Mail Order 'powder-Free' Red Enchilada Sauce |
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Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 30 Minutes |
Ready In: 50 Minutes Servings: 4 |
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Where I live, decent canned enchilada sauce is not available. Since most recipes for homemade call for 'chili powder' (which is also suspect in these parts) I now buy many varieties of dried chiles via mail order. This recipe is fairly easy and does the trick for me. Ingredients:
6 dried new mexico chiles |
4 dried ancho chiles |
2 dried chipotle chiles |
1 -2 cup chicken stock, boiling hot |
2 garlic cloves, peeled |
1 medium onion, chopped |
1 teaspoon ground cumin |
1 teaspoon dried oregano |
16 ounces diced tomatoes, drained |
7 ounces tomato sauce |
1 cup extra stock, to taste |
Directions:
1. Wipe off the chiles with a damp cloth.
2. Tear the stems off the New Mexico and ancho chiles, then open them up with your fingers and pluck out the seeds and membranes, making jerky-sized pieces of chile.
3. Heat up the big sauce pan you will need later and 'stir-fry' the chile pieces until they smell nice (2-3 minutes).
4. Dump the toasted chiles and the chipotles into a medium-sized bowl, barely cover with hot stock, then float a smaller heavy glass bowl onto everything to keep the bits submerged. Soak for about 30 minutes.
5. Place the garlic, onion, spices and drained tomatoes into a blender.
6. Add the soaked chiles (including liquid), and puree until smooth.
7. Pour into the saucepan, add the tomato sauce and simmer for 30 minutes, adding stock to get the thickness you like. Season to taste.
8. To serve, I simply POACH corn tortillas right in the sauce for a minute or two (low fat trick), then pull them out one at a time with tongs, roll them around some pre-warmed filling (right on the plate), then smother with more sauce. No baking(impatient guy trick). Finish with a dollop of sour cream and a single black olive if you like.
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