This versatile sauce is a great foundation for mexican and tex-mex dishes. I use it for as a sauce for meats, in enchiladas, and in not texas chili. The great thing about the sauce is that it is very tweakable to what you are trying to cook, you can add more or different chiles, you can add more or less cumin along with other spices, you can use more or less tomato, or chicken stock, or ….
The bottom line is if you learn how to make this and how to tweak it, you will suddenly be able to make a whole bunch of great food. It’s not hard to make, but it does require some effort. It’s totally worth it.
| Mise en Place | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| STAPLES | |||
| 2 dried | ancho chiles, seeded and torn into strips | ||
| 3 dried | new mexico chiles, seeded and torn into strips | ||
| 3 cloves | garlic, minced | ||
| 1 15oz can | crushed tomato | ||
| 1/2 tsp | cumin, toasted and ground | ||
| 1/2 tsp | ground pepper | ||
| 1/4 tsp | sugar | ||
| 2 cups | chicken stock | ||
| 1 tbs | olive oil | ||
| kosher salt | |||
| Equipment | |
|---|---|
| 1 | stick blender |
| 1 | tall sauce pan |
| 1 | skillet, medium hot |
| 1 | chinos |
| 1 | large mason jar |
| Directions | |
|---|---|
| Step | Action |
| 1 | pour chiles into skillet and press down with a spatula for a couple of seconds. do not let burn |
| 2 | evac chiles into sauce pan |
| 3 | pour in chicken stock, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook 20 minutes |
| 4 | wipe skillet clean, return to medium heat, and cook garlic in oil and a bit of salt for one minute |
| 5 | add tomato, cumin, pepper, and salt (start with 1/2 tsp and work up from there) |
| 6 | bring tomato mixuter to a bubble and reduce to simmer |
| 7 | when chiles are soft, blend with stick blender and then push through a chinos into tomato mixture |
| 8 | bring to a bubble and let cook down to desired consistency (aka thick) |
| 9 | evac to mason jar and blend with stick blender till smooth |
| 10 | adjust salt |
Pushing stuff through a chinos can suck. The results are 100% worth it. Doing this takes out rough mouth feel from the bits of skin left behind by the chiles leaving behind a smooth sauce. My method is to take a hard plastic spatula (like this one) and use it to scrape against the sides of the chinois in a clockwise motion. Do this until you are left with dry stuff at the bottom of the chinois.
Categories: Components
3 replies »