Mail Order 'powder-free' Red Enchilada Sauce

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 6 dried new mexico chiles
• 4 dried ancho chiles
• 2 dried chipotle chiles
• 1 -2 cup chicken stock, boiling hot
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 16 ounces diced tomatoes, drained
• 7 ounces tomato sauce
• 1 cup extra stock, to taste

Recipe

• 1 wipe off the chiles with a damp cloth.
• 2 tear the stems off the new mexico and ancho chiles, then open them up with your fingers and pluck out the seeds and membranes, making jerky-sized pieces of chile.
• 3 heat up the big sauce pan you will need later and 'stir-fry' the chile pieces until they smell nice (2-3 minutes).
• 4 dump the toasted chiles and the chipotles into a medium-sized bowl, barely cover with hot stock, then float a smaller heavy glass bowl onto everything to keep the bits submerged. soak for about 30 minutes.
• 5 place the garlic, onion, spices and drained tomatoes into a blender.
• 6 add the soaked chiles (including liquid), and puree until smooth.
• 7 pour into the saucepan, add the tomato sauce and simmer for 30 minutes, adding stock to get the thickness you like. season to taste.
• 8 to serve, i simply poach corn tortillas right in the sauce for a minute or two (low fat trick), then pull them out one at a time with tongs, roll them around some pre-warmed filling (right on the plate), then smother with more sauce. no baking(impatient guy trick). finish with a dollop of sour cream and a single black olive if you like.