Chicken in New Mexico Red Chili Sauce

Chicken in New Mexico Red Chili Sauce

New Mexico Red Chili Sauce
Ingredients
12 Chili Pods (sweet or hot)
3 ½ cups water
2 whole garlic cloves
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons neutral oil (canola/rapeseed or vegetable)
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon oregano, crushed (Mexican or Italian)

Directions
1. Rinse pods, then remove stem and seeds from the chili pods. Now place them in a stock pot with 3 ½ cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until pods are softened.

2. Remove the pods and place in a blender, setting aside remaining cooking liquid. Add garlic, oregano, salt and half the liquid. Run blender until pods turn into a smooth sauce.

3. In a large skillet, heat oil. Add flour and brow lightly. Be sure to whisk the flour to avoid lumps. Remove the skillet from the heat, then add the sauce from the blender. If you like a thinner sauce, add more of the cooking liquid. Simmer the sauce in the skillet for 10 minutes, then serve.

**Can also be doubled, made a day ahead and keeps a few days in the fridge or a few months in the freezer.

Preparing and Cooking the Chicken

a whole chicken
sea salt to taste
white pepper to taste
3 tablespoons of neutral oil
sesame seeds

1. Cut the chicken into pieces. If you have never cut a whole chicken into pieces, look here for an easy and simple method for cutting a whole chicken into pieces.

2. After the chicken has been cut, place it to a bowl and lightly sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Make sure all the pieces are coated evenly. Let the chicken rest with the salt and pepper for 30 minutes if time allows, otherwise continue to step 3.

3. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot. Once the oil is hot, lay the pieces of chicken in the pot, skin side down. After 7 minutes, or once it has cooked on the first side, turn it over. Let the chicken cook ca. 7 minutes on the second side. You want the chicken to brown but not burn.

4. Once the chicken has been cooked on each side for ca. 7, ladle in some of the red chili sauce. The amount of sauce you add is up to you, but I like to add ca. 1 ½ cups of sauce to the chicken. You may add more or less sauce depending upon how much chicken you have or if you like more/less sauce with your meat.

5. After you add the sauce to the chicken, bring the pot up to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Let the chicken simmer in the sauce for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked all the way through.

6. Top with sesame seeds and serve with rice, or another grain.