Smorgasbord February 2022

by RogerFebruary 14, 2022

On today’s smorgasbord we talk about the Sumo Citrus, cooking with bacon grease, and making an easy sauce with dried chiles. We also hear from our friends at SoFAB with a new segment called “Meat and Three.”

Mentioned in this Episode

Lisa Steele, guest from Episode 200, has a new cookbook coming out this week. Love eggs? Check it out!

My new citrus obsession is “Sumo Citrus.” I hadn’t even tasted one before my brother Randy told me about them. I have to admit, they are a fantastic treat!

Meat and Three, the new culinary bookclub from the Southern Food and Beverage Museum and Nitty Grits Network, will bring you short, insightful book reviews every month. You can catch up with them here, or catch them once in a while in future smorgasbord episodes! The Wok by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, which was featured in this episode, comes out on March 8, 2022. You can preorder it on Amazon.

Dried chiles are a fantastic ingredient to up your sauce game. Integral to the cuisine of Mexico, dried chiles power everything from moles to adobos to simple salsa. Saveur has a good primer on a few different types of dried chiles.

If you need to source dried chiles, I would recommend heading to your local latin market for the best selection. You can usually find these in the ethnic food aisle in your supermarket. You can also find a good selection online.

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Easy Red Chile Sauce

Author: Roger

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Description

I like guajillo chiles for this sauce as they are nicely balanced with just enough heat. Feel free to mix and match or try other dried chiles to unlock a wide variety of flavors.

Ingredients

Scale

12 gaujillo chiles
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of light olive oil
kosher or sea salt to taste
water as needed (for rehydrating the chiles and also for processing)

Instructions

Prepare your dried chiles by removing stems, seeds, and membranes from inside the chiles. In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the chiles for about 1 minute.
Place the chiles into a heat-safe bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit for 20-30 minutes, or until soft. Drain (you may reserve the soaking water to use when you blend the sauce if you like–taste first to check for bitterness).
While the chiles soak, in the preheated skillet heat the olive oil then add onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one additional minute. Remove and add to food processor or blender along with rehydrated chiles.
Process/blend the chiles, onion and garlic until smooth, adding water (about 1/2 cup to start) as needed to achieve desired consistency. Taste and add salt as needed. Serve!

Notes

Sauce will keep in a closed container in the refrigerator for 4 or 5 days. You can also freeze the sauce for up to 6 months.
If you find the reserved soaking water to be too bitter, use plain water instead when blending the sauce.