These recipes are from Tom Averill’s book, “Secrets Of The Tsil Cafe.”

Potato and Green Chile Soup

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turkey neck, giblets, legs, thighs and wings

allspice

Mexican oregano

sage

salt, to taste

2 New Mexico green chiles, roasted, skinned and seeded, sliced thin, or 1 4-ounce can green chiles, chopped

2 golden potatoes, peeled and grated

turkey livers, to taste, frozen so they can be shaved into soup

(Rescue the liver stuffed inside the turkey)

In a large pot, make a broth by simmering turkey parts in water, with allspice, oregano, sage and salt.

Pour off fat, and bring the broth to simmer. Add the potatoes, cook for 5 minutes, then add the turkey liver shavings and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add the chiles and cook a final 5 minutes, or until potatoes are thoroughly cooked. Serve with Cranberry-Chile Pesto (recipe follows) or salsa.

Cranberry-Chile Pesto

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1/2 cup dried cranberries

3 New Mexico dried red chiles, seeded and finely chopped

2 dried ancho chiles, seeded and finely chopped

2 tablespoons pine nuts, roasted

2 tablespoons sunflower seeds, roasted

1/4 cup or more sunflower oil (for texture)

1/2 cup Chile-Dried Tomatoes (recipe follows)

In a small saucepan, add the dried cranberries and chiles to a cup or so of water. Cook until they are swollen, and the water has evaporated to about 1/2 cup. Place the mixture in a food processor with the pine nuts, sunflower seeds, sunflower oil and the Chile-Dried Tomatoes. Blend until smooth. Add water to thin if necessary, or add more pine nuts and sunflower seeds to thicken. Serve with meat, or as a garnish in soups, or enjoy just by the spoonful.

Chile-Dried Tomatoes

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sunflower oil

Italian plum tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise, or large tomatoes, sliced crosswise, or whole cherry tomatoes

medium-hot ground chile powder, preferably Chimayo

allspice, ground

Lightly oil a baking sheet with sunflower oil. Place tomatoes on the baking sheet skin side down as close together as possible. Sprinkle liberally with chile and allspice. Place in very slow oven, 200 degrees, until tomatoes are nearly dry, between six and eight hours: do not let them brown; do not let them toughen and begin to lose their flavor. Use within a week, or pack in a sterile jar and cover them with sunflower oil to keep for several months, or freeze.

Watercress and Black Bean Salad with Sunflower-Tomato Dressing

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Sunflower-Tomato Dressing:

4 to 6 Italian plum tomatoes, sliced lengthwise

1/4 cup of raw sunflower seeds, roasted

1 teaspoon mild chile powder

1/4 cup peanut or corn oil

3 to 4 ounces pineapple juice combined with 1-ounce or more of white vinegar, to taste

salt

1 large bundle of watercress, rinsed (as much in volume as the beans)

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained, or 1/2 cup dried black beans, cooked, then rinsed and drained

To prepare the dressing: Roast the tomatoes under the oven-broiler until blackened in spots. In a skillet, roast the sunflower seeds over medium heat until they are dark brown, but not black. In a blender, add the tomatoes, sunflower seeds, chile powder, oil, pineapple juice with vinegar and salt. Blend thoroughly.

Cover four small salad plates with watercress. Sprinkle the black beans over the watercress. Dress the salad to taste with Sunflower Tomato Dressing. Serves 4.

Black Bean and Gooseberry Enchiladas

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For filling:

1 cup dried black beans

3 ancho chiles (dried)

1 16-ounce can gooseberries (or 2 cups fresh)

1 dozen corn tortillas (preferably blue)

Corn oil

For enchilada sauce:

4 large red tomatoes

1 tablespoon medium-hot Chimayo chile powder

3 big, fresh jalapeño peppers

Salt

For Guacamole:

3 ripe avocados

2 medium yellow tomatoes

2 tablespoons sage vinegar (crumble sage from American sagebrush in vinegar

and let sit overnight or longer)

Cook black beans in water with the dried ancho chiles until they are tender. Add drained, slightly rinsed gooseberries in equal amount of black beans.

Make enchilada sauce by buzzing the four large tomatoes in a blender. Put them in a saucepan with the chile powder and two of the jalapeño, cut into fine pieces. Salt to taste. Cook for at least an hour, until sauce thickens.

Quickly heat corn tortillas in hot corn oil, but do not cook to crispness. Dip tortillas in enchilada sauce, lie flat and spoon on 2 tablespoons of the black bean and gooseberry mixture. Roll to make a tube. Set on plate. When all 12 tortillas are on plate, cut in half and push out to the edges of the plate to form a circle.

Make guacamole from the avocados, yellow tomatoes, sage vinegar and remaining jalapeño pepper, everything chopped fine and mixed together. Put guacamole in small bowl and place in the space in the middle of the plate. Spoon guacamole onto enchiladas.