Guajillo Chile Sauce With Cream Recipes

Steps:

• Start 6-8 cups of water boiling.
• Put chilies in boiling water, turn heat to a slow simmer. Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Transfer chiles to a blender and discard water. Add garlic, cumin, oregano, Adobo Seco and chicken stock to blender with chilies and puree 45-60 seconds until smooth.
• Strain chili mixture into a large bowl. Use immediately or freeze for later.
• Makes 2 cups.

Steps:

• 1. Put the tomato in a blender. In a dry skillet, toast the chiles, turning, until aromatic and the color looks orange in places. Do not burn. Break the toasted chiles into pieces, discarding the stems and seeds. Grind in a spice grinder to a powdery consistency. (I use a coffee grinder reserved for spices.) Transfer to the blender. 2. In the same dry skillet, pan-roast the garlic until speckled with brown in a few places, about 5 minutes. Peel and put in the blender. In the same skillet, toast the oregano and cumin seeds until aromatic, about 2 minutes. Add to the blender with 2/3 cup of water. Process as smooth as possible. Pour through a strainer into a bowl, pressing to extract all the pulp. Discard the bits of skin and debris. 3. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Pour in the sauce and cook, partially covered, stirring frequently, to blend the flavors, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the cream and season with salt. Cook over low heat, uncovered, until thick and smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. The sauce is ready to use, or store in a covered container up to 3 days, refrigerated, or frozen for 3 months. From "1,000 Mexican Recipes." Copyright 2001 by Marge Poore. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Steps:

• Set a heavy ungreased skillet or griddle over medium heat, lay the unpeeled garlic on the hot surface and let it roast to a sweet mellowness, turning occasionally until soft when pressed, a few small spots will blacken, about 15 minutes. Cool, slip off skins and roughly chop.
• While the garlic is roasting break the stems off chilies, tear chilies open and remove seeds, for the mildest sauce remove all stringy light colored veins. Finish and remove garlic if you haven't done so. Toast the chilies a few at a time on your medium-hot skillet. Open them flat, lay them on the hot surface skin side up and press flat with a metal spatula (if the temperature is right you will hear a faint crackle), then flip them and do the same (If you press them just long enough they will have changed to a mottled tan underneath, a wisp of smoke is OK but any more than that then there burnt). Transfer chilies to a bowl and cover with hot water and let rehydrate for 30 minutes, pour off all water and discard.
• In a food processor or blender add chilies, garlic, oregano, pepper and cumin, add 2/3 cup of the broth and process to a smooth puree, scraping and stirring every few seconds (In a blender you may need to add a little more broth until everything is moving). With a rubber spatula, work the puree through a medium mesh strainer into a bowl, discard skins and seeds left in the strainer.
• Heat oil in a medium-sized pot (4 quart) over medium heat, when hot enough to make a drop of the puree sizzle sharply add the puree all at once. Cook stirring constantly, as the puree sears, reduces and darkens to an attractive earthy brick red paste, usually about 7 minutes, taste it: You'll know it is done when it has lost that harsh raw-chili edge.
• Stir in remaining 3 cups of broth, partially cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes. If the sauce has thickened past the consistency of a light cream soup, add more broth. Taste and season with salt and sugar - Salt to brighten and focus the flavors, sugar to smooth any rough or bitter chili edges.
• Covered and refrigerated the sauce will last about a week. If you freeze it you will need to re-boil it to bring back the lovely texture.
• Other chilies you can use - An equal amount of New Mexico chillies can replace the quajillo, the sauce will not be as full flavored; a chipotle or two adds complexity.