Make your own enchilada sauce.
Mexican food, with its heat and varied flavors, does not have to be solely a "south of the border" experience. In some parts of the United States, when you order enchiladas, the server will ask "red or green?" Green enchiladas are made with green chilies, while red enchiladas are made with red chilies. In New Mexico, the phrase "red or green" is so common, it became the official state question.
Instructions
Tomato and Serrano Chili Sauce
1. Remove the chili stems with the knife. Wear the gloves to protect your skin from the juice inside the chilies.
2. Fill the pot with enough water to cover the tomatoes and chilies. Put the pot on the stove and bring the water to a boil with medium heat, cooking the tomatoes and chili until the tomatoes soften and open slightly. The chilies should soften and lighten in color. Take the pot off the heat and reserve 1/3 cup of the liquid. Drain the chilies and tomatoes.
3. Chop the cooked chilies and garlic, then put them into the blender jar. Pour in the reserved water from cooking the tomatoes and chilies. Add the tomatoes, one at a time, and puree until the chilies and tomatoes are liquefied.
4. Heat the canola or vegetable oil in a deep skillet. Carefully add the pureed chili and cook it. Add salt to taste. Continue cooking the sauce until it turns a deep red color.
Red Enchilada Sauce
5. Pull the stems from the dried chili pods and shake the seeds into a trash bag. Set the bag aside.
6. Pour water into a large pot. Add the stemmed chili pods. Set the plate on top of the pods and push it down into the water so the pods are totally immersed. Set the pot aside and allow the pods to soak for 30 minutes. Check the pods to see if they have softened. If they have not, allow them to soak for another 15 minutes.
7. Take the softened chili pods out of the soaking water and put them into a blender jar. Reserve the soaking water. Fill the jar with the pods. Add about 1 cup of the water used to soak the pods to the blender jar.
8. Set the blender to "puree" and blend the chili pods and water until you have a pureed mixture. Pour the puree into a large bowl and continue pureeing pods with soaking water until you have pureed all the chili pods.
9. Pour the pureed chili into a mesh sieve and separate the hard pieces of chili skin from the sauce into a large bowl. Continue straining the chili sauce until you have strained everything you pureed. Discard the hard bits of skin in the trash bag with the chili seeds.
10. Pour the strained chili sauce into a large sauce pan. Add salt to taste and vegetable oil, then cook the sauce until it is hot. If you want thinner sauce, add a small amount of the soaking water. Pour the cooked sauce into storage containers and freeze until you need to make red enchiladas.
Tags: chili pods, into large, soaking water, chilies tomatoes, pureed chili, sauce into