My last adventure in making enchilada sauce was in 2013. I made “Red Chile Sauce”, a sauce meant for enchiladas, according to a recipe in my 1972 Sunset Mexican Cook Book. The sauce I made captured the flavor that I wanted – a deep chili flavor similar to the canned enchilada sauces that I find on store shelves. It was just a bit, well, bitter or something, and it was thin. It was a big batch, and I eventually used it all up, but each time I cut the enchilada sauce with a good amount of canned tomato sauce and spices. I haven’t made it since. I went back to canned enchilada sauce.

Five years later, I am going through my browser bookmarks. I run across a blog post titled Homemade Enchilada Sauce on the Circle B web site. This site is authored by a woman about my own age who also grew up in the 1950s in Southern California. She too was on a quest for homemade enchilada sauce – as she put it, “a killer enchilada sauce”. After a couple years of search, she found a recipe in a cookbook on her own shelf, “Mexican Family Cooking”, a collection of “family recipes handed down from Mothers, Aunts and Grandmas”. (Oddly enough, she posted her enchilada sauce blog post about the same time I posted my Mexican Cook Book post.) Her sauce was a lot more successful! I was on the right track though – starting with dried chiles.

Here are the secrets. Begin as I did with a package of dried chiles. But, do not toast them, and do not use the chile cooking liquid to add back to the sauce. I think this is why mine tasted bitter – both the toasting and the adding the liquid back. After cooking and draining, blend the chiles with fresh water (and a lot of garlic!). Add sugar and a good amount of salt and season the sauce with chile powder and cumin. Add a tablespoon of tomato paste. Thicken the sauce with a roux made of cooking oil and flour. Let simmer awhile until the flavors blend.

Boy oh boy, this enchilada sauce is absolutely the best I have had – ever! It is just heavenly. Rich, red, thick, and spicy. It captures the essence of the canned enchilada sauces that we are used to, but it goes to a whole new level of goodness. It’s hard to believe I made a quart of this sauce and only used a tablespoon of tomato paste because it looks like there is a lot more tomato than than just that in it.

I can now type the recipe from memory. I cite the Circle B website as my reference. The recipe below is essentially that recipe, but I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil. I highly recommend olive oil in this, it made it extra rich tasting. Also, I added less water for a thicker sauce. I was also rather heavy-handed when I added the cumin and chile powder. And, I used a food processor instead of a blender.

I got my chiles at a local store, either Safeway (produce section) or a Mexican grocery. I had several bags in my pantry, as making enchilada sauce has haunted me. The type of chile is not specified on the bag, it just says “New Mexico Chile, 3 oz.”, and the brand is Badia. I don’t remember how long these have been in my pantry, so these dried chiles might have been a bit old. Nevertheless, they worked!

Everybody should have enchilada sauce this great. Come to my house and I’ll give you some!

Enchilada Sauce

Note: this recipe makes over a quart of enchilada sauce. When I tried doubling the sauce, I found it overwhelmed my food processor and strainer (and patience). So, my advice is to make one recipe at a time.

• 3-4 ounces dried Mexican chiles (see note above)
• enough water to cover the chiles in the pot
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 tablespoon red chile powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 4-5 cups water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 5 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste (generous)

Take the seeds and any pith out of the dried chiles. You don’t have to be ultra-careful in removing every last seed.

Put the cleaned chiles in a medium pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Pour the chiles and their cooking water through a colander. (I used a regular colander, not a fine one.) Remember: you want the solids, not the liquid. Transfer the drained chiles to a food processor. Toss the cooking liquid and rinse the colander.

Add the garlic, chile powder, cumin, salt, and sugar to the chiles in the food processor. Add enough of the 4-5 cups of water for a good slurry to form. Process the mixture several minutes, until the particles are pretty fine.

Set up your rinsed colander over a big bowl. Pour through it the pureed chile mixture. Press the puree in the colander to get as much of the sauce through as possible, leaving behind any bits of chilis and seeds. Remember: this time, what goes through the colander. Rinse the food processor with some water and put this through the colander too.

