Ancho Chili Puree Recipes

BASIC ANCHO CHILE PUREE

Steps:

• Soak the dried chiles in hot water for about 1 hour.
• Drain (but reserve a little of the soaking water), then pull the stem ends off and discard. The seeds can be discarded or blended with the chiles, depending on how spicy you want the purée to be. (I found it helpful to go ahead and chop/cut the chiles into smaller pieces prior to grinding/blending.).
• Blend the chiles in a food processor until smooth, adding a small amount of their soaking water if necessary (no more than 1/4 cup).
• Press the purée through a medium mesh strainer with a rubber spatula, leaving the leftover large pieces in the strainer. Discard large pieces.
• This will give you more chile puree than is needed for most recipes. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for several weeks or the freezer for up to 3 months. Freeze the puree in ice cube trays for easy measuring and future use.

ANCHO CHILI PUREE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a small saucepan over high heat. When it just starts to shimmer, add shallots, garlic and anchos. Lower heat and cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes or until shallots, garlic, and anchos are lightly toasted.
• Add tomatoes, cilantro and serrano. Raise heat to medium and cook 2 minutes. Add stock. Lower heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Do not reduce. Pour into a blender and puree until smooth. Mix masa harina with enough cold water to make a paste. Then, with the motor running, add to the puree in the blender. Strain through a fine sieve and stir in lime juice, honey and salt.
• Keep warm until ready to use.

BUTTERNUT-SQUASH-AND-ANCHO-CHILI PUREE

Steps:

• Place the ancho chili in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until chili is soft, about 10 minutes. Remove the chili from the liquid. When cool enough to handle, stem the chili, split it open and scrape out the seeds.
• Meanwhile, place the squash in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender, about 10 minutes. Drain well and place the squash in a food processor. Add the chili and the cumin and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Season with the salt and cayenne, if desired. Divide among 4 plates and serve immediately.

ANCHO BEER CHILI

Steps:

• In a shallow bowl, pour boiling water over ancho peppers, just enough to cover them, and leave set for about a half hour, or until peppers are soft. Then remove stems and seeds from peppers (use latex gloves while doing this). Place the peppers and the water in a food processor and puree them.
• Brown the ground meat with the garlic. Drain.
• Fry the sausage until cooked. Drain.
• In a large pot combine ground meat, sausage, ancho puree, onion, green chilies, mushrooms, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and beer.
• Mix together the salt, black pepper, cumin, cayenne, oregano, and chili powder.
• Add about half ofd the spice mix to the chili and mix thoroughly. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add beans and the rest of the spice mix. stir and simmer for another 15 minutes.

ANCHO SWEET-POTATO PURéE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F. and line a baking sheet with foil.
• Prick sweet potatoes in several places with a fork and bake on baking sheet in middle of oven until tender, about 1 hour. Cool potatoes until they can be handled.
• Wearing rubber gloves, stem and seed chiles and tear into 1-inch pieces. In a small saucepan bring chiles and cream to a boil. In a blender purée mixture until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids).
• Scoop flesh from potatoes into a food processor, discarding skins, and purée with cream mixture, salt, and 2 tablespoons butter. Purée may be made up to this point 1 day ahead and cooled before being chilled, covered.
• Transfer purée to a large saucepan and heat over moderate heat, stirring, until hot, stirring in more salt and butter if desired.