One of the most exciting smells around our house is roasting green chiles. My kids get excited, my 2 year old shouts “Mamma – Peppers!” – and I am almost certain my husband knows we are roasting chiles because he sneezes. Constantly. Sneezes. And he can’t stop. (ha!)
I love the smell of roasted chiles, it transfers out of our vents and you can smell it outside too – my neighbor usually knocks on my door and asks me if I’m roasting and then lets us know we’re welcome to share our food with him when we are done (and that is ok — because he gives us Baklava in return!)
As much as we all love them, we don’t roast all too often.
But when we do, homemade enchilada sauce is one of the first things we make.
Forget the canned sauce – that shouldn’t even be sold in stores, because it’s not even close to real sauce.. it’s tasteless and just icky! In the time it takes us to run to the store I can make our own here – it’s SO easy.
Thankfully we are not far from Hatch, New Mexico so we can always take a trip on a weekend to pick up Green Chiles, or we can order online. If you opt to pick up Pasilla or Anaheim Chiles in the store, you can make this too.
This most recent bag of Hatch green chiles came from the Hatch Chile Festival, held the first weekend of September in the little town of Hatch. It’s about a 5 hour drive for us and we spend the weekend out there. The strong scent of green chiles fills the air for the entire weekend, as people come from far to taste, buy and smell what Hatch is famous for.
If you are close to Hatch, consider taking a trip out there to the Chile Festival – it’s so much fun to see the live bands and entertainment as they celebrate the green chile with the public.
Then come back and use your fresh green chiles to make your own Homemade Enchilada Sauce. You can use it for chicken, casseroles, tamales and more.
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/2 C. Onion, diced
- 3-4 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 1/4 tsp Cumin
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper (or Black Pepper Vitality Essential Oil - we use Young Living)
- 3 Tbsp Organic, All Purpose Unbleached Flour
- 2 - 2 1/2 C. Organic Chicken Broth
- 3-4 Anaheim or, Pasilla Chiles, seeds removed, roasted, peeled & chopped
- 1/2 tsp Oregano, dried
- 1 tsp Salt
- Optional: 1 Jalapeno, diced
- If your Anaheim or Pasilla Chiles are not roasted, you will want to roast them in the oven before you get started. We used the Roast feature on the oven, and it took us a few minutes on each side until they were bubbling (and turning black). Take out, let cool briefly then remove the skin and seeds and dice.
- In a medium skillet, heat the oil on low/medium and add the onions and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes or until clear, stirring often.
- Add the flour, and use a fork to mix until the flour combines with the onions and garlic to form a thick paste.
- Add the broth 1 Cup at a time, stir it constantly to prevent lumps - the flour should thicken the broth up quite nicely over the next few minutes.
- Add all of the other ingredients, and let simmer on the stove top.
- Use your immersion blender to blend or, pour the skillet mixture into your mixer and blend briefly - you can leave some chiles if you wish, otherwise, we blend for 1-2 minutes, adding extra broth if necessary to thin out.
- Add any additional salt to taste, stir well - taste test, then pour into canning jars and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Freeze in freezer bags as needed, labeling with date.
- Can keep in the refrigerator for up to 6 days if well packaged. If frozen, keep for up to one month.
