Salsa de Chile de Árbol

If you don't like spicy you can stop reading now. This salsa is spicy as fuck, but the peanuts add a richness that complement the heat and makes for an extremely flavorful salsa to dollop (well, a very small dollop) onto anything and everything: eggs, rice and beans, pozole, tostadas, tacos, burritos, soups and stews...go crazy!

Makes about a small mason jar's worth of salsa.

Ingredients:

-Small bag of dried chile de árbol (you can find this at any Mexican grocery store. The size isn't important, but shoot for around 20 chiles).

-3 cloves of garlic

-Handful of peanuts, shelled

-1 TBS of vegetable or peanut oil

-Large pinch of salt plus more to taste

-Water, as needed

Directions:

1) Over medium heat, fry chiles, whole garlic cloves, and peanuts together in oil until all ingredients are slightly blackened (about 10 minutes). Warning: the toasting chiles will make you cough...open the windows or turn on ventilation.

2) When nice and toasted, put everything in a blender or food processor with about half a cup of water and a large pinch of salt. If you want your salsa a little thicker, start with 1/4 cup of water and add more until you've reached desired thickness.

3) Transfer to a jar and store in the fridge.

Enjoy carefully :)