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!

Fra Diavolo Sauce

While out for dinner, Kent enjoyed a Fra Diavolo shrimp dish at a restaurant and decided to create his own version. So he took a basic tomato sauce recipe we love (created by Oyster Evangelist) and tweaked it to come up with his own version.

When I made this the other night, I had some chicken sage sausage on hand so I diced that up and sautéed it and added it in. The sauce is equally good with no meat—it’s got lots of flavor all by itself. Cut down the red pepper flakes and the cayenne if you don’t like things hot.

Ingredients:

4 T (1/2 stick) butter
1 small onion, minced (1 cup)
2 t red pepper flakes
1 t cayenne powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 C water
2 cloves garlic, put through a press
1 32-ounce can crushed tomatoes and their juices

Directions:

• In a large heavy pan, melt the butter.
• Add the onion, red pepper flakes, cayenne powder and oregano, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes.
• Add the tomato paste and cook a few minutes until it begins to stick to the bottom of the pan. 
• Stir in 1/2 cup of water, scraping the bottom of the pan to pick up any cooked-on bits. 
• Add the tomatoes and the garlic.
• Simmer for 30 minutes.
• Put on your favorite pasta.