Serve up a gourmet meal in your kitchen, straight from ours. We get Cordillera Ranch’s Executive Chef Dwight Webb to open up about two of The Club’s most sought after dishes. You can create these Tex-Mex meals at home as Chef takes you though the process step-by-step.

Chef Dwight’s Green Chili
Four-Time Winner of the Great Chef’s Chili Confrontation, Dallas,TX
Yield: 1.5 Gallons, about 12 Servings

Tomatillos, peeled and rinsed    1.5 lbs.
Roasted Green Chiles, diced    10 oz.
Place the tomatillos in a single layer on a baking sheet and spray lightly with Pam or other cooking spray. Place in a 400 F oven and roast until lightly browned and soft, about 30 minutes. Let cool slightly. Transfer the roasted tomatillos to a blender. Add the diced green chiles and puree the mixture until smooth. Reserve.

Ground Pork    2.5 lbs.
Onion, medium dice    3 each
Garlic, minced    4 cloves
Olive Oil    3 tblsp.
In a large pot, heat the olive oil and add the pork, onion and garlic. Adjust the heat to make it possible to cook the ingredients without browning them. Cook until the onions are clear and soft, and the pork is broken up. There will also be some water that gets released from the pork and onions that must be cooked away, so that only oil remains in the bottom. You’ll know you’ve achieved this by the sizzling sound the oil begins to make as the water evaporates.

Flour    .5 Cup
Add to mixture in the pot and stir well to incorporate all of the flour. What is happening here is the forming of a roux.

Pureed Tomatillos/Green Chiles Reserved, from step #1
Roasted Green Chiles, diced    30 oz.
Chicken Stock    1 qt.
Ground Cumin    1.5 tsp.
Dried Oregano    1.5 tsp.

Add all of this to the pot. It’s important to stir the mixture until it comes to a simmer or it will stick and burn. Once a simmer is achieved, let it go for an hour, stirring occasionally. At the end of an hour, season to taste with salt and fresh-ground black –pepper, and a little sugar. Serve immediately,or chill and reheat for later use.
When serving, ladle the chili into hot bowls. Garnish with grated Cheddar, sour cream, and fried flour tortilla strips.
Note from Chef: This chili is traditionally made with ground pork, but any protein, including turkey, beef, or venison, can be substituted.

Fresh Corn Tamales
Yield:  24-3oz Tamales; 12 Servings

Dry Corn Husks    24 each
Water    2 gallons
In a large pot, bring the water to a rolling boil, remove from heat. Add the corn husks to the water and use stacks of saucers or small plates to weigh the husks down so they stay submerged. Reserve for later use

Corn Kernels, raw    Cut from 6 ears of fresh corn
Whole Milk    1 qt.
Cut the corn kernels off the ears of corn and combine in sauce pot along with the whole milk. Bring to a simmer for 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove 1 cup of corn kernels. Place the remaining corn/milk mixture in a blender and blend until smooth. Season this mixture aggressively with salt, fresh-ground black pepper, and sugar.

Masa Harina    1 lb.
Place the dry masa harina in a mixing bowl and pour blended corn/milk mixture over. Mix well to form the first step of the masa. Chill down this mixture.

Whole Butter    .5 lb.
Baking Powder    1 tblsp.
Using a Kitchen-Aid mixer or similar appliance with a paddle attachment, whip the butter and baking powder until light and fluffy. With mixer running on high speed, add the masa dough to the whipped butter in 2 oz increments, allowing the mixture to incorporate between additions.

Reserved Corn Kernels    1 Cup
Grated Cheddar Cheese    1 Cup
Turn mixer on to low speed and fold in the reserved corn kernels and cheese. This is now your finished masa dough.
Use a spoon or ice cream scoop to divide the dough into 24 equal portions. Wrap and fold each dough portion in the softened corn husks. Steam the tamales for one hour.
These tamales form the perfect marriage with Chef’s Green Chili. Unwrap them on a warm plate and ladle the chili over the top. Garnish the tamales with fresh pico de gallo, fried flour tortilla strips, and sour cream, if desired.
They can be made ahead and re-heated for later use, but are always better-light and fluffy-straight out of the steamer.