Chilorio

One of Santiagos personal signature dishes is the Chilorio. Three seasoned orange citrus ancho chili marinated pork tacos topped with fresh avocado and grilled onions served on corn or flour tortillas. Chilorio is a pork dish from Sinaloa. It is also sometimes made with beef or chicken. Chilorio is made by cooking the meat in water and fat and then frying it with chiles and spices.
Thanks to Miss Reed for being a great hostess, and to cooks Mauro and Maria for preparing this tasty dish.

Chile Relleno

Puebla Mexico

The chile relleno, literally "stuffed chile", is a dish of Mexican cuisine that originated in the city of Puebla. It consists of a roasted fresh poblano pepper (the poblano pepper is named after the city of Puebla), and some times substituted with Anaheim peppers, which is what Santiagos chooses to do. It is stuffed with a melting cheese, such as queso Chihuahua or the tranditional queso Oaxaca, also the choice of chefs at Santiagos.
The cooks at Santiagos then batter the two peppers and cook them, finally to be topped with ancho and chili verde sauce. This is complimented with two sides of your choice.

Chimichangas

Legend has it that Monica Flin, of Tucsan, accidentally dropped a pastry into the deep fat fryer in 1922. She immediately began to utter a Spanish cuss word beginning "chi..." (chingada), but quickly stopped herself and instead exclaimed chimichanga, the Spanish equivalent of "thingamajig".

Given the variant chivichanga, mainly employed in Mexico, another derivation would have it that immigrants to the United States brought the dish with them, mainly through Nogales into Arizona. A third, and perhaps most likely possibility, is that the chimichanga, or chivichanga, has long been a part of local cuisine of the Pimería Alta of Arizona and Sonora, with its early range extending southward into Sinaloa.

In any case, it is all but uncontroversial that within the United States, knowledge and appreciation of the dish has been part of Santiagos menu from the beginning, and the cooks carefully prepare this dish from the choice grade of tender shredded beef, or you can opt for chicken, mixed with red chili sauteed with onion, tomato, and poblano chili wrapped in a flour tortilla. All of this is then placed in the deep fryer to be brought up golden brown, and served with Oaxacan cheese.

Closed for Thanksgiving

Santiagos will be closed on Thanksgiving to be with family and friends and enjoy a good turkey, a second helping of stuffing, and a dozen bowl's of football. We appreciate your business throughout the year, and look forward to serving you in the future.

Monday Night Football at Santiagos

• Is it Monday Yet?
• Are you ready for some football?
• "I'm thinkin' about Monday"
• "Monday can't come soon enough"
  

Monday Night Football has enjoyed success throughout its 40-year run. The weekly game is popular not only with fans, but with players, as it guarantees a full national telecast of the game and puts both teams in the spotlight. Teams are selected for MNF games based partially on their success during the previous season, rewarding the best teams and biggest stars.

And at Santiagos, you have been selected to be our biggest star, and join us for half priced Margaritas and a full plate of chicken wings to munch on, as you watch Monday Night Football along with us. We have 50 brands of tequila to choose from, and several styles of Margaritas made by one of our most valuable players: the bartender. Couple that with our cooks signature BBQ sauce on chicken wings, and you will be ready for some football.

Two takes on Santiagos Shrimp Dishes

I wanted to get better informed on the difference between the two shrimp dishes off the "From the Sea" menu at Santiagos. I asked Cook Mauro how the two dishes mainly differ. He stated that the Diablo Shrimp was a dish that requires some attention as you prepare the shrimp separately from the sauce by sauteing Jumbo Gulf Shrimp in butter with chipolte. Then he adds lime, shallots and garlic with cilantro and you have a nice slow warm flavor. The sauce that the shrimp lay in gets better as you go. Below is the finished product.

As for the Avocado Shrimp, he sauteed the shrimp in olive oil instead of butter, and as this is taking place, he creates a wonderful avocado cream, made with avocado and sour cream seasoned with garlic and cheese sauce. This makes for a different experience that you usually have with avocado, from the usual cold avocado dip to a warm and spicy sauce for shrimp. But this is exactly what the shrimp needed.
So you have a great choice for Shrimp dishes: a wonderful red ancho chili sauce, or the avocado green sauce for your Jumbo Shrimp hunger.

