Enchilada Sauce

There’s a reason for this recipe and it has to do with Kent’s pride. You see, our younger son and his family were coming to see us and we’d already decided to try a new recipe while they were here. They’re foodies as much as we are and we knew if the recipe turned out as tasty as we hoped, they’d love it. And if we all hated it, Papa John’s was just a phone call away.

But the recipe called for canned, store-bought enchilada sauce, and Kent just couldn’t do that, he couldn’t resort to using a premade version of something we could make ourselves. He did some online scouting, some revising and here’s the results. By the way, the main recipe was a hit also.

Ingredients:

• ¼ C vegetable oil
• ¼ C all-purpose flour
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes (we use fire roasted; we think it makes a big difference)
• 2 T plus 2 t chili powder
• 1 ½ t dried oregano
• 1 t cumin
• 4 cloves garlic
• About ¼ small onion
• 1 T brown sugar, packed
• 1 C water
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Using a food processor, puree the tomatoes, all the spices, the garlic, onion and brown sugar.
2. Meanwhile, heat vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Whisk in flour until well combined, about 1 minute.
3. Stir in the mixture from the food processor and add the water.
4. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. 
5. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
6. Enjoy!