Toasted Chile Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• In a small Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the oil. When hot, add the onions and jalapeno and saute until just starting to caramelize, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
• Reduce the heat to medium, sprinkle the onion mixture with the flour and stir constantly until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add the reserved liquid from the chiles, 1 cup water, the vinegar and salt and stir until the liquid is smooth and all the flour is dissolved.
• Add the chiles and pepper and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes. Puree in a blender, or with a stick blender, and add the lime juice. Adjust to taste for salt and pepper. Refrigerate for up to 1 week.

Steps:

• Coat the bottom of a heavy saucepan with oil; add chile pods. Toast over medium heat until aromatic, about 3 minutes.
• Stir in onion and garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add enough chicken stock to allow pods to float; simmer until they develop the texture of wet leather, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Fill blender halfway with chile-stock mixture. Cover and hold lid down with a potholder; pulse a few times before leaving on to blend. Pour into a bowl; repeat with remaining mixture. Strain sauce through a fine mesh strainer into a saucepan over medium heat. Discard solids.
• Stir cumin, coriander, and oregano into the saucepan; add honey. Cook until sauce is thick and evenly coats the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• For the salsa:
• On a baking tray, roast tomatillos, onion, garlic and jalapenos for 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the roasted vegetables and any juices on the bottom of the tray to a food processor. Add the cumin, salt, cilantro, and lime juice and pulse mixture until well combined but still chunky.
• For the enchiladas:
• Meanwhile heat a 2 count of olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and caramelized - this should take 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin then cook for a further minute. Sprinkle on the flour and stir to ensure the flour doesn't burn then gradually add the chicken stock to make a veloute. Continue stirring over a low simmer until the flour cooks and the liquid thickens. Turn off the heat, add half of the roasted tomatillo chile salsa, some additional fresh chopped cilantro and fold in the shredded chicken meat. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
• Change the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees F and begin assembling the dish. Take a large flameproof baking dish and smear the bottom with some of the reserved tomatillo salsa. Now take the flour tortillas and briefly flash them over the stove-top flame (or put them briefly under the broiler if using an electric stove). Using a shallow bowl, coat each tortilla lightly with the reserved salsa mix. Put a scoop of the shredded chicken-enchilada mix on top of the tortilla followed by a sprinkle of the shredded cheese. Fold the tortilla over the filling and roll like a cigar to enclose it. Using a spatula place the tortillas in the baking dish and continue to do the same with all the tortillas. Finally pour over some more of the salsa and top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes until bubbly and cracked on top. Garnish, cilantro and tomato.
• Serve hot with Spicy Black Beans and Yellow Rice, the remaining tomatillo salsa, sour cream and fresh guacamole, if desired.
• In a large pot, soak beans overnight covered in water by 2 inches. Drain and set aside.
• In the same pot, heat the olive oil. Add the onion, jalapeno pepper, garlic, and bay leaf and cook until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the beans and cover with water by about 1-inch. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the beans are tender. Remove the bay leaf and discard. Taste the beans and season with salt and pepper.
• Put all the ingredients into a heavy-bottomed pot, stir well, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook over low heat until the rice has absorbed the water, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Discard the garlic and bay leaf, fluff with a fork, and serve.

Steps:

• Put the chiles in a small dry skillet and turn the heat to medium. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until fragrant and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove. Stem the chiles and, if you like, remove their seeds (this will reduce the sauce's intensity, but it will still be plenty hot).
• Add the oil to the same skillet and turn the heat to medium. Add the garlic along with the chiles and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cloves have softened and turned golden, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer the oil, chiles, and garlic to a food processor and process until nearly pureed, stopping to scrape the sides of the machine as necessary. Add the nam pla and lime juice and serve. (You can prepare the sauce in advance, but it's best used within a few hours, and after a couple of days it will not be nearly as nice as when fresh. Do not store longer than that.)