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When I feel ill I always think of my mom and the love and care she gave me when I didn't feel good, and comfort items like a good book, a soft blanket, and hot chicken noodle soup. I am now thinking about HOME--the four corners in the outside. Because I am not feeling well, I made a ridiculous amount of moose and veggie soup and am making a lovely Whole Wheat Chile Bread (the feature of this post). This is on the heels of a wonderful whole-grain whole wheat Boule I made a few days ago. Got to do something with that whole wheat sourdough starter (Jim gets pancakes in the morning topped with blueberry syrup). Also trying out a new recipe for Jalapeno poppers made with chorizo and cream cheese...Funny....I can't and won't eat, I am not feeling well, yet I love to cook. If it is good I will post it.

For my Alaskan RSMS Family----Green chile does not come in a can! It is grown in the ground under the southern hot New Mexico sun. My home state is called "The Land of Enchantment" for a good reason.....CHILE The next best thing to getting it hot off the vine is at the supermarket in the produce section. Select firm, meaty ones, if they have a reddish or orangish color, all the better and consider it your lucky day. Wash and roast them on your grill until the skin is toasted. Remove to cool. Then peel the skin off and slice, dice, or leave whole for rellenos. If I were having them roasted in NM in the parking lot, I would slap one of these happy puppies into IGA's Mashed Potato Sausage and Cheese Burrito made with fresh flour tortillas right from the factory! HA! those tortillas were "snacks" when I taught Kinder at Father James B. Hay Catholic School! On to the recipe.

Whole Wheat Chile Bread from Mark Miller's Coyote Cafe

1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
2 TBSP. Olive Oil
2 tsp. honey
2 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 Cup stone ground whole-wheat flour (I use spelt)
2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. chile powder (Bueno is best)
4 tsp. chile caribe (chile flakes--like what you can get for pizza)
1/2 cup roasted, peeled, stemmed, seeded and diced New Mexico chile---HATCH is the best btw

Combine the water, oil and honey in a bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer (GOD I love my KitchenAide!) or in a large mixing bowl.

Sprinkle the yeast over the mixture, stir in, and let sit 2 minutes. Add the dry ingredients. Mix with the dough hook or knead by hand for 8-10 minutes, or until dough appears silky and resilient (springs back when poked). Mix or knead the green chile into the dough until thoroughly blended. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.

When baking bread I like to encase the dough in two layers. Outer layer is an electric heating pad, the next layer is a large bath towel. Let rise for 1 1/2 hours or doubled. Punch down dough. recover with wraps and let rise another 30 minutes.

Baking stones ROCK! you MUST have one for your pizzas and etc. Heat your stone to 400 degrees.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into two equal segments. Generously grease 2 loaf pans (again I prefer stoneware) or dust baking sheet with whole-wheat flour. Shape the dough into loaves. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise again for another 30 minutes.

Uncover, spray with a light mist of water, lightly dust with whole wheat flour and cut 2-3 slashes in the tops. Use that spray bottle to mist the oven walls with water. Bake 35-40 minutes. Bread is done when the crust is dark and firm and the loaves sound hollow when tapped. Let bread cool in the pan or baking sheet for 10 minutes. Cool completely before cutting. Consider serving this with either a cilantro or cumin butter.