Often when we eat at one of the many Mexican restaurants in the area, I have enchiladas, a steamy, drippy pile of gooey cheese and corn tortillas covered in a thick red spicy sauce. While other people judge a restaurant on its green chile or its chile rellenos, I have always been a fan of the red sauce. Most restaurants offer both red and green chile, and you can choose which to smother your burritos in. Ordering your food covered in both red and green chile is called "Christmas", and is not for the faint of heart or tastebuds.
Although green chile has more fans, I think red chile is more interesting. Its flavors are subtle and more complex then green chile. I think it's more difficult to make well. At its best, it is a smoky, fiery hot combination of spices, and is the perfect flavor to enhance a burrito or enchilada. But red sauce is too often bland, insipid and tired, like the chef lost interest after the green chile was finished.
As much as I like red chile, I never knew how to make it. I usually buy canned enchilada sauce to make enchilada casserole or stacked bean and cheese enchiladas. I discovered a red chile sauce mix in the Mexican section of the grocery last year, and have been making it that way. By simply mixing a pint of water into the orangy red dusty mix and simmering for a few minutes, you too can make your own red sauce. Its better than the canned sauce, but I always felt that the mix needed a kick, so I ended up adding tomato sauce, or sour cream or some diced green chiles to it.
But the other day, I was talking to a friend from Mexico City, who asked if I made my own red sauce. After admitting that I didn't know how, she filled me in. Using the dried red chile pods available in bulk at every grocery store around here, red sauce is amazingly easy to make. The dried chile pods are soaked to rehydrate them, and put into the blender with some broth, garlic, salt, cumin and a bit of cayenne pepper and chile powder. When it was smooth, I simmered the sauce to intensify the flavors. It was amazing -complex and just spicy enough to make you sweat. I won't need to buy canned enchilada sauce again!
Isabel's Red Sauce
8 or 9 dried New Mexico Chile Pods
4 cloves of garlic
2 cups of broth
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon chile powder
Break the stems off of the chile pods and shake out the seeds. Soak your pods for about 2 hours until they are soft and puffy. Drain and put the chiles, broth, garlic and spices into the blender or food processor and process until smooth. Put your sauce into a small saucepan and simmer 20-30 minutes. Serve over burritos, enchildas or omelets. Enjoy!
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