Irma's Red Enchilada Sauce (Salsa De Chile Rojo)

Pierre Dance's Note:

I got this one from my friend, Rick Ramirez's Mom, Irma when I lived in Yuma in the early 1960's. I usually make a double batch and freeze the excess, 2 cups at a time in Sandwich size ziplock freezer bags. Cooking time includes steeping time for the chiles.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 35 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 15 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 4.5 cups

• 5 dried pasilla peppers
• 5 dried ancho chiles or 5 dried New Mexico chiles
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 cups tomato sauce (My Crock Pot Italian Tomato Sauce)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup oil
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon crumbled Mexican oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seed, grind fresh with oregano

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Place chiles on a wire cooling rack on a baking sheet.
3. Roast 4-5 minutes, NO MORE THEY"LL TURN BITTER!
4. Let them cool to touch.
5. Cut tops off, split in two with a sharp knife.
6. Remove seeds and veins, the soft part that holds the seeds.
7. Cover with boiling water, let steep an hour.
8. Remove each half to a platter and scrape the pulp with the edge of a spoon. After handling chiles wash your hands with warm water and baking soda to nutralize the chile juice. It's an acid. You can safely wash your eyes too.
9. Combine all ingredients including the water in a sauce pan.
10. Bring to a simmer, simmer for 15 minutes.
11. Stirring occasionly.

Reviews

[CindyCRNA]

I did not rate this as I am sure the fault lies with me. I mail ordered my peppers and my Anchos were beautiful and rubbery. My pasillas however were crisp and hard and crumbley and here in lies the problem. I roasted them 4 min but when I took them out, I felt the pasillas were overdone. I covered them in boiling water for an hour but when I went to scrape them, they fell apart so I got the bright idea to put them, skins and all in the blender. The resulting sauce was very bitter. I added more tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, sugar, couldn't fix it. I had to dump the whole thing. Did I mention I had made a double batch!!

[LouLouIzSpoiled]

I was searching your recipes and came upon this one. It looked so good, that I went and got the peppers and gave it a go. With a perfect blend of peppers for this sauce, it was great on our enchiladas! This will be used often, as we love Mexican, and I can think of lots of things to use this on!