Santiagos Holy Mole

This week’s feature at Santiagos is the Holy Mole’
Mole, which comes from the Aztec word molli, meaning concoction or stew, is believed to have been created in the late 1600s by a nun in a convent in Puebla de los Angeles, outside Mexico City, to honor the archbishop for building a nearby convent. According to food historians, she spared no expense, using the best and most expensive ingredients to create the dark, savory sauce that grew to tantalize a nation.

Today, Oaxaca has the reputation as Mexico's best state for mole, followed by Puebla and Veracruz. The famous "seven moles of Oaxaca" compose a rainbow of earthy colors such as black, brown, brick red, yellow and green.

Santiagos version is comprised of three rolled chicken enchiladas topped with our traditional House made Mole sauce. Oaxacan cheese, diced tomato and green onion. Karina stated that it took her two weeks to arrive at the right combination of peppers and spices for her signature mole. "I found that using more that 2 or three different peppers took away from the flavor of the other ingredients." I asked Georgia if they use chocolate as part of the traditional recipe, she replied "That, is proprietary information......" So the mystery continues.

Key Lime Cheese Cake

The key lime tree, which is native to Malaysia, probably first arrived in the Florida Keys in the 1500s with the Spanish. Key limes look like confused lemons, as they are smaller than a golf ball with yellow-green skin that is sometimes splotched with brown. They are also know as Mexican or West Indian limes.

As to who made the first key lime pie, no one really knows for sure as it has never been documented. The most likely story is that William Curry (1821-1896), a ship salvager and Florida's first self-made millionaire (commonly referred to as rich Bill), had a cook that was simply know as Aunt Sally. It was Aunt Sally who created the pie in the late 1800s.

The dish is named after the small key limes (Citrus aurantifolia 'Swingle') that are naturalized throughout the Florida Keys. In 1965, Florida State Representative Bernie Papy, Jr. introduced legislation calling for a $100 fine to be levied against anyone advertising key lime pie that is not made with key limes. The bill did not pass.

Santiagos invites you to our rich flavored key lime cheese cake, along with some of our freshly roasted coffee from the Bisbee Coffee Company.

Green Corn Tamales

Tamales were one of the staples found by the Spanish when they first arrived in Mexico. Alternatively, tamales are said to have been used as a portable ration for use by war parties in the ancient Americas, and were as ubiquitous and varied as the sandwich is today. It is said that are between 500 and 1000 different types of tamales all around the country. Some experts estimate the annual consumption in hundreds of millions every year.

Tamales became one of the representatives of Mexican culinary tradition in Europe, being one of the first samples of the culture that the Spanish conquistadores took back to Spain as proof of civilization, according to Fray Juan de Zumarraga. Today, tamales are mainly consumed as comfort food in Mexico and is also eaten during festivities, such as the Day of the Dead, which is celebrated here in Bisbee the first of November. That comes after Halloween, and you know how Bisbee party's on Halloween. So come down and double your Holiday fun with Halloween/Day of the Dead with Santiagos delicious Green Corn Tamales.

Copper Canyon

I met with Jaime, one of the cooks that are employed at Santiagos, to ask him what dish is his favorite to make. He replied that it would have to be either the Carne Asada, or the Copper Canyon. I went with the latter and was pleasantly surprised. It consists of a Chili relleno in green sauce, a Sonoran enchilada and a beef taco. I chose roasted corn and black beans as my sides. The thing I like best is the Oaxacan cheese that fills the chili relleno, which literally gushes forth upon opening with the fork. Combine that with the cheese that fills the Sonoran enchilada and you begin to experience cheese nirvana. So come by Santiagos and allow cook Jaime pamper you with a classic combo from the cooks favorites.

Quesadilla

Exactly what constitutes a quesadilla varies from region to region and between the U.S. and Mexico and is not universally agreed upon by chefs. And one thing you don't want to get started is a culinary argument between passionate chefs.

