Enchilada Sauce

So we are huge fans of Mexican food and are often trying to create authentic, restaurant quality food at home. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we come short. Well the other night we decided to make Enchiladas; corn tortillas? check, ground beef? check, cheese? check, sauce... umm nope. Well, I guess the reason we didn't have any sauce is because we don't much care for the canned stuff anyway, but that's besides the point. What we do always have on hand are dried California Chili pods, we get them in the bulk section of our local store, however you can find them at most grocery stores in the Hispanic isle, or at specialty stores. We keep these around to make Tamales or enchilada sauce on the fly. Want to see one of the reasons why we make the sauce ourselves, aside from it tasting better? The ingredients in our sauce are as follows: dried California chili pods (or New Mexico chili pods), dried arbol peppers (or cayanne peppers), water, salt, garlic, dried oregano, cumin, and vegetable oil.

Here is the ingredients list for Old El Paso sauce,Water, Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Modified Corn Starch, Dried Red Chilies, Soybean Oil, Sugar, Salt, Citric Acid, Onion Powder, Mono sodium Glutamate, Spice, Garlic Powder, Red Pepper, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (Corn, Soy And Wheat), Autolyzed Yeast Extract. Contains Wheat And Soy Ingredients.... wait, what?? Wheat and soy ingredients? Since when do chili peppers contain soy or wheat...oh wait, they don't. Anyway, getting off track here.

In making our own sauce we have a lot more flexibility. We can make it spicier (just add some more dried Cayenne peppers in with the California peppers), add some tomato body, runnier, thicker etc etc...the possibilities are endless. So with one base recipe and a few ingredients we are able to make this an incredibly versatile sauce in our kitchen.

Ingredients list:

8 dried California chili pods (or New Mexico chili pods)

6 dried arbol peppers (or cayanne peppers)

4 cups water

1tsp salt

1 clove garlic pressed

1tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 cup vegetable oil.

The Process is easy. Take 8 California chile pods, cut off the stems and remove all the seeds. Cut into a few smaller pieces. Take 6 Arbol peppers (more or less depending on how spicy you want it), cut off the stems and remove all the seeds. Put in in a medium saucepan and cover with 4 cups of water. Heat water to boil, cover and remove from heat. Let pot sit for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, pour the water and peppers in a blender. Add 1/4 cup oil to blender. Add in the salt, oregano, cumin, and pressed garlic. Blend well.

There you go, mix it in with whatever meat you are making and reduce, and if making enchiladas, pour some of the sauce over the prepared tortillas and bake. Enjoy.

Welcome to my blog

For the last few years my Partner and I have been working on learning the basics, and implementing them in our lives.   We have taken up cooking, gardening, some crafts, and many other simple living pleasures.  My goal for this site is to share with you our attempts into leading a more simple life, the good, and the bad.  We have started down the road already, and have learned many different things along the way.  Our journey is so far from over, and I want to welcome others to come along for the ride as we continue to explore the way that things once were.

As I mentioned above, there will be some different areas of focus.  One of the main areas will be cooking.  Cooking has become a passion for both Josh and I.  We both strive for perfection when it comes to cooking, and want to continue to expand our knowledge about everything cooking, and food.  Much of the desire for these changes comes from wanting to know more about the things we consume.  We have watched what has been happening to the average American by eating the so called food that is available in stores and restaurants, and the health issues that it causes people.  Our bodies don't seem to be able to handle what food has morphed into.  Our philosophy on cooking is that a recipe should consist of raw ingredients.  It should not be to open a can of this, a box of that, and a package of something else and throw it in the microwave!  We will be focusing on foods the way the were originally intended to be made.  Authentic foods from every culture will continue to be a focus.

Gardening has been another focus on our journey.  We have turned part of our front yard into a vegetable garden to be able to expand the amount of food we are able to grow.  Much of the focus has been on trying things that are not as commonplace.  By growing everything ourselves, we know where they came from, what went into growing them, and how to repeat the process.  Food just seems to taste better when it comes from your own garden.

The last focus will be on skills to make your house a home, from crafts, such as knitting and crochet, to sewing, decorating, and cleaning.  The expanse of topics in this area will lend itself to a variety of skills to be learned. 

Hope you enjoy the postings.  Again, if there is something that you would like covered, we are always open to suggestions.  Please help us to spread the word.  Click the Follow button to become a follower of the blog.  Click the share button for Facebook, and Twitter, for both the blog, and the posts.  Thanks for visiting!