Best Traditional New Mexican Red Chile Sauce 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 MEXICAN RED CHILE SAUCE

Steps:

• Remove the stem of each dried chile. Shake out as many of the seeds as possible. (Make sure you are wearing gloves, and avoid touching your eyes/face).
• Heat your skillet on medium heat. Place your dried chiles on the skillet, pressing them down to toast them slightly on each side (10-15 seconds). You don't want to burn them or it will result in bitter sauce.
• Add your chiles to a small saucepan, add water (just enough to cover). Bring to a boil, turn off the heat. Allow them to sit for up to 10 minutes to rehydrate.
• Remove the chiles from the soaking water and place them in a blender. Add just under two cups of the soaking liquid. (If your soaking liquid is bitter then discard and add regular water).
• Puree for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a skillet with the olive oil. Bring the sauce to a low simmer, add your salt, and any additional optional ingredients.
• Brown sugar will tone down the spice, while cocoa/cacao will compliment the spicy sauce. Consider adding a pinch of any of the optional ingredients or more based on your preference.
• Skim off the foam as the sauce simmers, then remove from the heat and store in a glass jar. Refrigerate and use within one week.

NEW MEXICO RED CHILE SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Once hot, add the garlic and the onion. Saute in the oil for about 3 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Then whisk in the flour. Let the flour cook for 2 minutes, whisking it frequently. In a large bowl, whisk the red chile powder and the water together. While whisking the flour mixture, slowly add the red chile and water mixture. Whisk until smooth and bring to a steady simmer and let the sauce thicken over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Stir frequently. Once the sauce has thickened, add the salt, cumin, and oregano. Let the sauce simmer on low for another 3 minutes. I like to bottle the sauce up in mason jars. I think the sauce tastes best after it has been sitting in the fridge overnight. This recipe yields 3 3/4 cups of red chile sauce. Charles and I ate it all in 5 days.

MEXICAN RED CHILE SAUCE

Steps:

• Cut the chiles open and remove stem and seeds: Working on one chile at a time, use a paring knife to cut a slit all the way down one side of a chile. Open up the chile and remove the stem and seeds. Remove as much of the veins as you can. Reserve a few of the seeds or veins for adding later if you want added heat. Note when working with chiles, either wear protective gloves or wash your hands very thoroughly with soap and warm water after handling the chilies. Do not touch or rub your eyes if you have been handling chili peppers.
• Heat the chiles on a skillet: Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Flatten out the dried chiles as well as you can and place on the skillet to heat. Press down on the opened chiles and leave for a few seconds. Turn the chiles over and heat a few seconds more. You do not want to toast or burn the chiles! If they burn, they'll turn bitter. Just heat them enough to draw out more of their flavor.
• Soften the chiles in hot water: Add the chiles to a small saucepan and add enough water so that they are just covered. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes, until the chiles have softened and plumped up. (OR place the chiles in a small saucepan and pour boiling water over them to cover. Let sit for 15 minutes, until softened.)
• Purée with garlic, seasonings, water or poaching liquid: Remove the chiles from the pan, reserve the soaking water, and place the chiles in a blender. Add the garlic, salt, crushed peppercorns, ground cloves, and 1 1/2 cups of the soaking liquid (taste the soaking water first, if it seems bitter, use plain water instead). Purée for 2 minutes, until the sauce is completely smooth. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning. If you want more heat, add in a few of the seeds or veins and purée some more. Add more salt if needed.
• Strain through sieve into a skillet, simmer: Pour the sauce through a sieve into a skillet. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the sauce. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to maintain the simmer, cook for 10 minutes. Skim off the foam. Remove from heat. Use immediately or pour into a glass jar (plastic will get stained) and refrigerate.

TRADITIONAL NEW MEXICO RED CHILE CHEESE "STACKED" ENCHILADAS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Each serving will contain 3 corn tortillas. Take the tortilla and dip it in hot oil or dip it in the red chile sauce and put on plate. Top this with cheese and onion and more sauce and put another dipped tortilla on top and repeat this 2 times. Heat in the oven or under the broiler until cheese melts and top with a fried egg. Garnish the plate with the lettuce and tomato. You can serve this with fried potatoes or pinto beans.
• To make a casserole, you can layer the above in a baking dish with the final layer on top being cheese, do not put eggs on the casserole. Bake for about 20 minutes, until all is warm and melted. Garnish with lettuce and tomato. Can also serve with sour cream, chopped olives and guacamole.
• Remove the stems and seeds of the chile pods. Soak the pods in water or simmer on stove for about 10 minutes. Place chile and garlic in a blender with 1/4 cup water and puree until smooth. (Use 6 to 8 pods of chile and 2 cloves of garlic at a time, which will make the puree smoother and easier to work with.) Add more water as needed to get a medium consistency. In a sauce pan, add pureed chile with Mexican Oregano and salt to taste. Bring to a slow boil, and then simmer for 20 minutes. Pork can be browned and added to sauce while simmering.

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.

TRADITIONAL NEW MEXICAN RED CHILE SAUCE

Steps:

• Place the chile pods on a foil lined cookie sheet and warm in a 375º F.
• oven for just a few minutes until they become soft and leathery.
• Working in small batches at a time, fit pods into a blender or food processor.
• Purée with the onion, garlic, oregano and salt until smooth, adding small amounts of water as needed to make a sauce the consistency of thick cream.
• Place each batch of puréed mixture in a large bowl until all have been blended.
• Stir the batches together.
• Store in refrigerator.