Ethnic Recipes

Rustic Red Chile Sauce

This rustic sauce is used over enchiladas or tamales. You can also serve it on top of chicken breast, pork chops or grilled steak.

Low fat - low calorie

10 to 12 large dried ancho chiles (20 if small to medium)
2 to 3 cups water (divided use)
1 small white onion, chopped
3 to 6 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
3 tablespoons adobo sauce
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon salt

Wash the dried anchos. Soak overnight or fill a medium pan with hot water (enough to cover the peppers). Bring the water to a boil, remove from heat, then add the peppers and soak 30 minutes. Save the water.

In a skillet, saut? onion in 2 to 3 tablespoons of water until soft and clear (saut?ing in oil can cause a bitter taste). Do not brown the onion.

Clean stems and seeds from anchos. Sprinkle water in the skillet over a medium heat. Lay the chiles flat. Saut? for 1 minute on each side Do not burn the skin. If you do burn a spot, cut it off or the taste will taint the whole batch.

In a blender add 1 cup of reserved water, ancho peppers, onion, chipotles, adobo sauce, garlic, cumin, Mexican oregano and salt. (The chipotle peppers are hot, so add to taste.) Slowly add 1 cup of water and puree until the ingredients are smooth. There should be no skin pulp in the sauce. If you want it hotter, add a few fresh jalape?os (not pickled). The sauce should mound slightly when finished, so you may have to add a little more water to thin it. Makes 4 cups.

The sauce keeps for about a week in the refrigerator, and it freezes well.

Per tablespoon: Cal 33 (21% fat) Fat 1 g (no sat) Fiber 2 g No chol Sodium 96 mg Carb 6 g Calcium 8 mg

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