Enchilada Sauce

Whenever I see a recipe call for a can of enchilada sauce, I cringe a bit. I can't help it - homemade enchilada sauce is pretty dang easy to make, and the stuff in the can? Well, it's just gross. There's no other way around it. I mean, if you're going to make enchiladas using sauce from a can, you may as well eat flipping tamales from a can.

Again, gross.

Now, I don't know how authentic this is, since it's made with chile powder instead of whole, dried chiles the way the sauce for my tamales is made. I do know that it is good, and much better than the sauce you get out of a can. I like that you get the good chile flavor without it being stupid hot. I hate when you're eating something that you can tell should be tasty but you can't actually taste anything because your mouth is on fire. No es bueno.

So, I present to you, my easy, homemade enchilada sauce. Easy peasy with no scary ingredients.

First, you're going to need a can of tomatoes. I used a jar of some I canned myself. Dump them into the blender, liquid and all, and puree until smooth.

Right here is where the battery in my camera died, so the rest of my photos are crappy iPhone photos. Sorry.

Dump them into a pot and set aside.

Next, gather some ingredients - flour, cocoa powder (unsweetened of course), salt, garlic powder, dried oregano, and chili powder.

In a small bowl, combine 3 tablespoons flour, three tablespoons chili powder, a teaspoon of cocoa powder, a half teaspoon of garlic powder, a half teaspoon of salt, and a teaspoon of dried oregano. Stir to combine.

Measure out two cups of filtered water and very slowly, a little bit at a time, add it to the dry spices while stirring to make a paste.

It will kind of look like this.

Keep adding the water, a little at a time, while stirring so that it gets incorporated evenly. If you try to add it all at once, it will get all clumpy. No es bueno.

Pour the spice mixture into the pot with the pureed tomatoes and add an additional cup of filtered water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat a bit and simmer until it's thickened, stirring occasionally. I simmered it about half an hour, but you can do it to whatever consistency you like for your enchiladas.

After this was done, I shredded up some leftover chicken, sauteed it with some onions and cilantro, and then stirred in a little of the sauce. Some of the chicken mixture along with some cheese in corn tortillas, rolled up and placed in a pan, covered with the rest of the sauce and more cheese? I called that dinner, and it was good. :)

Even Bubba who doesn't want to eat anything these days had a few bites!