Red rice

A quick action shot of the red rice. A few weeks ago I received a care package from Campeche (México) containing a variety of lovely dried chiles. Some will get ground for seasoning and some will get rehydrated to make flavour pastes.

The latter, an earthy aromatic blend of rehydrated ancho chiles and garlic is what I've just added to some rice and finely diced onion that I sauteed in a butter/oil mixture over a medium high heat until starting to show a little golden hue. I let the chile liquid evaporate/reduce to a near dryness then add a little milk and a few cups of chicken stock with a few teaspoons of dried oregano (and/or thyme would be fine as well) .

In another pan, I roasted a handful of slivered almonds to mix into the finished rice. The flavour and texture of the almonds (crunch!), warmth of the chiles and topped with cooling creamy cubes of avocado makes a great side to roast pork and all the usual suspects.