Arizona & New Mexico

Yum!   Great states to cook from.  Although I'm sure the residents of both states would tell us that their foods aren't exactly the same, they are similar enough that it is hard to say which of the two states our recipes are from.  Both are what we consider "Southwestern" cooking, heavily influenced by Mexican cooking. 

There are so many good recipes in this category, it was hard to decide what to make, but we finally landed on homemade flour tortillas and Chile Verde Con Cerdo (pork with green chiles).   The tortillas were actually very easy to make, though a bit time consuming since we had to cook them one at a time in our lone cast iron skillet.   Next time I think we'll try doing some in a regular non-stick frying pan as well so that we can cook two at a time.   Anyway, the resulting tortillas were soft and fresh.   DD declared them "awesome".    The recipe we used is available at http://www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com/flour_tortilla_recipe.html.

The Chile Verde was a good multi-person recipe since there was a lot of chopping and sauteing involved.   It was helpful to have all 3 of us  doing the prep and the cooking.   The stew was supposed to simmer for at least an hour so we started early, got it on the stove, and then had time to do other things for awhile while enjoying the tantalizing smell!   It was a big hit - definitely a great area of the country for good food!  The recipe we used is available at http://www.food.com/recipe/chile-verde-con-cerdo-green-chili-with-pork-20574.   If we make it again, we will probably make half the recipe - it makes a ton.