Dried Chiles~ Staples of a Mexican Kitchen

For as far back as I can remember, there were a few”must have” staples  in my Mom’s kitchen. Tomatoes, fresh chiles, onions, cilantro and a variety of dried chile peppers. What, no garlic? People are surprised when I tell them how fresh garlic was not used in my mom’s everyday cooking  as they had imagined. The fresh garlic was reserved for cooking frijoles or caldos (soups). I always assumed that it was because she was too busy raising eight kids, she did not have time to mince garlic, lol! Of course there was always that jar of garlic powder in the cupboard for guisados and rice. Since those days, I have learned to cook with fresh garlic and lots of it. One thing that was a constant was that storage container with half torn plastic bags of dried chile peppers, such as chile ancho and chile de arbol. The chile ancho was must for tamales, chile colorado and costillas de puerco. And with tamales, came the salsa de tomatillo, prepared spicy with the added chile de arbol.  For this blog post today, I want to share some pictures of the dried chiles I keep in my kitchen. Besides the few dishes I mentioned above, you can prepare a variety of sauces and salsa’s using the dried chiles. For the first entry, I prepared a spicy salsa recipe that was inspired and adapted from a bottle of hot sauce from my favorite Mexican chef Rick Bayless. It’s a Toasted Chile Salsa, which also includes toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and ajonjoli (sesame seeds). I have prepared many dried chile recipes and will add a few new ones to this post every month.

Toasted Chile Salsa

Toasted Chile Salsa with pumpkin, sesame seeds, oregano

1/4 cup raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/4 cup ajonjoli (sesame seeds)
24 chile de arbol, stems removed
2 chile guajillo
1/2 tablespoon Mexican oregano
2 cloves garlic, smashed
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Juice of 1 key lime
salt to taste

1. Preheat a comal or griddle pan to medium/low heat for 5 minutes. Add all the chiles, pepitas and ajonjoli to the comal or griddle. When toasting chiles, seeds or nuts, you should never leave unattended because they can burn easily. Toast them for about 5 to 7 minutes, turning as needed. 

2. When the peppers become aromatic and blacken in some spots, they are ready. the sesame seeds and pepitas will also turn slightly brown in color.If you let any of them go too long, they will taste bitter. Before removing ingredients from comal, add the oregano for a minute. 

3. Transfer all of the ingredients to the blender. Add all of the remaining ingredients listed. Blend on high until smooth. You will have to push ingredients down with a spatula a couple of times to make sure it all blends well. Taste for salt. If you want to thin out the salsa a little more, just add a little more water.

Spicy Taqueria-Style Salsa

5 Roma tomatoes
15 chile de arbol
2 cloves garlic
1 cup beef broth rendered from barbacoa or beef roast
*you want it to have a little bit of fat from the beef
Salt to taste

Directions 

Cover the tomatoes and chile de arbol with water. Bring to a boil and cook until tomato skins strat to tear open and tomatoes soften. Drain the water and transfer mix to blender. Add garlic and blend until smooth. Add beef broth and blend for another few seconds, taste for salt. The flavor on this will just improve the longer it sits. My sister in law Norma taught me this great recipe from when she had her own taqueria food truck. Yields about 2 cups.

Note~ This hot sauce has a shorter shelf life because of the added broth, up to a week is good.

Salsa Ranchera Estilo La Costeña. I remember going home to L.A. and trips to the Giant Dollar store. Mom would purchase at least 10 jars of La Costeña brand Salsa Ranchera. Not many store bought brands she liked, but this one was delicious! This is my version of the Salsa Ranchera but with chile de arbol instead of jalapeños. Scroll to the end to get printable recipe!

Tips~For my version of this salsa, I prefer to use chile de arbol. I believe the bottled version they use jalapeños.

Toasted Chile de Arbol Hot Sauce, a variation that is prepared with   mostly vinegar and water. I learned how to prepare an Asian style chile sauce a few years back and this is the same method I used to prepare this recipe. I did not add any sugar, but you most certainly can if you like it sweet and spicy. Besides just enjoying it as a hot sauce, I use this as a base for a spicy marinade on seafood or chicken with a little added oil , citrus and more garlic.

1/4 pound of Chile de arbol (about 2 cups)
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 cups water
2 cups white vinegar
4 roasted tomatillos (I char them on the stove top in a little oil)
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt to taste…I used about 5 teaspoons
3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water to make a slurry

1. Toast the chile de arbol in a skillet and medium/low heat for a few minutes. Turn it often so it does not burn. You will have some dark spots and it will become aromatic. Remove from heat and transfer to the blender.

2. Add all of the remaining ingredients to the blender, minus the cornstarch slurry. Blend on high until mostly smooth.

3. Transfer hot sauce to saucepan and heat to medium. As soon as it comes to a low simmer, whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Stir well to combine and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Taste for salt. Let cool completely at room temperature before storing in an airtight container. It will keep in refrigerator for a few months.

Salsa Macha~Salsa de Aceite ~ Oil Based Chile de Arbol Salsa

I have prepared this style of salsa before many times, but really did not know the true name for it, lol! The other day while browsing through youtube, I came across a food video in Spanish and there it was! I like to add some vinegar to mine for that hint of acid that I love so much.

Ingredients 

1 cup oil, avocado or olive, plus 1/4 cup reserved

1/4 pound chile de arbol, stems removed

5 chile California or guajillos, stems and seeds removed
6 cloves garlic
1/3 cup cider vinegar
Salt to taste
*more oil if needed

Directions

1. In a pan, combine the 1 cup oil, chile de arbol, Chile California peppers and garlic. Bring up to a light simmer at medium heat. When the peppers become aromatic, lower heat and stir often. You want the peppers to become bright red and slightly soft. Do not let them get dark or they will be bitter. Remove from heat and let cool.

2. Transfer chile/oil mixture to the blender, add vinegar and salt to taste. Pulse to blend, adding more oil if it’s too thick. Yields about 2 1/2 cups.

Salsa Ranchera

This is my copycat version of the salsa ranchera from La Costeña that my mom loved so much!

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Salsa

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: 4 cups

Ingredients

• 6 large tomatillos peeled and washed
• 4 chile ancho stems and seeds removed
• 12 to 24 chile de arbol depending on your heat level. stems removed
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/4 section large white onion
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin optional(not traditional, but I like it in this recipe)
• salt to taste

Instructions

• Remove the stems and seeds from the chile ancho and just the stems from chile de arbol.
• Add all of the ingredients, minus the oregano, cumin and salt, to a pot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep for 20 minutes.
• Drain the water and transfer to the blender. Add the oregano, cumin and salt to taste. Blend on high until smooth.
• Pour salsa into sauce pan and heat to medium. When it comes up to a simmer, reduce heat and continue cooking for 10 minutes. Taste for salt. Store room temperature salsa in tight sealed glass jars refrigerated for 7-10 days.

Notes

In the original bottled version, they have jalapeños listed in the ingredients. If adding adding jalapeños, reduce the chile de arbol by half. I would add at least 3 jalapeños. You can toast or dry roast the ingredients before simmering for added flavor!

Tried this recipe?Mention @pinaenlacocina or tag #pinaenlacocina!

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