Recipe: Red Chile Sauce (Sunset Mexican Cookbook, 1980's)

RED CHILE SAUCE
(SALSA DE CHILE ROJO)

"Dip tortillas in this cooked sauce to make Enchiladas, moisten meat fillings with it, or serve it as a condiment with meats. You can buy a similar sauce in cans, but the result of making your own is milder, thicker, and more flavorful, and you can freeze part to use later. Preparing the chiles is somewhat messy if you don't have a blender. Be sure to get the right dried chiles, large, dusky red, mild ones, usually found only at stores specializing in Mexican foods."


6 ounces (about 10 to 12) whole dried ancho, pasilla, or California chiles (or a mixture of each)
3 cups hot water
1/4 cup tomato sauce or tomato paste
1 small clove garlic, minced or mashed
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon crumbled oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Place chiles on a baking sheet. Toast lightly in a 400 oven for 3 or 4 minutes only, or until they give off a mild aroma. Do not burn the chiles or they will be very bitter.

Remove from oven, let cool to touch, then remove and discard stems, seeds, and any pink pithy material inside the chiles. Rinse in cool water, drain briefly, then cover chiles with hot water; let stand 1 hour.

Place chiles in a blender with enough of the water to blend; whirl until smooth. (Or scrape the pulp from the skin with a table knife, then put through a wire strainer.) Add remaining water, tomato sauce or tomato paste, garlic, salad oil, salt, oregano, and cumin. Simmer sauce gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can freeze this sauce.

Makes 3 1/2 cups
Source: Sunset Mexican Cookbook
From: SueA, CA - 01-02-98