Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Homemade enchilada sauce

In my attempt to make lower sodium meals, I've discovered homemade enchilada sauce. It's easy and I usually have all the ingredients on hand. I've just filled a pan full to simmer for a while before I throw it together with some corn tortillas in my fridge, some chicken breasts baked up early in the week, and shredded zucchini because I don't have any broccoli, which is what I usually use.
I've riffed on the recipe from kitchenmeetsgirl, substituting a can of diced tomatoes which I ran through the blender and a spoonful of "Better than Bouillon" and a cup of water for the broth. I left out the salt since the "BTB" has enough, and I didn't put quite as much chili powder since I don't like mine too hot. Also, I doubled the recipe because I usually end up making a couple pans and running out of sauce halfway through.
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
  • 1 cup chicken stock
Instructions
  1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add diced onion and cook until just browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt and oregano and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Sauteing your spices for a few seconds will give your sauce a fuller flavor.
  2. Add in the tomato sauce and chicken stock. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook for approximately 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Remove from heat, and strain mixture through a fine mesh strainer, pressing on the onion to extract the sauce. If I am making enchiladas or something similar, I'll add the reserved onions to my filling. You may discard the onion if you wish.
  4. Keep refrigerated for up to one week. Makes approximately 2 cups.
adapted from Cook's Illustrated Cookbook
http://kitchenmeetsgirl.com/homemade-enchilada-sauce/

Since I haven't eaten the enchiladas yet, I don't know for sure how it's going to taste, but so far it looks good. Now on to the next homemade thing.

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