Red Chile Salsa Recipes

NEW MEXICO RED CHILE SAUCE

Steps:

• Coat the bottom of a heavy saucepan with oil; add chile pods. Toast over medium heat until aromatic, about 3 minutes.
• Stir in onion and garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add enough chicken stock to allow pods to float; simmer until they develop the texture of wet leather, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Fill blender halfway with chile-stock mixture. Cover and hold lid down with a potholder; pulse a few times before leaving on to blend. Pour into a bowl; repeat with remaining mixture. Strain sauce through a fine mesh strainer into a saucepan over medium heat. Discard solids.
• Stir cumin, coriander, and oregano into the saucepan; add honey. Cook until sauce is thick and evenly coats the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes.

AUTHENTIC BASIC RED SALSA

Steps:

• In blender, place all ingredients except oil. Cover; blend until smooth.
• In 2-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add tomato mixture; cook about 5 minutes or until hot. Serve warm or cold with tortilla chips, as desired. Cover and refrigerate any remaining salsa.

MEXICAN RED CHILE SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place chiles on a baking sheet. Toast lightly in oven, 3 or 4 minutes, until they give off a mild aroma. Do not burn, otherwise, chiles will be very bitter.
• Remove chiles from oven and set aside until cool enough to handle.
• Remove and discard stems, seeds, and any pink pithy materials.
• Rinse chiles in cool water, drain briefly, then cover with hot water and soak for an hour.
• Process chiles in blender with enough of the soaking water to obtain a nice, blended consistency.
• Add remaining water, tomato sauce, garlic, oil, salt, oregano, and cumin. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for later use.

SALSA ROJA: RED CHILE-TOMATILLO SALSA

Steps:

• Toasting and roasting. Preheat a broiler.
• In an ungreased skillet over medium heat, toast the chiles, stirring for 1 minute, until they are very aromatic (some will have slightly darkened spots on them). Transfer to a bowl, cover with hot water and rehydrate for 30 minutes.
• In the same skillet, roast the garlic, turning regularly, until soft and blotchy-dark in places, about 15 minutes. Cool and slip off the papery skin.
• Roast the tomatillos on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler until soft, even blackened in spots, about 5 minutes on each side. Cool, then transfer the contents of the baking sheet (including any juices) to a blender or a food processor.
• Finishing the salsa: Drain the chiles and add to the tomatillos along with the garlic. Puree, then scrape into a serving dish. Stir in enough water to give a spoonable consistency, usually about 1/4 cup. Season with salt, usually 1 teaspoon, and the optional sugar. Refrigerated, the salsa keeps for several days.

BASIC RED SAUCE (SALSA DE CHILE ROJO)

Steps:

• Soak chiles in warm water until softened, about 30 minutes. Drain; strain and reserve liquid. Remove stems and seeds and membranes from the chiles. Cook and stir onion and garlic in oil in a 2-qt. saucepan until onion is tender. Add chiles and 2 cups of the reserved liquid , the tomato sauce, oregano, cumin and salt. Simmer uncovered 20 minutes. Cool.
• Transfer to blender container; cover and blend on low speed until smooth. Strain. Refrigerate sauce no longer than 10 days.
• Note: I strain mine in a mesh strainer or colander. It takes a few minutes, but keep thinking of how great this is going to taste!

MELLOW RED CHILE SALSA WITH SWEET GARLIC AND ROASTED TOMATOES

Steps:

• Heat the broiler. Pull the stems off the dried chiles, tear them open and shake out the seeds (if you prefer a salsa with a more refined texture, be sure to remove all the seeds). Place in a bowl, cover with hot tap water and lay a plate on top to keep them submerged.
• Lay the whole tomatoes on a broiler pan or baking sheet. Set as close to the boiler as your oven allows and broil for about 6 minutes, until darkly roasted and blackened in spots - the tomato skins will split and curl. With a pair of tongs, flip over the tomatoes and roast them for another 6 minutes or so, until they are soft and splotched with dark spots. Set aside to cool.
• Turn the oven down to 425 degrees. Separate the onion into rings and, on a pan or baking sheet, combine it with the garlic. Set in the oven. Stir carefully every few minutes, until the onions are soft and beautifully roasted (don't worry if some of the edges char) and the garlic is soft and browned in spots, about 15 minutes total.
• If you're not inclined toward rustic textures in your salsa, pull off the peels from the cooled tomatoes and cut out the "cores" where the stems were attached; catch the flavorful juices on the baking sheet as you work, so as not to waste any of them. By now the chiles should be soft (to catch them at the perfect stage of rehydration - before they've lost much flavor into the water - soak them no longer than 30 minutes); drain. In a blender or food processor, combine the drained chiles with the tomatoes and their juice. Process to a fairly smooth puree - chile skins are tough, so you want to make sure they are chopped up enough. Scrape two-thirds of the puree into a large bowl. Roughly chop the onion and garlic, then add them to the blender containing the rest of the chile-tomato mixture. Pulse repeatedly until all is moderately finely chopped. Scrape down the sides from time to time to keep everything moving evenly; if the mixture just won't move through the blades, add a little water to loosen it up. Scrape the puree into the bowl. Stir in the oregano and vinegar, then add enough water to give this salsa a lightly consistency.
• Taste and season generously with salt - this is a condiment, remember. Taste again and add a little sugar if you think it's necessary to balance any lingering bitterness in the chiles. If you're planning to use your salsa right away, simply pour it into a bowl and it's ready, or refrigerate it covered and use within 5 days.

HATCH CHILE SALSA

Steps:

• Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil; add Hatch chile peppers.
• Cook under the preheated broiler until the skin of the peppers has blackened and blistered, 5 to 8 minutes. Place blackened peppers into a bowl and tightly seal with plastic wrap. Allow peppers to steam as they cool, about 20 minutes. Remove and discard skins.
• Blend roasted Hatch chile peppers, diced tomatoes, diced tomatoes with roasted garlic, onion, cilantro, and garlic powder in a food processor or blender until desired consistency is reached.

RED CHILE SALSA

Steps:

• Heat oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add chiles; fry until fragrant and chiles turn light orange, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Transfer to plate; cool. Heat same skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté until golden, about 1 minute. Add 1 cup water; remove from heat. Puree chiles, garlic-water mixture, honey, and cinnamon in blender, adding more water by tablespoonfuls if too thick. Transfer to bowl. Season with salt. DO AHEAD: can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.