I hope you love it as much as I do! Enjoy! The dried version actually brings the resulting flavor up a notch. Dried pods have a way of trancending the flavor of fresh pods, particulary when it comes to sauces, so hurry up and grab yourself some ancho peppers and let’s get cooking! Check out this ancho pepper. Gorgeous, right? I can’t get enough of these. You’ll want this for smoking or grilling up ribs, chicken, pork, shrimp, fish, just about anything you can cook up in the back yard. Make extra, because you can serve it in squeeze bottles and let people smother their plates with the stuff. Seriously, you’ll need more than you think. It will disappear quickly. Let’s go through it, step by step. Toast them a couple minutes per side. The peppers will puff slightly and the skins will begin to turn red. As they soak, the ancho peppers will begin to leech into the water, darkening it in color. This soaking water has a lot of nutrients in it, so do not throw it away for now. Next, heat the oil in a pan to medium heat and cook down the onion, garlic, and tomato, then add them to the food processor along with the rest of your ingredients. Process until it smooths out. The ancho bbq sauce will be thick at this point. You can add more soaking liquid to achieve your desired consistency. Next, give your ancho bbq sauce a taste. Adjust it with salt and pepper. Finally, press the sauce through a coarse strainer into a bowl. I use a wooden spoon to push it through. This removes the solids and bits of rough ancho skin that didn’t get processed. So, so good. Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