In most regions of Mexico, a quesadilla is a circle of cooked corn masa, called a "tortilla", folded in half and filled with cheese, then cooked until the cheese has melted. However, variations include the use of wheat flour tortillas, especially in the northeast part of Mexico, which are more like cheese tacos found in the U.S. Wheat dough is most commonly used in place of corn masa. Wheat tortillas are also used to make a gringa, which is a cross of a taco al pastor and a quesadilla.

While cheese is the most common filling, other ingredients are also used in traditional Mexican quesadillas, including cooked vegetables, mushrooms, and meat. Santiagos fill theirs with roasted poblano chilies, diced tomato, green onion and your choice of shredded chicken, beef or pork. This is accompanied by three tasty dips: chepotle ranch, ancho chili and our house-made guacamole

Dulce De Leche Cheescake!

Ahh, you have just finished a beautiful entourage of Santiagos dishes, you start the lulling of the eyes for nap time, but wait! You still have some count down time left for Dulce De Leche Cheescake!
What is Dulce de leche? it translates literally from the Spanish as “sweet of milk,” which is a food product similar in taste, texture, and consistency to a thick caramel sauce, and is made essentially of cooked milk and sugar. When blended into a cheesecake recipe you have one of Santiagos most popular desserts among the customers.
So order some coffee to wake you back up, along with the Dulce De Leche Cheescake, and then choose a designated driver for the ride home.

Tacos

It sounds so simple, three seasoned hard shelled tacos filled with your choice of shredded beef or shredded chicken topped with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and mexican cheese. But the basic taco has travelled over time on a road of different composites.
And upon further investigation, you will find that the taco predates the arrival of Europeans in Mexico. There is anthropological evidence that the indigenous people living in the lake region of the Valley of Mexico traditionally ate tacos filled with small fish. Writing at the time of the Spanish conquistors, Bernal Díaz del Castillo documented the first taco feast enjoyed by Europeans which Hernán Cortés arranged for his captains in Coyoacán. It is not clear why the Spanish used their word, "taco" to describe this indigenous food.

Beginning from the early part of the twentieth century, various styles of tacos have become popular in the United States and Canada. The style that has become most common is the hard-shell, U-shaped version first described in a cookbook authored by Fabiola Cabeza de Vaca Gilbert and published in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1949. These have been sold by restaurants and by fast food chains. Even non-Mexican oriented fast food restaurants have sold tacos. Mass production of this type of taco was encouraged by the invention of devices to hold the tortillas in the U-shape as they were deep-fried. A patent for such a device was issued to New York restaurateur Juvenico Maldonado in 1950, based on his patent filing of 1947. (U.S. Patent No. 2,506,305)

So when you come to Santiagos to have a serving of Tacos, just think about how much history went into such a simple dish, that brings your hunger pangs under submission. It was no easy task...

Sysco salsa competition

There are several reasons to pay a visit to Bisbee, the fair weather, Victorian homes nestled in the mountains, or the abundance of art galleries and local musicians playing into the night. But there is also Santiagos, that provides the best Southwestern flavors ever imagined.
In the strive for excellence, they have again achieved a new height in the restaurant business. Karina Franco-Batty, Chef at Santiago's, won the salsa competion held at the Tucson convention center by Sysco Foods Cooperation.
She went up against 10 other Arizona chefs and won for her use of organic local vegetables and peppers for her roast salsa. She has consistently brought her talents to the table, being always creative and innovative in both Santiagos and The Bisbee Grille. Congratulations Karina, and know that you are always developing as a serious Chef and we look forward to your next dish.

Labor Day Tampiquena

The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City.

The form for the celebration of Labor Day was outlined in the first proposal of the holiday: A street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations," followed by a festival for the workers and their families. This became the pattern for Labor Day celebrations.

Certain things have been added to the observance of Labor Day, here in Bisbee we have the distinctive "Gulch Daze" that have been memorable if not intriguing. But another tradition has been at Santiagos, because we know how hard you work all year just to make it back to Bisbee for Labor Day.

