Fideos with chiles, avocado, and crema

This Mexican style noodle dish was something new for me. It's easy and fairly quick to prepare, although I took a couple of short cuts that may have helped with prep time. The result was delicious. We will definitely have this again.

I had never heard of fideos before now. They are skinny noodles that are all wound up into little nests. I found them at Safeway in the "ethnic" section. As I recall, a package cost about 89 cents - maybe less. They are cooked pilaf-style, meaning they are browned in a little oil in a skillet before you add cooking liquid. In this case, you add a tomato, chile, garlic, onion puree and let it soak into the noodles. It's mildly spicy, but the addition of sour cream, avocado, and a little cheese helps cut the spice.

The recipe calls for 3 dried pasilla, New Mexican, or guajillo chiles. I assume you can find these at a Mexican grocer. I got a huge batch of New Mexico chiles from a friend last fall. I cooked them, pureed them, and froze them in little cubes. I wasn't sure how much to use. I tried 3 cubes (from an ice cube tray) and that seemed about right. I assume you could substitute canned green chile, but you won't get as much punch from that.

Here's what you do

• Cover the dried chiles with hot water and set them aside to soften while you work on the tomato sauce.
• Coat 4 unpeeled garlic cloves with a little olive oil and cook them in a small skillet over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, sliding them around the pan every now and then. Their skins will get toasted and the cloves will get soft.
• While the garlic is cooking, you can start the tomato sauce. You can either use 8 roma tomatoes or 1 can of fire-roasted tomatoes for the sauce. I opted for the canned this time, but I may try the fresh another time. Muir Glen is an excellent organic brand for tomatoes that are the next best thing to fresh. If you're using fresh tomatoes, coat them lightly with oil and grill over an open flame or sear them in a hot skillet to blister the skins.
• When the garlic is done, squeeze the garlic from the skins into a food processor or blender. Add the tomatoes with their charred skins. If you're using canned fire-roasted tomatoes, drain them first and reserve the juice. Add water to make one cup of liquid total. Add the liquid to the food processor. Also add 1/2 cup chopped onion, and 1 t. salt. Puree. (To recap, you should have garlic, tomatoes, onion, salt, and 1 cup liquid in your machine.)
• The chiles should be soft by now. Tear or cut the flesh into strips. Discard the seeds.
• Chop 3-4 parsley sprigs.
• Heat 1 T. oil over medium-high heat in a 10 inch skillet with a tight fitting lid. Crumble the noodles into the hot oil and stir until they're lightly browned. Now add the tomato mixture and most of the parsley (save a little for garnish.) Add all but a few of the chile strips. Stir to even out the contents of the pan and adjust the heat to simmer. Cover the pan and cook until the noodles are soft, 15-20 minutes. Season with pepper.
• Dish some onto plates and serve with creme fraiche or sour cream drizzled over the top. Crumble some feta cheese or queso fresco over the cream. Top with avocado slices and the remaining chile strips and parsley.

Things I'd Do Differently Next Time

Although it's a little more work, I'd like to try this with fresh tomatoes. I'd also like to try out using dried chiles, since I haven't done that before.

Cost To Prepare

3 dried pasilla chiles - ?? Maybe $1.00

4 plump garlic cloves - $.75

3 T. oil - $.50

8 Roma tomatoes or 15-ounce can Muir Glen Fire-Roasted Tomatoes, drained and juices reserved - $3.00

1/2 c. chopped onion - $.50

1/2 pound fhort skinny egg noodles (fideos) - $.90

3 parsley sprigs - negligible

1/2 c. creme fraiche or sour cream - $.50

2-3 ounces feta or queso fresco - $.50

1 avocado for garnish - $1.50

TOTAL for 4 people - $9.15

Mexican beer or Italian prosecco (sparkling wine) go nicely with this. The spiciness works well with bubbles.