Opened a can of adobos, so making my mom's enchilada sauce is in next week's meal plan now!


Kitch's Enchilada Sauce From Scratch
Makes 3 cups

1/2 lg. onion
3-4 cloves garlic
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp lightly crushed cumin seed or 1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. tomato paste
1 tsp. salt

>>Saute above ingredients until onions are slightly soft

>>Then add:

1 c. chopped tomatoes (fire-roasted are esp. good, ex: Muir Glenn organics)

>>Cook gently until most of the water in tomatoes has cooked out.

>> Leave to cool.

>> Grind it all in a food processor or blender, along with 2 canned ancho chilis in adobo sauce, till smooth. Taste. If you want even spicier, add more adobos! 

>> You now have a concentrate form. To prepare for the enchiladas, return to a pan to warm and add app. 2 cups of water a bit at a time, warming and stirring till you get the consistency you want.


Emma's Notes:
- Very important to let it cool before blending, obviously.
- I would add that you can also throw a jalepeno or other hot pepper in with the onions. However, the adobos are part of the unique "enchilada rosa" flavor.
- My mom makes a casserole pan of enchiladas with this sauce, about 12, and uses about half to 2/3rds of it. Her technique is to dip each tortilla in the warmed sauce in it's pan on the stove (makes the tortilla more flexible and less likely to crack when rolled), and then to pour more all over the top of the dish when they're all assembled, then to smother in cheese and bake.
- So, we typically get one family meal out of this, and then have a jar of sauce, 1 cup or more, left over, which people have enjoyed drizzling on rice, rice and beans, eggs, tacos, nachos, sandwiches, you name it.
- I bet that sri racha would involve a similar process but with more garlic, less onion, and less water at the end, sticking with more concentrate. I think the bottles just list "chile" or "pepper" as the main ingredient, but the distinctive flavor may be due to a particular type of pepper, research should be done.