terribly disappointed when Michael's coffee arrived bitter, tasteless and cold! Yes, cold. When he asked for a new cup the waitperson offered to "nuke" it. Needless to say, the wait staff did not make our "greatest hits" list. I also made the mistake of ordering the hot chai tea, which was the worst I have ever had. It too was cold and tasted like a spice-less black tea smothered in evaporated milk, yuck.

Wait staff, Drinks and chip deprivation aside, our meals were tasty and we did enjoy watching the peacocks do their thing. If you had children along, it might be fun for the family as a novelty.

Would we return? Not likely. There are so many wonderful restaurants in Santa Fe. Places we can spend $40 or less for lunch and come out raving about the food and the service. Sorry San Marcos Feed Store and Café, you're off my list. But the drive is on my forever list...divine!

Yes I Can! Vegan-ize!

One of the loveliest things about fall is soup. Soul warming, body-bracing, comforting soup. Fall is sneaking up on us here in the desert. The warm days are cooling down quickly now and the evenings are perfect for hearty end-of-harvest soups. Mike and I recently spent time with the wonderful Wimmer family and I had the opportunity to cook vegan for them. I love to challenge myself to find simple tasty recipes we can all enjoy. Out of that challenge came this recipe for a delicious vegan version of an asparagus soup that I had just helped our dear friend Susan Ryan prepare for her company. The weather was rainy and cool, perfect for this soup conversion! This very tasty recipe, originated from the Deerfield Inn in Deerfield, MA and contained butter, half and half and chicken broth. With just a few adjustments we were all enjoying the vegan version just as much as the original. Serves 6

Creamy Leek & Asparagus Soup ~ Vegan-ized!

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 leek, white part only, finely chopped
2 cups chopped asparagus spears (tough ends removed)
2 cups soy creamer
4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 tsp kosher salt
White pepper to taste

Swirl olive oil in a saucepan, place over low heat. Add onion, celery, leek and asparagus. Cook 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the vegetable broth; cover and simmer until asparagus is tender, about 10 minutes.

Carefully place vegetables and broth in a food processor or blender to puree, working in batches OR if you have an inversion blender (I love mine), it is ideal for blending this soup right in the pan, right on the stove top. Blend to desired consistency. We prefer a little texture in our cream soups.

If you have used the blender, return the soup to the pan and the stove top, add the soy half and half, salt and white pepper to taste. Reduce heat and cook 3 minutes until warmed and steamy. Add asparagus tips for garnish (Oops, forgot to save a few, hence the showy parsley leaf) and enjoy!

                           Me and darling Elise Wimmer, post soup and Maria Wimmer enjoying vegan dessert.

Maria made the most delicious tofu recipe (more on that later) as the main course to our vegan meal and dessert was simply Coconut Bliss ice cream and fresh raspberries. The perfect finish to a great day!

Sunday Contemplation

"The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world. Angry people cannot create a peaceful planet."
                                            Marianne Williamson