Ten-Minute Foolproof Red Chile Sauce and Ten-Minute Enchiladas

A pair of "ten-minute" recipes from our friend Sally. First up, her quick and easy Foolproof Red Chile Sauce. Second up, individual enchiladas, layers of corn tortillas, meat and beans, cheese, tomatoes and cilantro, and naturally, a good spoonful or two of that Red Chile Sauce – plus an egg on top for good measure!

~ Skip Straight to the Recipes ~
~ Ten-Minute Foolproof Red Chile Sauce ~
~ Ten-Minute Enchiladas ~

This recipe is so quick and easy
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COMPLIMENTS!

• "YUM. You are right. It is addictive." ~ Pat

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Taking Chances ... on New Friends & New Tastes

Before a jaunt to Santa Fe last summer, the husband of a friend played friendmaker, “We know this woman from Santa Fe. You’d like her. Have lunch or something.”

Inside I groaned, not at all interested. But what was the worst outcome beyond an awkward hour or two? (And besides, wouldn’t she feel reluctant too? Maybe it wouldn’t happen.) Ha, what a lesson in taking small chances!

Sally Denton is an investigative reporter and author with much-readable and much-acclaimed books and a woman of wide-ranging interests.

We had breakfast in a funky spot, talking on and on over coffee and breakfast enchiladas. Turns out, we also share a fascination with food!

When Sally shared her recipe for Red Chile Sauce, the recipe she’s been perfecting since moving to New Mexico two decades ago – and a packet of red chile powder, too – I knew to accept with enthusiasm!

This Stuff is G-O-O-D Good!

And my oh my, this stuff is good!

Day One, I made test enchiladas for lunch, then snacked on tortillas, cheese and red chile sauce before bed.

Day Two, I made enchiladas for breakfast, for lunch, for supper – and another bedtime snack. Sally consoled, “Just remember that Red Chile Sauce is fat free, loaded with Vitamin C and antioxidants and stimulates your metabolism. And addictive.”

Ha! I’d already figured out that last.

A month later, the Red Chile Sauce is still in the fridge (so it keeps well) and I've been using it almost like hot sauce at every meal except dessert.

And more than ten years later? Red Chile Sauce is a kitchen staple, great for meal prep especially during Deep Mexico: Ingredient-Driven Mexican Meal Prep.

Feeding This Healthy Addiction

Ten-Minute Foolproof Red Chile Sauce is so handy to have on hand. With a little imagination, it'll get used up in no time. Honestly, we have zero trouble using up a full batch over the course of a few weeks but here are a few ideas!

• Drizzle over Easy Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas.
• With Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos.
• With a Mexican adaptation of Mediterranean Eggplant.

Where to Buy Red Chile Powder

Regular readers, please know: I work really hard to use only widely available ingredients in Kitchen Parade recipes. But this Red Chile Sauce is so special, so easy, so – addictive! – I hope you’ll understand why I’ve made an exception.

The most important thing to know is that "chile powder" is different than "chili powder". Chile powder (spelled with an "e") is ground chile peppers, where chili (with an "i") powder is a blend of ground chiles and other spices.

Sally describes red chile powder like this: “The best chiles are from Chimayo, New Mexico and the second-best chiles are from anywhere in northern New Mexico. There's something about the high altitude of northern New Mexico that seems to give them a more distinct and delicious flavor.” Other New Mexico chiles, she says, are grown in southern New Mexico’s lower elevations and desert climates especially in around the Hatch area.

So in your search for good-quality red chile powder, look for those from Chimayo and northern New Mexico first, from Hatch and southern New Mexico second.

If your community has a Mexican or Latino grocery, check there. If your community has a Mexican immigrant population, check the grocery stores (and even the Wal-Marts) in the surrounding neighborhood.

RESOURCES I also feel comfortable recommending two online sources for red chile powder:

• Rancho Gordo (the company so famous for its beans)
• Jane Butel Cooking (where a St. Louis friend buys her chile powder)

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READER RECIPE: TEN-MINUTE FOOLPROOF RED CHILE SAUCE

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 10 minutes (see TIPS)
Makes 5 cups (easily halved)

• 8 tablespoons good red chile powder (not chili powder, see above)
• 2 – 4 tablespoons sugar (essential, don’t skip!)
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 cloves garlic (or 2 tablespoons garlic powder)
• 4 cups water

Combine all the ingredients in a blender. Process for several minutes, until the graininess of the chile powder disappears and the mixture thickens slightly. Transfer to a glass storage container and refrigerate for up to several weeks.

ALANNA’s TIPS Straight from the blender, Red Chile Sauce is hot-hot-hot. But it mellows after resting for about 4 hours and to my taste, it’s the perfect amount of heat, just enough, not too much. Red chile powder stains: you’ll want to store the sauce in glass, not plastic, and be sure to rinse anything it touches quickly.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Tablespoon: 7 Calories; 0g Tot Fat; .07g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 14mg Sodium; 1g Carb; 0g Fiber; 1g Sugar; 0g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 0 & PointsPlus 0 & SmartPoints 0 & Freestyle 0

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READER RECIPE: TEN-MINUTE ENCHILADAS

Hands-on time: 10 minutes per enchilada
Time to table: 10 minutes
Makes 1 enchilada

• Ten-Minute Red Chile Sauce (recipe above)
• Corn tortillas (see TIPS), torn into pieces
• Cooked ground turkey or chicken
• Cooked beans, optional
• Diced onion
• Grated cheese, a Mexican cheese (see TIPS) or cheddar cheese
• More Red Chile Sauce
• 1 egg, fried, optional
• Chopped cilantro
• Chopped lettuce & tomato, optional

Pour 1 – 2 tablespoons Red Chile Sauce onto a microwave-safe plate. Top with a tortilla, a little meat, a few beans if using, onion and cheese, then top it all with a drizzle of Red Chile Sauce. Stop at one layer, or add a second or third. Microwave for two minutes or until hot clear through. Top with a fried egg, cilantro and lettuce and tomato if using. Devour!

ALANNA's TIPS Sally recommends blue corn tortillas. I was delighted with no-preservative whole-kernel El Milagro corn tortillas from a local international grocery and others from Whole Foods. If you make your way into a Mexican grocery, check the cheese case, too. I’ve used an aged "crumbling" cheese called cotija from Supremo, it’s addictive too! Cotija is my own favorite, hard to find but worth seeking out. Rick Bayless’ cookbook Mexican Everyday suggests watching for queso fresco, a fresh cheese crumbly like feta but not as creamy or briny. (Queso fresco can also be called queso blanco and queso ranchero.) Bayless suggests using Romano cheese or Parmesan cheese as substitutes. My Disclosure Promise

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Enchilada (a total swag, includes an egg on top!): 189 Calories; 7g Tot Fat; 3g Sat Fat; 225mg Cholesterol; 369mg Sodium; 17g Carb; 2g Fiber; 2g Sugar; 12g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 4 & PointsPlus 5 & SmartPoints 6 & Freestyle 3

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More Recipes from New Mexico & Mexico

(hover with a mouse for a description; otherwise click a photo to view the recipe)

~ more New Mexico recipes ~
~ more Mexican recipes ~

Still More Mexican Recipes

~ Green Beans with Tomatillo Salsa Dressing ~
~ Zucchini Mushroom Hominy Tacos ~
~ Homemade Guacamole with Tomatillos ~
from A Veggie Venture, my food blog

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Recent Favorites from A Veggie Venture

~ Mixed Fruit & Vegetable Salad ~
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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ tortillas ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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