Red Chile Sauce

This can be used as an enchilada sauce, a braising sauce or a topping for burritos, eggs or anything else you desire.  It has a good kick and a very bold flavor.  If it is too bold for your diners, strain the chiles before you put them in the blender. Throw out the boiling liquid and pour 2 cups of chicken stock into the blender instead.  That will soften the flavor a bit. You can also add a little tomato product (sauce or paste) to bring it down a little.

Ingredients

6-8 Dried Chiles (Ancho or Pasilla), Stems and seeds removed

1 large white onion , diced

1 large jalapeno, seeded & chopped

5 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon oregano

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 1/2 cups water

Method

Add water and chiles to a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and

cook for 30 minutes. Chiles should be soft. 

Pour contents of the pan into a blender and blend until smooth. 

     Be careful blending hot ingredients. The top may blow off

     the blender so blend a little at a time then open the lid to

     let the heat escape.  Probably a good idea to place a towel

     over the blender. You don't want this sauce staining everything.  

In that same saucepan heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Add onions,

garlic and jalapeno.

Saute for 5 minutes then add salt, pepper, cumin and oregano.  Stir and

cook until onions and jalapenos are soft. 

Add the contents of the sauce pan to the chile puree in the blender. 

Blend until smooth. 

Now pour contents of the blender back into the sauce pan.  Bring the

sauce to a boil then reduce the heat until it is just barely bubbling. 

Reduce the sauce by 1/2, stirring often.

Using a wire strainer and a glass bowl pour the sauce through the strainer

into the bowl. With the back of a wooden spoon, press the "pulp" of the

sauce through the strainer as best you can,  When all of the liquid seems

to be pressed out, scrape off the bottom of the strainer into the bowl and

discard what is left inside the strainer.  This gets rid of any peel or hard bits

that did not get pureed or dissolved.

Let the sauce cool then cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for

at least 4 hours, overnight if possible.

If you want a thicker sauce you can use a cornstarch/water slurry or a roux.

If you use a roux be sure to cook it until it's dark brown or you may end up

with a pinkish colored sauce.