Mr. Hawthorne has been asking about
that deep, red "Mexican" sauce I've made before.
I use quotations since what the heck
does this gringo know about authentic Mexican?
Anyhoos, my little Hawthornelets love
my ersatz attempts at Mexican cuisine,
so today I'm making a rich dried pepper and tomato sauce
to serve with fried tortillas and flank steak strips.
I walked into my vast, expansive pantry.
I opened my tiny hall closet door.
And I found California, pasilla, and guajillo dried peppers.
I pulled out 3 peppers from each bag
and peeled 6 cloves of garlic.
I tore the peppers into pieces,
discarding most of the seeds,
and added the chili pieces and garlic
to a dry pan over medium high heat.
Cook for a few minutes,
pressing the chiles on the hot pan
until garlic browns slightly and chiles blister and steam a bit.
Cautionary note:
Be sure you have adequate ventilation when cooking the chiles.
Cough. Cough. Cough.
Remove peppers to a bowl,
saving the garlic cloves,
and pour boiling water over the chiles.
Cover with a bowl or plate
to keep the peppers submerged.
Let sit for about 2 hours.
I put about 1/4 teaspoon each cumin seed and black pepper
in my mortar and pestled away at it.
Ingredients for the sauce
9 dried chiles, prepared
1 28-oz. can tomatoes
1 can beef broth
1 TB oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper, ground up
1/4 tsp cumin seeds, ground up
1/2 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
6 garlic cloves, lightly browned
10 or so garden tomatoes, broiled
I picked a few tomatoes from the garden
to use in my sauce.
I cut the stems off,
set them on foil,
and put them under the broiler for about 15 minutes,
turning halfway through the cooking time.
Let the tomatoes cool a bit ...
... then add the tomatoes, blackened skins and all,
the garlic, and ...
... the cumin and black pepper to a processor.
Process away.
Next, I chopped my pepper and 1/2 onion.
In a pot, add a little oil
and cook pepper and onion
for a minute or so over medium heat.
Add in puréed broiled tomatoes to the pot
and turn heat to low.
Add in a tablespoon of oregano.
Pour the can of tomatoes with juice in the processor.
Add drained chiles.
Purée.
Add puréed tomato and pepper mixture to pot.
Pour in can of broth.
Stir in a tablespoon of sugar
and cook over low heat until mixture
reduces by half, stirring occasionally.
Couple of hours.
I thinly sliced flank steak and ...
... lightly seasoned with fajita and adobo seasonings.
Thanks again to Ange in Wisconsin
for sending me the seasonings!
I heated a little peanut oil in my pan
and fried up a few tortillas.
Look how poofy they get!
Remove from oil and ...
... chopped onions.
Cook until browned.
Junior, sporting his new head gear.
Place meat and sauce on a fried tortilla.
Add chopped lettuce and sour cream.
Enjoy.
¡Buen provecho!
That looks good, but how did it taste? How did the heat linger on the tongue?
ReplyDeleteIt's a rich,complex sauce. Not spicy hot.
ReplyDelete