Chile colorado

*Not vegetarian version*



Makes 7-10 small servings

Ingredients:

6 dried large red chiles (guajillo or similar), seeded and rinsed

9 dried chile de arbol, seeded and rinsed

Roast meat, 1.5 kg

Garlic, 6 cloves minced

Yellow onion, 1 whole, diced

Oil, veggie or high heat oil

Ancho chile powder, 2 tsp

Cayenne pepper powder, 2 tsp

Smoked paprika, 1 tbsp

Black pepper, 1/2 tbsp

Red wine, good quality Cabernet Sauvignon, 200 ml (about 1 cup)

Chayote squash, 3 of them cut up in big chunks

Whole wheat flour, 3 tbsp

Sea salt, 1/2 tbsp

Dried tarragon, 1 tbsp

Place the rinse and seeded dried chiles in a bowl. Add about 400 ml (about 1 and 1/2 cup) water or broth, and allow the chiles to soak in the water for at least 3 hours. Once soaked, blend the chiles and left over water in a blender on high until the mixture becomes smooth and creamy. Feel free to add very small amounts of water a bit at a time during blending if the mixture looks too thick. You don't want it to be watery though, so just a bit at a time should work. Set this mixture aside.

In a large soup pot, heat about 5 tbsp oil. Once oil is hot, add garlic and onions. Continue to cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until onions are slightly translucent.

Lower heat to medium, and add ancho chile powder, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, and black pepper. Continue to stir frequently until all the spices and onion mixture become fragrant, about 5 minutes depending on heat. You can choose to add this onion mixture to the blender and blend with the red chile sauce as well, but I didn't in this version. Up to you.

In a large saucepan, brown meat on the outside until you can cut it up in chunks. Once cut up into chunks, brown the meat some more in saucepan, and then add red wine. Let meat cook in wine until some of the wine has evaporated, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add contents of saucepan to larger soup pot with onion mixture.

In same saucepan you cooked meat, cook the chayote for a while on medium heat. No need to add more oil, but be sure to stir it occasionally. Chayote will release lots of moisture, so it shouldn't stick to the pan. If it does, turn down the heat a bit. Once the chayote is a bit softer, add the chayote to the larger soup pot. It doesn't have to be cooked all the way before adding it to soup pot.

In the same saucepan, add about 50 ml (1/4 cup about) and heat oil. The oil should be hot, but not burning. Sprinkle the wheat flour into this hot oil and let it cook for a bit, sort of like making a roux for curry. Once it is cooked after about 5 minutes, but not burnt, slowly add in the red chile mixture from the blender.

Cook the red chile mixture for about 10 minutes in the saucepan. Then transfer everything in the sauce pan with the chayote into the larger soup pan. Add the sea salt and dry tarragon, and allow everything to cook on a lower heat for about half an hour or so.

Serve hot and enjoy with tortillas, or rice, or a bowl of beans, or whatever you want. Enjoy!