And that tradition is to serve you the best food from our wide selection menu. And this Labor Day weekend feature is the hearty Tampiquena. Tampiquena is the most popular combination plates in Mexico, traditionally Steak served with Enchilada with sides. “Tampiqueña” implies that the dish comes from the city of Tampico in Mexico; this is incorrect, but the dish is certainly served there. Jose Luis Loredo—from Tampico—opened his Tampico Club in Mexico City about 1939, and this was his signature dish.

Santiagos serves a traditional 8 oz. seasoned rib-eye served with an enchilado topped with red or green sauce on a sizzling skillet with rice, refried beans and a side of our house made guacamole. Yes, it is time to rest from your labors, come to Bisbee and celebrate Santiagos style.

Sopapillas

In Chile sopaipillas are made from wheat flour, lard, pumpkin and salt. In Argentina and Uruguay, a sopaipilla, called torta frita, is a tortilla made from wheat or corn flour and fried in animal fat or roasted in the ashes in a traditional horno. It may be sweetened spreading Dulce de Leche over the torta frita. In Chile, they are fried and made from pumpkin or squash based dough called zapallo.

The sopaipilla is very popular in Chile. It can be salty or sweet, in which case it's eaten as a dessert. When eaten sweet it's boiled or dipped in chancaca after being fried. When served this way they are called Sopaipillas Pasadas. Chancaca sauce is a sauce made of molten chancaca (black beet sugar) mixed with orange peel, cloves, and cinnamon.

At Saniagos, we deep fry our dough and bring it up golden brown, dusted with a mix of cinnamon and sugar, served with our local Bisbee's killer bee honey. Yum Yum.

Ceviche

Ceviche is an appetizer that is popular throughout Latin America. Ceviche is marinated in a citrus-based mixture, with lemons and limes being the most commonly used. In addition to adding flavor, the citric acid causes the proteins in the seafood to become denatured, which pickles or "cooks" the fish without heat. Traditional style ceviche was marinated up to 3 hours.
Modern style ceviche usually has a very short marinating period. With the appropriate fish, it can marinate in the time it takes to mix the ingredients, serve, and carry the ceviche to the table.
At Santiagos, we take fresh shrimp and white fish marinated in lime juice with diced tomato, onion, cucumber cilantro. Prepared fresh daily.

Sizzling Fajita's

In Spanish, fajita is the diminutive form of the word faja (Spanish pronunciation: ['faxa]) which translates to "belt" or "girdle" in English. Butchers along the Texas border with Mexico used the word to refer to the diaphragm muscle of a steer.
In 1984 Homero Recio, a lecturer on animal science at Texas A & M University, obtained a fellowship to study the origins of the item, coming to the conclusion two years later that, ironically, it was his grandfather, a butcher from Premont, Texas, who may have been the first to use the term "fajita" to describe the pieces of skirt steak cooked directly on mesqutie coals for family dinners as far back as the 1930s.
Keeping with tradition, Santiago's takes to the grille with your choice of Fresh Shrimp, chicken or beef, sauteed with roasted red and green peppers, onions, and tomatoes. Served with Maria's pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, fresh tortillas and two sides. And like the Texas ranch hands, they pull it from the fire to the table still a' sizzlin.

Red Chili Burro

Before Mexican food really became stylish in the rest of the country, burritos were called burros in Arizona. Put an 'ito' on the end of it and it means 'small burro.' Burros range in so many ways that it is the most wide open arena next to sandwiches. In one aspect, though, they all have one thing in common, just how hot do you want it?
In Santiagos case, we chose the middle of the road, using tender red chili con carne wrapped in a warm tortilla, topped with red chili sauce. Then it is salted and blended with Mexican cheese and green onions. This goes great with our large, large glass of iced tea.

Monsoon Margaritas

Cry uncle all you want, it won't divert the heat between monsoons...until you come to Santiagos for our summer margaritas. We have 50 different brands of Tequila to match your taste, along with a wide variety of margarita mixes that will brighten your eyes and make your tongue shake like a maraca.
So come in out of the sun, visit our great bartenders and ask for one of our many mixes of margaritas, and then wait for the monsoon...