Recipe: Ancho Chile Paste

Forwarning - this isn't a meal unto itself, so don't make a batch of this and call out, "honey, dinner's ready!" You'll be facing a big letdown. Note: this recipe calls for a food processor.

• 6-8 dried ancho chiles 
• 6-8 cloves of garlic - roasted
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• up to 1/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon comino (optional)

This is a variant of the recipe found in Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen cookbook.

Ancho chiles are very mild and pungent, and when soaked, smell more like raisins than hot peppers you may be accustomed to. I add this paste to just about anything southwestern that I'm making, whether it's a fajita marinade or a mess of beans. I've even attempted to make a pasta sauce with this a few times, but I have to say that one is still in the developmental stages. If you do use this in a recipe where you want a spice kick, you'll need to get the spice kick elsewhere, as the paste is more for enriching your dish with an earthy complex flavor that you won't find by just chopping up some jalapenos.

Cut open and deseed the chiles, and open them up enough so that they can be pressed flat. The last time I bought anchos, I saw some chipotle chiles at the same store, so I added some of these to the mix - they really livened up matters from a spice perspective. Briefly broil or sear the chiles. If you broil them, make sure you do not over cook, as they will burn quickly and not taste so good. I prefer to sear them in an iron skillet - just get the skillet good and hot, and press the chile down briefly on each side for less than a minute until you hear a crackle and see a wisp of smoke (or is it the other way around?).  Once the chiles have been properly singed, soak them in water for about 30 minutes. While this is going on, roast the garlic. You can bake on 350 for about 25 minutes, or broil (but ten cuidado! you don't want to burn it).  Squeeze the roasted garlic from its peel and gather the soggy anchos and place in a food processor. Add the olive oil and a little broth and process. You may not need much of the vegetable/chicken broth - it's just there to keep the chiles honest and smoothen the paste as it spins around in the food processor. 

This will make about a cup and a half. I store it in the refrigerator in a jar, and it keeps for some time. I can't say how long, as I usually consume it within a month or two.

BTW - I don't think I've ever listed comino as optional in a recipe before, but i typically don't add it to my chile paste, as any recipe that calls for the paste calls for the comino, anyway, so why worry about it here? The same goes for other spices - if you wanted this to stand alone, you'd want some salt, freshly ground black pepper, etc. But here, we're just making a paste to add into whatever recipe calls for it and worry about the complementary ingredients at that time.

Recipe: Tequila Lime Salmon with Pico de Gallo

I love how a good fresh salsa of any sort complements the flavor of smoked or grilled salmon. I had grilled salmon with a tomatillo salsa in a restaurant last week, and thought, "I can do that!" I did something a bit different, but it was good! (as my Italian friend says, gnam gnam!)

• 4 salmon filets (about 2 lbs / up to 1 kg)
• 1/2 cup (any grade) + one shot (good) tequila
• two beers
• 1/3 cup ancho chile paste - or 1 tablespoon chili powder or both
• 1 tablespoon comino
• 1 lime wedge plus juice from 1 lime
• pico de gallo
• 2 avocados
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon sea salt (optional)

This recipe will take at least two hours counting marinade time, so you need to get started quickly. One hour in the marinade is sufficient, but I prefer two or three hours if you have the time. I listed the salt as optional, as some folks are watching their blood pressure.  Salt adds a bit of flavor, but I don't find it necessary. And it doesn't matter how much salt I cook with, my wife will salt the crap out of whatever I serve her, anyway. I will have another blog entry on the ancho chili paste - this is a staple in my house, and I always have some in the fridge, so I use it with just about any southwestern-style recipe.

Drink the shot of tequila, then squeeze the lime wedge into your mouth. Now you're ready to get started.

For the marinade, combine the rest of the tequila, juice from the lime, comino, cilantro, salt, and chili paste / powder in a shallow dish. Place the filets in here, skin side up. Make sure the liquid is at least half-way up the sides of the fish, so you get a good soaking going on. I'll usually  just add a little tequila to get the marinade to the optimal level. You could also have another tequila shot at this time, depending on the effect you're looking for.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours.

To cook the fish, I prefer smoking. I wax eloquently about the benefits of smoking fish in my blog entry from December 2007. Smoke these filets about 45 minutes to an hour based on how hot your smoker gets. Or if you're not that ambitious, you can grill, bake, or broil these bad boys.  For broiling, see my sea bass recipe from last month (the sear, flip, and broil method), or just bake on 400 for about 25 minutes.  

While the fish is smoking, drink the two beers, and make the pico de gallo and prep the avocado. If you're not from Texas, pico de gallo is just a nice fresh topping made with tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and serrano or jalapeno peppers and a squeeze of lime juice. Google it if you can't figure it out from that. Some folks like to mix it up with a little mango or grapefruit, which I've done once or twice, myself. I'll partake of that mixture in a restaurant, but at home I tend to stick to tradition and leave the fusion to the fusionistas in the restaurant trade.

One last thing - I love to drizzle a really high grade olive oil over sliced avocado and add a few twists of fresh ground pepper. I've also got pictured a slice of my rustic sourdough rye - I can't have a meal without bread or rice or pasta of some sort. Bread in this case is perfect for mopping up any garlic, salmon bits and pico de gallo, so you can just put the plate right back in the cupboard without washing.

Y'all enjoy now, you hear?