haha, great questions.
1) in the house on the stove cook-top with a normal non stick pan with butter and garlic. Brown butter.
2) Cooking class. I just couldn't pass up a half kilo of ancho chilies for $2. Before class commenced we took a tour of a shop, a grocery, a tortilla chip maker, and a butcher to source our ingredients (maybe 5 to 10 mins each). I suppose I did smuggle across the border. I asked our instructor who was educated in LA culinary institute and he said probably OK. I took the path that this was not a fresh fruit or vegetable, I didn't declare (and my wife declared and itemized absolutely everything else).
We made Beef Birria in Adobo Sauce. Beef was tenderized, seared, seasoned and boiled for 90 mins, nothing special there. My daughters made fresh tortillas from scratch. I grilled some poblanos. All pretty basic stuff. It was the sauces we made that were enlightening. How easy it is to reconstitute the peppers and turn them into a nice sauce. guac I have made before many times. What we would call pico de gallo was made with ease. The salsa verde (tomatillos) and the salsa roha (in this case chipotle) were really fun. I'm not suggesting I have the balance of a Bobby Flay, but I feel more confident in my sauce abilities now. Not to mention the dry rub I made on a whim. It all came from these dried peppers. It wasn't so much a technical class as much as it was an experience and a confidence booster.
DK
