Thursday, March 22, 2012

thick red delicious



There are strings of red chiles everywhere in New Mexico, called ristras, which are used for decoration as well as making into red chili sauce


I brought home a large bag full of the dried peppers.  These are widely available at Latino grocery stores, and I wanted authentic New Mexican ones, but you can use any variety


I ground the dried chilis into powder, then made a delicious, traditional sauce - it's really easy and is done in about 15 minutes:


Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a pot or pan - stir in 2 Tablespoons of flour to make a roux - make sure it has no lumps.  Add ½ cup of chili powder, then 2 cups of either water of tomato juice.  Simmer the sauce and add ½ teaspoon of garlic powder, oregano, and 1 teaspoon of salt.  The sauce thickens as it cooks.  I ate some with eggs and tortillas, tofu, potatoes - anything at all.  It is super thick, rich and deeply chili-flavored.  It isn't spicy unless you use hot chilis or add some other type of heat.

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