RED ENCHILADA SAUCE . . USING WHOLE DRIED CHILI PODS

I've had these chilies around for awhile and finally decided to get them out of the way . . . . without wasting, of course.

• Take the stem off and dump out the seeds if you don't want to preserve the "heat".

• Put them in a pan, barely cover with water.  Simmer with a lid on them until they seem to be softening and rehydrating, in a manner of speaking . . .  nothing will soften those skins  :-}

• They will gradually lighten in color.  When the "meat" (insides) of the chilies seem to be nice and soft, I let the liquid evaporate down a bit so that the resulting slurry will be more concentrated.  Watch it carefully.

• Dump the whole mixture into the blender or food processor.  Blender will do a better job. 
•  After breaking it down thoroughly, strain it into a bowl.  You will need to keep mixing it in the strainer to get the good stuff on down through the strainer.  
• Be patient if you want to get most of the goodies.  you may have to remove the skin and seeds once in awhile to keep it flowing!

• I made the goodies into cubes and froze them so that I can just take out how many I need  each time.

My freezer is getting pretty full of these little baggies full of goodness that make food storage special!

The Enchilada Sauce is following  this post . .  or at least it will in a few minutes!  If I try to put too much into one post, I mess it up every time  . . .  sigh - - - - 

RED ENCHILADA SAUCE . . . . the actual sauce, not just the red chili . . .

Guess who forgot to take a picture of all the ingredients!  I'll do that in a bit and add it.  For now, here we go!

• First get out your favorite chunk of lard from your fridge.  Hmm, did you read that right?  Yes, you did.  You can store lard in the cold or just on the shelf, since we live in such hot country, I choose to keep it in the cold., in that little compartment in the door that is kind of worthless, now it isn't!  My mom always used shortening and I also have been known to use bacon grease.
• Back to business, melt about 1/4 cup in your 2-3 quart pan.  Just melt it, don't need to make any smoke  . . .  that was for my benefit.

• Next add 4 T. flour and mix it with a whisk, or whatever is handy.  I never used a whisk until a college roomie how great they were.  I usually keep mixing and cooking it until the mixture has started to brown a little.  It adds a nice little toasty flavor.  

• Next it is time to add the 4 cups of liquid.  It can be beef broth, water (kind of bland), or if you are planning to make it very mild, you can use some tomato juice (small can of tomato sauce + water) to give it more color.  Mix and cook until it has made a lovely smooth creamy sauce.  If you need, add more liquid. 
• Add your seasonings:  red chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, pinch of each  cumin and oregano, salt.   You can also add browned ground beef at this point if you would like a quick easy way to make a large amount of enchiladas.

• Start layering in your casserole or baking pan.

1. Coat the bottom of the pan with sauce.
2. Add a layer of tortillas or if you want to use them up, all those annoying little crumbs in the bottom of your corn chip bag.  Sprinkle grated cheese (ground beef if you want and haven't added it to the sauce).
3. Add some more sauce and continue to layer ending with sauce and grated cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  It may vary, depending on how deep they are in the pan.

CHILI STACKS . . . SOUTHWESTERN STYLE

So here we go for making Chili Stacks.  

• Place about an ounce of chips in your bowl.  My chili is nice and thick, helps the chips stay crisper.  If you use the soupier style, your chips will get a little softer and chewier.

• Pour about a cup of hot chili over the chips.  Sprinkle on some
•  grated cheese.  If the chili is leftover like mine, this is where 
• you nuke it to heat it up.

• Here is your ooey gooey yumminess.  At this point it's time to sprinkle all kinds of goodies over the top.  
• Salsa,diced tomatoes, chopped onion, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce, corn, cilantro.  What ever floats your boat!