Broiled Fish with Garlic Oil and Dried Chile
The Guajillo (wha-hee-oh) chile is the most common dried chile in Mexico after the Ancho. The flavor of the Guajillo is distinct, slightly fruity with a strong piney, berry under taste. Guajillo flavors dished easily so a little goes a long way. This chile is between a 2-4 on the heat scale of 1-10. Guajillo, combined with the Passilla and Ancho, form the holy trinity of chiles used to prepare the traditional mole sauces.
Suggested Use:
A mildly hot chile. Use in sauces, salsa, soups and your favorite chile. A little goes a long way.
Ingredients:
1 dried guajillo or New Mexican chile
4 (6-oz) red snapper fillets with skin
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 Tbs red-wine vinegar
2 Tbs chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
Instructions:
Split open chile and discard stem and seeds. Heat a dry small heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot, then toast chile until fragrant, about 5 to 10 seconds on each side. Finely chop chile.
Line rack of a broiler pan with foil and lightly oil, then set aside. Preheat broiler.
Pat fish dry, then brush both sides with 1 tablespoon oil (total) and sprinkle with sea salt. Broil fillets, skin sides up, about 5 inches from heat for 9 minutes (skin will be browned and blistered). Turn fish over and broil until flesh is opaque (just cooked through), 1 to 2 minutes more.
Transfer fish to a platter and sprinkle with vinegar, parsley, and chopped chile.
Heat remaining 1/3 cup oil in small heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then saute garlic, stirring, until golden, about 1 minute. Drizzle oil with garlic over fish and serve immediately.
Serves 4.
From Gourmet magazine.