Mary and Tito's Cafe ★ 4.7
Mary and Tito's Cafe is a New Mexican restaurant at 2711 4th St NW in Albuquerque.
History
New Mexico red chile is the fully ripened green chile pepper: it turns orange and then red as it ripens, and for the pepper to be enjoyed it must first be dried and blended to a puree. The puree is cooked with garlic and salt, and sometimes oregano, into red chile sauce, and discerning New Mexicans prefer sun dried to oven dried chile. It is the sauce in carne adovada, which the James Beard Foundation credited to Mary and Tito's in 2010. El Pinto cooks with Hatch red chile, Sadie's serves red chile on its plates, and Cervantes sells sun dried red chile sauce.
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 15 dried New Mexico red chile pods, stemmed and seeded
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 4 cups water
Method
- Toast the dried chiles in a dry skillet 30 seconds per side until fragrant. Watch carefully; burnt chile turns bitter.
- Place toasted chiles in a saucepan with 4 cups water. Simmer 15 minutes until soft.
- Transfer chiles and 2 cups of the cooking water to a blender. Add garlic, oregano, cumin, salt and oil.
- Blend on high until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Strain through a fine sieve into a clean pan. Simmer 5 more minutes to meld flavors.
- Use immediately on enchiladas, in carne adovada or as a finishing sauce on breakfast burritos.
Tip from the editors. Mild Chimayo and hot Hatch dried red chile pods produce different sauces. Blend them 50/50 for a balanced everyday red. Avoid pre-ground commercial chile powder; it tastes muddy.
Where to eat red chile sauce
Red chile sauce in Albuquerque
Sadie's of New Mexico ★ 4.6
Sadie's of New Mexico serves New Mexican cuisine on Fourth Street NW, with big portions and a signature kick of heat, in a family owned room.
SignatureGreen Chile Chicken Birria Tacos, Stuffed sopapilla sliders
El Pinto ★ 4.5
El Pinto opened in 1962 to serve one family's recipes at 10500 4th Street NW, and now bottles its own salsa and sauces for stores nationwide.
Cervantes Restaurant and Lounge ★ 4.3
Cervantes Restaurant and Lounge at 5801 Gibson Blvd SE serves New Mexican food prepared from scratch, and makes its own red and green chile sauces.
More cities are in research. Want red chile sauce covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.