STUFFED ANCHO CHILES

Stuffed Ancho Chiles image

Provided by Martha Stewart

Yield Serves 6

Number Of Ingredients 7

6 ancho chiles (as flexible as possible)
1 medium white onion, in slices
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 cooking oil, corn or safflower
1 pound piloncillo or dark brown sugar
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Steps:

Wipe the dried chiles clean and carefully cut a slit lengthwise. Shake out the seeds and carefully tear out any of the obvious interior ribs. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet and fry the chilies briefly until they begin to puff and color slightly. Remove and drain on paper towels.
In the same skillet, fry the sliced onion until it has colored. In another pot, bring to a boil the orange juice, vinegar, sugar (piloncillo is the coarse brown Mexican sugar that can often be found in truncated cone form), salt and pepper; cook briefly at a lower temperature then remove from the burner.
Add the chiles and drained onions to this sweet-sour marinade, making sure they are all submerged, and let macerate, preferably overnight. Remove and drain the chiles, reserving the marinade.
The drained chiles may then be filled with a variety of ingredients: freshly made guacamole; potato salad; tuna salad; etc. They may be presented atop a bed of lettuce, topped with crumbled farmer's cheese and drizzled with a little of the reserved marinade, if desired.