Someone commented on my recent post -New Mexico Breakfast and El Pinto Green Chile Sauce -that while his family liked the green sauce, they loved the red Chile sauce. So, of course I had to try it. I’m never going to miss a chance to have at least a taste, and then usually another bite and another, of some great New Mexican food.
I had leftover pork roast in the freezer that I cooked last week – I thawed and chopped it into bite size pieces. I put it into a shallow container and covered it with the El Pinto medium red chile sauce. The jar says it’s great for enchilada sauce, huevos rancheros, or chile con carne, but come on guys – is there anything in the world better than carne adovada? Carne adovada is truly my favorite New Mexican meal, and it just seemed like a great way to try the El Pinto red sauce.
(If you don’t have pre-cooked pork roast, a couple of pork chops would work just as well. There is NOTHING like pork in red Chile. But wait! Why didn’t I think of making mashed potatoes? The sauce would have been delicious on mashed potatoes! Next time.)
The pork marinated in the red sauce from lunch to dinnertime, and then I put the entire concoction on the stove and simmered until warm. Made some corn with a little green chile and added some beans (made in the crock pot this weekend) and it was almost like eating at some place where they actually know how to cook (El Pinto Restaurant, maybe?). Wow! I had never tried the red sauce before, but because one of my readers suggested it, I had one of the best meals I’ve had all winter.
So, now, I’m suggesting that you go BACK to www.elpinto.com and order yourselves some Medium Red Chile Sauce. Or search to see if you can buy it at your local grocer. I’m taking my empty bottle to my cousin David at the Logan Food Market and asking that he start to stock it. It’s well worth whatever trouble it takes – delicious and spicy and easy.
Which brings me to one of my favorite topics -the Fiery Foods Show. I used to go every year when I lived in Albuquerque – it was as highly anticipated as the State Fair was when I was nine years old. See the official website at www.fiery-foods.com.
You pay $15 at the door and then get to wander the aisles, sampling salsas and sauces and types of chips and spicy beef jerky and all things fiery and delicious. Even things like jalapeno ice cream and red chile jelly and chipotle salad dressing.There are booths for chile cookbooks and cooking demonstrations for perfect BBQ – it’s a great event. On occassion you have to wander over to the beer line to get something to cool your mouth off. . .The Fiery Foods Show is like a fantasy gathering of every taste that New Mexicans love, and it’s well worth the admission cost.
Like I said, it’s highly anticipated at my house. I can’t wait, can’t wait, can’t wait! But this year, I’m thinking I’ll avoid the habanero sauce from the Jamaicans. There was an ugly scene a few years ago where I almost seriously hurt a woman taking her time at the water fountain.
Hope to see you there!