I’m pregnant and having major cravings for enchiladas. You know, like the ones they serve at cheap quasi-Mexican chain restaurants, with the brownish-red sauce. Trouble is, in Australia, the “enchilada sauce” they sell in the “Mexican” section of the grocery store is an abomination. I’m not sure what they were going for, but it was waaaaay too tomato-ey and tangy and didn’t taste even vaguely Mexican.
So, I apparently need to learn how to make enchilada sauce. Teach me. Green or sour cream enchilada sauce recipes are lovely, but not what is needed at this time. I need some brown enchildada sauce, stat!!
2 tbsp. shortening
2 tbsp. flour
1/4 c. pure ground red chili
2 c. beef bouillon or water
3/4 tsp. salt
1 clove garlic, crushed
Pinch of Mexican oregano
Pinch of ground comino (cumin)
or
Red Enchilada Sauce
4 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cups hot water
2/3 cup tomato sauce
Brown the flour in a large frying pan. Add the spices,then the oil. Heat and stir to avoid lumps When smooth, slowly add the water and tomato sauce stiring all the time. When all is smooth, simmer until thick Add your own hot peppers to your taste.
**Oregano **
*Mediterranean and Mexican oregano are two different plants, but because they are used in the same way and have a somewhat similar flavor they are both called oregano. Mediterranean oregano grows wild on the hilly mountainsides of southern Europe and is an essential ingredient in so many of the dishes from the region. For Italian spaghetti sauces to Greek salads to Turkish kebobs, the sweet, strong flavor of Mediterranean oregano is perfect. Mexican oregano is stronger and less sweet, well-suited to the spicy, hot, cumin-flavored dishes of Mexico and Central America- perfect for chili and salsa. Both types of oregano should be added in the beginning of cooking, so the flavor has time to come out and meld with the other flavors of the dish. Add while browning onions or beef for both spaghetti sauce and chili. *
Yeah, I’m thinking I’m not going to be able to find that in Australia. Have you actually made these recipes? Does the sauce come out brown-ish, as opposed to bright red? Does it taste pretty authentic?
Penzey’s ships world-wide. Yes, it comes out brownish-red. The taste is pretty good. (Actually, most of the time I just use canned enchilada sauce, and add more spices and garlic as needed.)
I can get something called chili powder here, but it’s bright red, not the dark brown I’ve always gotten in the U.S. When I make chili, I usually get the Old El Paso Chili Spice packet and use the contents in place of the chili powder in my recipe. It doesn’t turn out as spicy, but that’s okay because my silly family doesn’t like too-spicy stuff.
cornflakes, I’ve never had truck stop enchiladas, but the kind I love are the ones that come at Mexican chain restaurants in the Mid-Atlantic, so certainly not authentically Mexican and probably not even too Tex-Mex, just yummy! I think I’m going to sort of hybridize these recipes and see what happens. I have to wait a respectable number of days before we have enchiladas again, though (even though the ones I made the other day were disgusting), so it might wait for the weekend.
Ok this is the way my mom makes it, We are 100% Mexican, but by no means is this the only way to do it.
Get a bag of dried chile. My mom uses New Mexico chile- its the spicier one- if you want it less spicy use California chile. The chiles are dry and packaged. They are a deep red color. You put them in a pot of water with a bit of salt and boil them until they are soft and pliant. You put the whole chile, minus the stem only, seeds and all into a blender and blend along with some of the reserve water from the boiling process. Add some garlic cloves and more salt to taste. This is your red sauce for enchiladas, chile rojo con carne, and so on and so forth.
You can dry your own chilies as well. A very satisfying feat. Get the chilies after they are picked, still green and fresh. Using twine, you tie them intermittently like stringing christmas lights and hang them outside in the sun- takes about a week and a half. If you like chile relleno, instead of hanging the chilies to dry you grill them over an open flame, turning them as the skin turns black from the flame. Toss the grilled chilies into a tepid water bath and peel the charred skin. Voila- chilies ready for stuffing with cheese and dipping in batter.
Yum…that sounds good, Nvme77. I took a look at the chili peppers at our grocery store the other day. They had yellow round ones, red long ones, and green long ones. Unfortunately, that’s pretty much how they were labelled, so I have no idea what kind of chilis they were. Anything chili-related over here is more Thai-food centered. I guess I could just get some and try them out. Stuffed chilis is sounding like a plan.
I tried silenus’ second recipe last night. Really, really good. I did half water and half beef broth (and actually added a bit extra water because it thickened up a little too much). It turned out exactly how I wanted, though, and settled that craving for a little while. Now I have to figure out how to make ice cream so I can replicate some Ben & Jerry’s.