Serve over Southwestern Bread Pudding.
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 pound butter, melted
1/3 cup good quality tequila
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
Cream the sugar and egg together. Add the butter and pour into a medium saucepan. Over a low flame, stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the tequila and lime juice.
Serve over the bread pudding.
This very easy to prepare sauce only gets better as it ages. Allow it to sit for at least a week before using, if possible. For a green version of this sauce, use serrano, jalapeño, or Thai chiles in their green stage, instead of the red varieties called for below. Note: This recipe requires advance preparation.
1/2 cup fresh tabasco chiles, stems removed, or substitute cayenne, piquin, or japones chiles
2/3 cup white vinegar
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
Place all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.
Pour into a clean, sterilized bottle and let steep in the refrigerator for a few weeks before using.
This versatile sauce is basic to New Mexican cuisine. It is best with freshly roasted and peeled chile but can be made with canned, frozen or even dried green chile. Finely diced pork can be added but cook the sauce for an additional half hour. Use this sauce over enchiladas, burritos, or tacos. It will keep for about 5 days in the refrigerator and freezes well.
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 to 3 cups homemade chicken stock
1 cup chopped green New Mexico chile, roasted, peeled, stems removed
1 small tomato, peeled and chopped
Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until soft. Stir in the flour and blend well. Simmer for a couple of minutes to “cook” the flour. Slowly add the broth and stir until smooth.
Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce has thickened, about 15 minutes.
This method of making chile sauce differs from others using fresh green New Mexican chiles because these chiles aren’t roasted and peeled first, as you must do with green chiles. Because of the high sugar content of fresh red chiles, this sauce is sweeter than most. We harvested some chiles from his garden one late summer day, made a batch of this sauce, and ate every drop as a soup! It makes a tasty enchilada sauce, too. It will keep for about a week in the refrigerator.
1/4 cup vegetable oil
8 fresh red New Mexican chiles (or more to taste), seeds and stems removed, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
4 cups water
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano leaves
Salt to taste
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and saute the chiles, onion, and garlic until the onion is soft, about 7 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour, uncovered.
In a blender, puree the sauce in batches and return it to the saucepan. Cook until the sauce thickens to the desired consistency. Add salt to taste.
This is a very basic sauce that can be easily changed to create a variety of different pasta dishes. For example, substitute feta cheese for the mozzarella, oregano for the basil, add some kalamata olives and chopped capers and you have Greek pasta. This dish can be served hot or at room temperature making it great for summer entertaining.
4 tomatoes, chopped
½ cup chopped fresh basil
2 to 3 jalapeño or serrano chiles, stems and seeds removed, minced
2 tablespoons minced red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz. fresh mozzarella, asiago, or ricotta cheese, diced small
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped walnuts for garnish
Combine the tomatoes, basil, chiles, onion, and garlic in a large serving bowl. Stir in the cheese, olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Let the sauce stand for 30 minutes to blend the flavors. Cook the pasta until the done and drain. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. Garnish with the walnuts and serve.
