Southwestern Recipes
New Mexican Red Pepper Paste
This paste is ideal for beef brisket, chicken breasts, and spare
ribs. You can also add a couple of tablespoons of the paste to any
of the basic marinades or to your favorite barbecue sauce to liven
up the flavor.
Ingredients
- 4 dried ancho chile peppers, stems, veins and seeds removed
- 2 dried New Mexican chile peppers (guajillo),stems, veins and seeds removed
- 2 canned chipotle chile peppers (or reconstituted dried chipotles)
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Soak the ancho and New Mexican chile in hot water to cover for about
1 hour. Remove the chilies from the water and reserve 2 cups of
soaking water.
- Combine the chiles, reserved soaking water (as needed), chipotle,
onion, garlic, cumin, oregano and salt in a food processor and puree
until all the ingredients are blended into a smooth thick paste.
Use the soaking liquid as needed to moisten the mixture in a paste
form. Store in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 weeks.
Yield: 2 to 3 cups
Recommendations: Marinate chicken breasts (4 to 6 hours); wings
(6 to 8 hours); beef brisket (8 hours to overnight); spare ribs
(8 hours to overnight).