One of Three: Adobo

Sunday was a big day; perhaps a bit too big because we didn't actually sit down to eat until about 9:45. That's what happens when you go out for lunch, then go shopping for ingredients, then come home and start cooking in the late afternoon (and a certain infant won't let your sous chef help out in the kitchen). Anyway, we finally had our meal, and it was fantastic. The meal included three recipes from the cookbook: adobo (a red-chile marinade), which was used in the chile-bathed fish grilled (broiled, actually) in cornhusks (pescado adobado en hojas de maiz), and a side of white-rice pilaf with corn, roasted chiles, and fresh cheese (arroz a la poblana). This post is the adobo, and two more posts will follow.

So, on with it! This has quite a mise:



Is that too much for you? Well, then, here are the chiles (guajillos on the left and anchos on the right) and garlic:



And here are the herbs and spices (and salt, which is really neither):



There was also vinegar. While I'm totally down with my apple cider vinegar, do you really need a picture? What kind of a crazy person would include a picture of a cup of vinegar? Someone who thought a picture of brine was a good idea? Oh.

Anyway, this recipe called for ten peppercorns. That's fine -- I can count, but I certainly was reminded of this hilarious post from FLAH. At least ten sounds like a reasonable number, unlike twelve (Why not thirteen? Do you hate bakers?). Anyway, the first order of business was to toast the garlic and roast the chiles. I seeded and deveined the chiles, tore them into strips, and toasted them until they blistered:



While I skinned the garlic, I poured some boiling water over the chiles to soak for a while to rehydrate them:



I smashed up the herbs and spices using a mortar and pestle, and I added everything to the blender and went to town:



Once everything was pureed (for the most part), I pushed the adobo through a strainer:



That led to a nice, smooth sauce, which I put in a jar to be used shortly...



Although it's just a sauce, I had to try it, albeit with a bit of trepidation because of all of the chiles. However, it was not overwhelmingly hot. Instead, it had a nice, smooth flavor -- with great depth -- but without the tongue-blistering effect. It really validated for me the importance of toasting the dried chiles -- you get amazing flavor without overwhelming heat. Not that I'm afraid of heat -- I still love the chipotle salsa, which isn't lacking in heat -- but I also love the flavor of chiles with a bit more subtlety, particularly when it is going to be paired with something more delicate like fish (you'll see...). Very nice.

Sources:
Don Enrique chiles
Garlic from Central Market
Our spice rack for just about everything else