In a good sized sauce pan, heat the olive oil. Add the flour and stir for several minutes over medium heat, until the flour just starts to show a bit of brown. Carefully add the tomato paste and stir for a minute. Then, carefully stir in the pureed, strained chile mixture. Add more of the 4-5 cups water until the thickness of the sauce is to your liking. I left mine pretty thick!

Heat and stir the sauce for 5-10 minutes minutes to blend flavors. Adjust the seasoning to your own taste – feel free to be creative! Add hot pepper powder (like cayenne) if you want your sauce with more kick.

Use immediately, or store in the refrigerator for a few days or the freezer for a lot longer.

Imagine pork simmered in rich broth with lots of green chiles and cumin and cilantro and oregano and tomatoes and onions, covered with cornmeal oozing with jack cheese. And imagine that in a bowl all your own, and you are tucked back in a chair on a cold night, savoring each spicy bite, taking it slow because it is so very hot but it tastes so good you just can’t stop.

Gosh I love these green chile pot pies.

The inspiration for my Chile Verde Pot Pies came from a recipe clipped from a magazine or newspaper in the 80s or so. I first tried it in 2006, and improved the recipe over the years, added the topping from another old clipped recipe in 2012, and today pretty much stick with the version below.

The pièce de résistance is the topping. It’s a cornmeal based batter with big chunks of jack cheese in it. The jack cheese does not bake entirely into the batter – it oozes out and is just delicious.

A few pointers:

• I make it in 2-3 bowls, but it could be baked in one medium pot pie.
• We usually have a little left over for the next day!
• I use random individual-portion ovenproof baking dishes or bowls.
• You could make a double batch of the chile (without the cornmeal topping) and freeze half for a later meal.
• Do not use grated cheese, especially pre-grated cheese. It simply will not melt properly.
• The chile itself can vary a lot, but stay to the recipe with the topping. The chile part is free-form (more like the way I cook!).
• Taste the chile after it simmers and adjust the seasonings to your own taste.

Chile Verde Pot Pies
serves 2 (usually with leftovers, we have no problem with that)

Green-chile stew

• 9 ounces boneless pork, cut in 1/2″ cubes (I use boneless pork loin)
• a little oil for the pan
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup freshly roasted green chiles, chopped OR about a cup of bottled green chile salsa OR a small can of chopped green chiles OR about a cup of fresh or canned salsa
• 3 small tomatoes, chopped OR part of a can of tomatoes OR use less of the salsa/green chile ingredients instead and use a can of Rotel®
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano (use Mexican oregano if you have it)
• 1/2 teaspon cumin
• 1 teaspoon red chile powder
• salt to taste
• half a small can of pinto beans (about 1/2 to 3/4 cup)
• 1-2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 C chopped olives
• 2 T chopped cilantro

Cornmeal Topping

• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 teaspoon red chile powder (or paprika if you want to tame the heat)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup diced Jack cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese

In a medium saucepan, brown the pork in hot oil, then add garlic and onion and cook about 5 minutes. Stir in chiles, salsa, tomatoes, spices, and pinto beans (sometimes I add the pinto beans near the end of the cooking so they don’t get too mushy). Add enough chicken stock to cover the mixture and then simmer an hour or two. Stir and check occasionally, and add more chicken stock as necessary. It is done when the pork is tender, but longer cooking only makes it better.

Near the end of the chile’s cooking time, prepare the Cornmeal Topping. Combine milk, butter, red chile powder (or paprika), and salt in a saucepan and heat to a gentle boil. On heat, gradually stir in the cornmeal. Heat gently until it thickens, stirring frequently (it cooks fast!). Off heat, fold in the egg and the jack cheese.

When ready to prepare the pot pies, add the olives and cilantro. And, taste and adjust the seasonings. Add a little chicken stock if necessary: make it a little on the “wet” side, as it will bake in the oven and dry out a little. It does not require any thickening (with cornstarch or the like) as it is usually a pretty thick chile on its own.

Divide into 2-3 small individual casseroles. I use any oven-proof baking dish I have that holds about 2 cups of liquid.

Divide the Cornmeal Topping among casseroles, spreading evenly to nearly cover tops. Bake at 375˚ about 25-30 minutes or until the cornmeal is baked through.

Let cool long enough so that you do not burn your tongue, if you can stand the wait!