Guajillo recipe or use?

Question

A friend of mine gave me a bag of dried guajillo. I have not used this kind of chile before and am totally clueless. Does anyone know any simple use and recipe for it? Thanks.

Answer 1

They tend to be used in "simmer-sauces" in Mexican cooking -- i.e., not generally in a tabletop salsa that you'd dip chips in, but more typically in a sauce that you simmer meat or chicken or vegetables in. You soak them a few minutes in hot water to soften them, then whiz them in the Cuisinart or blender to puree them and mix them with other ingredients for the sauce. If you want you can toast them before soaking them (this involves putting them in a hot dry skillet, ie with no oil, for just a few seconds till they release a chile aroma - don't leave them for any time at all or they will burn) before you soak them. However, the toasting is not absolutely essential and if you worry that they will burn, you can skip the toasting step. They are not real hot, they have a sort of mild to medium heat, and dried chiles tend to have a kind of sweetish note to them like a sun-dried tomato but mingled with the spicy taste.

I think you should go online and find a recipe -- but if I were going to use my memory to come up with a recipe for something like a stew, with not a lot of ingredients, fast prep time, and just some simmering time, it would be something like this: Take about 4 or 5 dried chiles guajillos. Cut off the stems and shake out the seeds. Put them in a bowl of water and put it in the microwave for about a minute. Then let the chiles soak for about 5 minutes while you're doing other stuff on the recipe. Take the soaked chiles guajillos out of the water, reserving the soaking water if you can but don't worry if you accidentally dump out the water. Put the chiles in the food processor or blender with approximately one regular-sized can (12 or 14 oz) or two little bitty cans of tomatillos verdes (ie those Mexican "green tomatoes" that are not really tomatoes but a type of berry), and about 2 or 3 cloves of garlic minced, and a little salt. Whiz this in the processor or blender till smooth.
Now take something like some butterflied boneless pork chops (maybe like a pound) and trim off the fat (or you could use beef, or chicken -- and if you don't eat meat I would maybe go for mushrooms in this dish) and cut in small dice, and salt and pepper, and put in skillet with a little bit of oil, and sprinkle with a little bit of flour, and sizzle this to brown it. When it's browned, pour in the guajillo paste and add some water or chicken broth to thin it out, bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid. Simmer till sauce is thickened to a stewlike consistency. Serve this with hot flour tortillas on the side, and, if you want, some Mexican rice.

Answer 2

This chile is much like the ancho only smoother and sweeter. The flavor is much more round and fruity. It goes well with dark chocolate.
I used to make a mole cake using cinnamon, nutmeg, and almond for flavoring in the cake. Then I made a chocolate mousse flavored with ground guajillo. It was by far the most popular dish in the restaurant. A sweet spicy kick.
So, use it in a mole sauce, or anywhere you would use an ancho. You might find that these become your favorite dried pepper. I know that they are mine.

Give them a bit of a toast in the oven before using them to bring out the most flavor (do this with all dried chiles).

Enjoy!

Answer 3

Try these (I haven't tried them ...)