Ingredients
- 8T Sweet salted butter
- 5T all-purpose flour
- 2C yellow onion, chopped
- 4t minced garlic
- 4C New Mexican green chilis (AKA Hatch Chilis): roasted, peeled, seeded, chopped
- Either break out the MAP torch or roast in the oven or directly on a gas burner until the skins blacken. Then rub most of the “char” off with your fingers under cold water; yes, after they’re cool enough to handle.
- 4C beef bone broth (or low-sodium beef stock)
- 2t salt (More to taste, celery seeds also work very well with out adding sodium)
- 1-2 pinches of sugar
Directions
- In a heavy saucepan (about 4qt), sauté onions in butter until caramelized.
- Add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes (stir, don’t let them burn).
- Stir flour in with onions and garlic so that it no longer smells raw (blonde roux)
- Add chopped chilies, beef broth, salt and mix well.
- Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes to allow mixture to reduce.
- The sauce should be thick enough to bind chilies and onions together, or coat the back of a spoon (like gravy).
- Taste and correct with salt
- Use an immersion blender if you prefer a smooth texture
Since the peppers are heavily roasted, it is the perfect opportunity to find less-than-perfect Hatch chilies that would be on sale, or chilis that have been sitting in your kitchen for too long. You don’t need/want perfect produce for this recipe.
Love, Jimi
Notes
- Sauce can be refrigerated for three days, or frozen.
- Hatch chilies come in two strengths: mild and hot. Mild feels like a sassy smack on the ass, hot starts to feel like abuse. Choose and mix wisely.
- Unfortunately, there is no substitute for hatch chilis, they have a very specific flavor/heat profile. Due to their increased popularity, you can find them canned; which is acceptable, but char some kind of mild chili to replace the smokiness.
- There is also a version that uses chicken stock with cornstarch as a thickening agent. I would use a roux instead, and only lightly brown the onions—the rest would remain the same.
- “Coat the back of a spoon” – you should be able to dip a cook’s spoon in, pull it out and run your finger across the back of it, leaving a “line” that lasts for a few seconds.
Backstory
I had this sauce at a Chuy’s restaurant during their hatch-chili seasonal menu (mid August through mid-September). The original recipe calls for corn oil, lightly browned white onion, and no sugar. While the original sauce was quite good, I wanted to put even more body and depth into it. So instead of the oil, I started with a whole stick of butter, and rather than lightly browning the onions, I just let them go to the point of French onion soup. The result is a sauce that starts off sweet and smokey, and finishes with an addictive level of heat.
