An elegant presentation but easy to prepare even in the dead of winter…A perfectly roasted chicken, tender and juicy, with crispy skin makes a wonderful Sunday dinner when accompanied with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and a green vegetable or tossed salad.

From the little village of Chimayó, New Mexico comes what many chileheads consider to be the finest tasting red chile. We use it in our enchilada sauces and for making rubs such as this one. The smoky taste of the chipotle potatoes is a nice complement to the grilled steak. Serve the steak and potatoes with mixed green and yellow snap beans and jalapeño cornbread.

Double this recipe if you're serving four people.

From one of my far-flung writers, Linda Lynton, this recipe is a basic 
sauce from northern India and Nepal. She noted: “Although this specific 
recipe was given to me by a Patna housewife, some peasants originating 
from a remote Himalayan village in Central Nepal and housewives from an 
equally remote village in North Bihar gave us the same recipe.” Use it 
as a topping for chicken, fish, or vegetables.

For years I've been trying to duplicate the homefries served since the early 1960s at Monroe's Restaurant in Albuquerque. This version is the closest I've come to it. Don't let the bacon fat or lard worry you—this is a very special exception to all the rules and you don't need that much of it. Serve topped with New Mexico Red Chile Sauce.

If ever there were a macho potato salad, this is it! Grilled cactus and chopped jicima add an unexpected twist to this warm, spicy red potato salad. To complete the Southwestern theme, these ingredients are tossed in a dressing of freshly squeezed lime juice and adobo sauce mixed with a heavy dose of chopped cilantro. Though the cactus adds a unique flavor to this salad, if it is not available at your local grocery store, it can be omitted.