Title: Pink Chile And Vodka Sauce
Categories: Spice Sauce
Yield: 1 Servings

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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.)

If you make this please tell me how you like it: Jkandell@ccit.arizona.edu From the Chile-Heads Recipe Collection URL: http://chile.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu:8000/www/recipe.html

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