Charred Ancho Mexican Red Rice
Charred Ancho Mexican Red Rice has a mellow chile flavor and vivid hue which highlights the smokey, slightly sweet and garlicky flavors of our Garlic Ancho Chile Paste. This spicy rust colored Mexican red rice is complex and filling and can be served as a main, as a side dish to slow roasted meat, or as a starch base. Ancho chiles are ubiquitous in Mexican cuisine, we love their mild fruity flavor and always keep a large quantity on hand. Prolific Mexican cookbook author Rick Bayless, from whom this recipe is adapted, describes the flavor of anchos as “sweet dark cherries, prunes, and fresh tobacco." Charred Ancho Mexican Red Rice is an unusual rice dish, and one that has the benefit of being quick to make and can be easily made ahead, perfect for entertaining.
Yield: About 3 cups cooked rice, serves 6-8
Ingredients:
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups long grain white rice
- 3 1/3 cups chicken or vegetable broth (unsalted)
- 1/3 cup garlic ancho chile paste
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Steps:
- In a medium pot, saute the onions with olive oil on high heat until starting to brown, approximately 5 minutes.
- Add the rice and cook for an additional 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Pour in the chicken broth, garlic ancho chile paste, and salt. Stir until the chile paste is evenly distributed throughout the rice mixture.
- Once the ingredients are evenly mixed, cover the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat to low and cook, covered for approximately 18 minutes. The rice will be done when it is fluffy and cooked through and the liquid has evaporated.
Notes:
- For tips on fixing imperfect rice, check out this article.
Garlic Ancho Chile Paste
Mexican chile pastes of many hues and potencies dotted our fridge in the days leading up to Easter. After a spirited debate about menu and theme, we decided to cook a Mexican inspired meal for the holiday. Armed with a dozen cookbooks, bags of chiles, and advice from the helpful staff at our local Latin market, we set to work testing the recipes. After many heaps of charred chiles, garlic and herbs were pureed and perfected, we had a winner.
This Garlic Ancho Chile Paste is smokey, slightly sweet, medium spicy, and richly layered with roasted garlic and spices. Chile pastes are common in Mexican cooking, providing a complex base, potent marinade, or vibrant accent flavor. Ancho chiles are one of our favorites. These dried reddish-brown poblano chile peppers are popular in Mexican cuisine. This gorgeous paste is the starring ingredient in our Charred Ancho Mexican Red Rice and Ancho Cheddar Burgers.
Vietnamese Chicken Soup, Phở Gà
Food has the power to connect us to people and places around the world. In 2007, Rebecca and I spent three months traveling through South East Asia together. Leaving Cambodia on the back of moto-bikes, we arrived for the night, hot and dusty, in a small village in rural Vietnam. After dropping off our packs, we sat down on the rickety plastic stools of the town's only food stand, famished. Without asking what we wanted, two pungent bowls of Phở Gà, Vietnam's famous chicken noodle soup, were plunked down in front of us. We were hooked! As we made our way north over the next several weeks, we enjoyed many local variations of Phở: from the dark, rich, and beefy to bright and spicy with shrimp. Our favorite Phở, on which our recipe is based, was eaten from steaming bowls one early morning overlooking Hạ Long Bay. This version used chicken that had been marinated and grilled, rather than boiled in the soup, giving it a crispy texture and sweet charred flavor.
Each sip of flavorful broth reminds us also of the people and culture that created it. Phở is an aromatic and visual dish, one that we like to serve in our Vietnamese blue petal bowls made in the Kinh family workshop in the famous pottery village of Bat Trang, Vietnam. By partnering with a local non-profit and Ten Thousand Villages, women potters are able to make a living for their families, continue a rich cultural tradition, and gain access to tools, education, training, interest-free loans, and literacy classes. We buy many of our dishes and gifts from Ten Thousand Villages each year, and appreciate their commitment to ethical partnerships with local artisans around the world.
Smokey Mexican Chile Paste, Chilmole
Last weekend, Rebecca and I moved into our permanent house here in Haiti. What a relief after months of transition. With food on the mind, our first order of business was setting up the grill! And yes, if you were wondering... it is the same grill we had in Pittsburgh for 8 years, lovingly disassembled and brought over in a suitcase by my MacGyver-of-a-father. As temperatures rise, there is just something special about grilled food. Maybe its that the smokey char reminds me of campfires and sleeping under the stars, maybe its just the uncomplicated joy of cooking over flames. For me, this Smokey Mexican Chile Paste is the closest thing there is to bottling all that is beautiful about grilling. Our non-traditional take on Mexican chilmole paste tempers the hard char of the classic black version, for a lighter, more fruity chili flavor. This paste is excellent for making red rice, a great base for barbecue sauces, a go-to rub for meats, and a potent flavor boost for chilis and other soups.
Smokey Ancho Cheddar Burgers
In honor of festive eats and Mexican flavors on this Cinco De Mayo, we wanted to share one of our latest favorites: Smokey Ancho Cheddar Burgers. Despite the ample use of homemade Garlic Ancho Chile Paste, these burgers are not spicy, but bursting with sweet roasted garlic and smokey, earthy, dried anchos. Tangy melted cheddar, addictive ancho mayonnaise, and bright bursts of Yucatán Quick Pickled Red Onions garnish this delicious burger to mouthwatering perfection.
Charred Garlic Salsa
To celebrate the garlic season, we've been eating batch after batch of this sweet, smokey, and nutty Charred Garlic Salsa. It's easy to slip into thinking of garlic as a year-round kitchen workhorse, rather than as a seasonal specialty worth savoring in its own right. If you've never paused to taste the difference between early summer's stale grocery garlic and the in-season local variety, this is the perfect vehicle to indulge. Charred Garlic Salsa is inspired by the flavors and techniques of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, and is delicious with chips, on bread, with grilled meats, tacos, or as an amazing condiment for sandwiches.
