When I was growing up, we used to go once a week to visit my Grandma Tina in the San Fernando Valley. The visits were filled with sights, sounds and flavors we didn't get in our Los Angeles neighborhood: the man who sold paletas (popsicles) from his cart, the neighbor's rooster crowing at daybreak, and some of the Mexican delicacies my mom didn't cook at home, like oven-roasted cabeza (goat's head). (My grandma saved the eyes for my grandpa! But that's another story.)

Dinners usually included rice, beans, flour tortillas and some kind of aromatic stew such as this chile colorado. The grown-ups ate the meal by taking a piece of tortilla and scooping up bits of food. I tended to pile everything into burritos.

Now, the scent of chile colorado is pure nostalgia. Traditionally, this dish is made using whole dried chiles, which are boiled in water, pureed into a paste and pushed through a strainer. But you can replicate the flavors quite closely using ground chiles as well. It tastes just like my grandma's. And now I (mostly) eat it like a grown-up.

This recipe uses beef, but the sauce can be used with pork or chicken or used by itself for enchiladas, tamales or anything your heart desires!

See the note below the recipe for how to make the sauce by itself.

Recipe adapted from Gourmet.