Red Chile sauce, aka Chile Colorado, all purpose for beef/pork/ and chicken.

First is a picture of Guajillo Chiles.

This second picture is of New Mexico Chiles.
Both are sold in most supermakets, sold in a bigger bag as DRIED chiles

Chile Colorado Sauce

Ingredients



½ pack of dried Guajillo chiles ( 6-7 chiles)
½ pack of dried New Mexico chiles ( 6-7 chiles)
4 cups of Water
1 large clove garlic
½ large onion. chopped
2 black peppercorns, crushed ( OR a pinch or ground black pepper)
1/2 teaspoon of salt, more to taste
Olive oil - about 2 TBSP.



DIRECTIONS :



1. In medium pot boil one quart of water. ABOUT 4 CUPS.

2.Meanwhile , Clean all the chiles, with a knife OR kitchen scissors, remove all stems,seeds and veins.

3. Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Do not toast, or burn the chilies, just HEAT them to bring out the flavors.

4. Next, Place the chilies in a small saucepan and pour boiling water over them to cover. Let sit for 15 minutes, until softened. (covered with lid )

5. Heat one TBSP Olive oil in pan, Now slightly toast/fry the whole garlic and chopped onion (with the same pan ,that you just heated chilies in ), about 2-3, then set aside.

6. Reserving the soaking water ( separately) , remove the chilies from the pan and place in a blender. Add the garlic, onion, salt, ground pepper, , and 1 1/2 cups of the soaking liquid (taste the soaking water first, if it seems bitter, use water instead). Purée for 2 minutes, until the sauce is completely smooth.

7.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.

8. Pour the sauce through a sieve into a skillet. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the sauce. Also, add one bouillon cube and ½ can of tomato sauce, taste it. If needed, add one more bouillon cube and the rest of tomato sauce.



Adjust to your taste.

9. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to maintain the simmer, cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Use immediately or pour into a glass jar (plastic will get stained) and refrigerate.

Mexican Beef Barbacoa in red sauce

First and foremost,Preheat your oven to 275ºF

Ingredients You WILL NEED:

1 Beef Boneless Chuck roast 4-5 lbs, cut into 3 equal pieces.
2 tbsp. chicken bouillon powder or 1 cube
3.5 cups of homemade Chile Colorado sauce Click HERE, to find the recipe , or a can of " Las Palmas Red Chile sauce "
2 cups of water to make chicken stock
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of pepper
2 TBSP. Olive oil
1/3 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar
1 8 quart pot of your choice

* Note* According to my mom, she uses the homemade Red Chile sauce, and puts one can of BEER and a whole juiced orange, with the rind included, however i made my recipe the easy way and it still came out great*)

Step 1 : Chop your beef roast into manageable pieces, so that you can sear each piece individually, it will most likely not fit into your home sized pan, and it's important to sear all surfaces.

For my 4.5 lb roast, i cut it into 3 equal pieces.

Step 1.5 : Use 1 TBSP olive oil, heat in the pan until HOT, almost smoking.

For searing, it's important for the oil in the pan to be HOT so that when you drop the beef into the pan, it sizzles.


* Sear all pieces until browned, almost caramelized looking, then throw directly into your pot. They will be RAW inside.








Step 2: With the same pan you just seared the beef in, pour 2 cups of water until boiling, add the chicken powder or bouillon cube and mix until dissolved.



Step 3: Add both the can of Red Chile sauce and the chicken stock, that you just made into the pot. The beef roast pieces should be just about covered. Now add the apple cider vinegar into the pot as well.



Step 4 : Also ADD in a few shakes of salt and pepper, just enough to season perfectly. Remember, it is about 4.5 lbs.

Step 5 : Cover your 8 quart pot with aluminum foil, and the actual lid on top of that in order to create a TIGHT lid.


Step 6 : Place the pot in the oven , and braise the meat for 5-6 hours at 275ºF.
Removing the lid during the last hour or so to allow the simmering liquid to reduce slightly.

Allow the beef to cool slightly, spoon off any easily removable fat from the braising liquid and then use two forks to pull/shred the beef into bite size pieces.

* DO NOT DISCARD THE BRAISING LIQUID*

Step 7 : Taste and adjust as necessary for seasonings.


This is how the Barbacoa looks when it is finished cooking, at this point you can chop it up with a sharp knife, or shred it. I prefer mine chopped !

Also, make sure to place the chopped beef right back into the braising liquid, to add moisture and flavor.

When ready to eat, you can either strain the meat and eat in tacos, or you can eat it as a beef stew with the braising liquid as the "soup " .

Enjoy !

Pork chops, Mashes taters and Ratatouille

Quick post before i continue working!
This meal was made with teamwork, i made the mashers and he made the rest!
I don't even like pork that much, but when i do, it's gotta be great and these chops were amazing! I almost wanted 2 share the 3rd one.

Just a test 2 c if this thing is working!

Lasagna in oversized ramekins! hehe

Quick bolognese sauce , ricotta and lasagne noodles. You like?
Actually i had already posted but i came back to include the garlic bread my husby makes which i love so much ( the bread, that is ) hehehe

Vegan blueberry Scones!

Ok so I am not a vegan, however i took on this task thinking my vegan bff would join in on the fun however our schedules never quite matched so finally i made them on my own. The " burnt on " stuff on my sheet pan appears to be blueberry juice burned on and sugar droppings. On the whole the recipe wasn't bad but next batch i make, will be non-vegan! It was still edible! What can i say!