Red Chile Sauce
New Mexico Chiles are the dried form of the Red Anaheim Pepper. This chile has a thin flesh with an earthy chile flavor and undertones of wild cherries. This chile ranges from 2 – 4 on a heat scale of 1 to 10. The New Mexico Chile may be referred to as the California Chile or Chile Colorado. New Mexico Chiles are commonly used in Red Mexican or Southwestern sauces and is grown in Mexico. This mildly hot chile. Scoville heat units 8,000 – 12,000.
Suggested Use:
New Mexico Chiles are mildly hot and very popular in Southwest cooking. Great in sauces, salsa, rice dishes, stews and soups. Add directly to the cooking liquid along with other spices. Use in stir fry, or add to chicken or fish marinades.
Ingredients:
2 oz. whole dried New Mexico chiles (6)
1 oz. whole dried guajillo chiles (6)
4 cups boiling-hot water
3 Tbsp. finely chopped white onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1-1/2 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 tsp. drive oregano, crumbled
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. kosher salt, or to taste
2 tsp. sherry vinegar, or to taste
1 tsp. sugar, or to taste
Instructions:
Rinse the chiles and split open, discarding the stems, seeds and ribs.
Heat a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over moderate heat, then toast the chiles, skin sides up, in batches, about 30 seconds (be careful not to burn them, or sauce will be bitter). Transfer the toasted chiles to a heatproof bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Cover the bowl and soak the chiles, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 15 minutes.
Puree the chiles with 3/4 of the soaking liquid in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Reserve the rest of the soaking liquid. Pour the puree through a coarse sieve into a bowl, pressing on the solids. Discard the solids. Whisk the reserved soaking liquid into the chile mixture.
Cook the onion, garlic, cumin and oregano in oil in a large heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, 2 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring for about 2 minutes. Whisk in the chile mixture and simmer, partially covered, whisking occasionally, until it reduces to about 2-1/2 cups, about 30 minutes. Season with salt, vinegar and sugar.
Makes about 2-1/2 cups.
Note: Sauce can be made one week ahead of time, then cooled completely and chilled, covered.