INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Take 12 dried Big Jim chiles.  (You can substitute Anneheim or New Mexico
chiles.  They shouldn't be the tiny hot ones, rather they should be as
sweet and meaty as possible, not too hot. The quality of the chile makes or
breaks this sauce.) Pull of tips and stems and dump out most of the seeds.
Curse those last few seeds you can't get. Debate whether to remove that
hard-to-get vein. Decide not to. Reconstitute in enough hot water to cover
for 30 minutes. (Bring to boil, turn off heat, let sit covered.)
While the chiles are reconstituting, saute over medium-low heat a chopped
small onion in some extra-virgin olive oil.  When the onion is getting
transluscent, turn down heat and add some crushed garlic and shake the pan.
Be careful not to brown it.
After the chiles are full, about half an hour, blend them with a little of
the soaking water, working up to the highest setting.  The consistency
should be approximately like a tomato sauce, so adjust the water while
you're blending. Pour through a sieve directly into the sauted onion pan,
pushing through with the back of a large spoon.
Mix, add some dried basil and oregano.  Add salt to taste.  (It may take a
lot.)  Add some sugar, a tiny bit at a time, to taste.
Add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of vodka.  Turn the heat to medium-low and let the
alcohol  gently boil away, about ten minutes.  Be careful not to burn the
sauce.
Turn heat to low and add enough half and half to give the sauce a pinkish
color, about 1/3 - 1/2 cup.  Adjust to taste.  Adjust salt.
Serve over any combination of rice, penne, beans, scallops, tofu or tempeh.
(If you're a sinner you can serve it over any kind of meat.)
Jkandell@ccit.arizona.edu
CHILE-HEADS ARCHIVES
From the Chile-Heads recipe list.  Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe
Archive, http://www.erols.com/hosey.

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