While I was putting away groceries the other night I found an unopened bag of guajillo peppers. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten them. And like most of my food experiments, it starts with a craving and a single found ingredient and a need to combine the two to make it work out. I wanted to make my butternut squash enchiladas and decided to make my own sauce…
spicy enchilada sauce
into the crockpot…
1 can diced tomatoes (with the juices)
1 dried guajillo pepper, ripped to pieces
1 dried ancho chili ripped to pieces
2 diced jalapenos
2 tbl chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tbl cocoa powder
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1/2 tb pepper
1/2 tbl salt
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp lightly crushed coriander seeds
1 cup water
1/8 head of garlic
Optional:
1 black (not green or white) cardamom pod
1/2 tbl smoked spanish paprika
Set on high, cook for 3 hours. Remove cinnamon stick, bay leaf and cardamom pod. Run through food processor or blender until smooth.
I used this on squash and sweet corn enchiladas last night. It ended up being spicier than I expected but it was really good.
The black cardamom pod adds a subtle sweet smokiness, same as the smoked spanish paprika but I know those are both hard to come by if you don’t have a good spice shop near you.