The Best Damned Enchilada Sauce Ever

I just dredged this up from the Google cache. I don't want it to be gone forever, so here it is again:

Ingredients:

  • 10-12 Dried chiles (Anaheims are a safe start. I like to mix Anaheims and New Mexicos.)
  • 3 cups water
  • ¼ cup tomato sauce or paste
  • 1 clove garlic, minced/crushed
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • 1½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp Mexican oregano (It’s so worth finding the Mexican variety!)
  • ¼ tsp cumin

Directions:

  1. Remove stems and seeds from chiles.
  2. Simmer chiles in water ½ hour.
  3. Place in blender with enough water to blend, whirl until smooth.
  4. Add remaining water, tomato sauce and oil. Whirl until smooth then strain. (This is a pain, but absolutely essential. Use a fairly coarse strainer and a wooden spoon to mash the sauce through.)
  5. Add remaining ingredients and simmer approximately 10 minutes.

I’ll leave the actual enchiladas to you.

Thanks to my Ma who passed this on to me. Also to the Mexican maid who taught the recipe to my grandmother back in Texas in the ’50s.