Chili Gravy
Dec. 30th, 2012 05:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebAs promised, I am finally providing the recipe I use for enchilada sauce. This recipe is by far the biggest recipe success of the year for me.
The kind of enchilada sauce I like is just your basic "red sauce," but apparently it is generally made with loads of fat. I've been trying to find a compromise recipe that minimizes the evil while still tasting good. Usually I end up with something too tomato-y or recipes I'm unwilling to even try. Finally I came across Homesick Texan's recipe for Tex-Mex cheese enchiladas.
I tried it. Yum.
Robin tried it replacing the fat with more broth. Still yummy.
I tried additional simplification steps, and here's my current recipe:
Chili Gravy
2 1/4 cups water (or broth)
1/4 cup flour (masa, regular, or whole wheat)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons chili powder
Mix the water and flour in a medium saucepan (or large pot) until well combined. Heat while adding other ingredients. Bring to a boil and stir until thickened.
**
That's it. It's hard to take a good picture of just the sauce, but here goes:
That's what it looks like when made with water and whole wheat pastry flour. (I've been using masa flour, but tried the whole wheat to test whether I still like it. Yes, I do.) I don't know why it doesn't look as red as in Homesick Texan's picture--my chili powder is a nice, dark red. Probably something about not roasting it in lard. Still tastes good to me. Actually, I don't much like it plain--it's too strong. But I do like it as part of enchiladas. And chili. Which brings me to my next point.
Another thing I've been wanting a good recipe for is chili. I like Carroll Shelby's package (without using the hot pepper packet), but I don't want to be dependent on a company staying in business (well, either of two companies: Three-Alarm Chili is also good). And I suspect it's cheaper to put together the ingredients myself. I've been trying various things based on the ingredients list on the Carroll Shelby package, but the results have always been disappointing.
Then one day I decided to check what happens if I add meat and beans to this chili gravy. What happens is it becomes a kind of chili I like. Who knew I would like chili with no tomato sauce at all?
I use a pound of hamburger (or similar) plus two or three cans of beans. If you do this, it may or may not fit in a regular sauce pan, so that's when I'd recommend using a large pot.
I also put way more cheese on than is in the picture, and usually serve it over brown rice, though it's yummier over corn chips (as frito pie), or actually with the corn chips on top so they don't get so soggy.
The kind of enchilada sauce I like is just your basic "red sauce," but apparently it is generally made with loads of fat. I've been trying to find a compromise recipe that minimizes the evil while still tasting good. Usually I end up with something too tomato-y or recipes I'm unwilling to even try. Finally I came across Homesick Texan's recipe for Tex-Mex cheese enchiladas.
I tried it. Yum.
Robin tried it replacing the fat with more broth. Still yummy.
I tried additional simplification steps, and here's my current recipe:
Chili Gravy
2 1/4 cups water (or broth)
1/4 cup flour (masa, regular, or whole wheat)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons chili powder
Mix the water and flour in a medium saucepan (or large pot) until well combined. Heat while adding other ingredients. Bring to a boil and stir until thickened.
**
That's it. It's hard to take a good picture of just the sauce, but here goes:
That's what it looks like when made with water and whole wheat pastry flour. (I've been using masa flour, but tried the whole wheat to test whether I still like it. Yes, I do.) I don't know why it doesn't look as red as in Homesick Texan's picture--my chili powder is a nice, dark red. Probably something about not roasting it in lard. Still tastes good to me. Actually, I don't much like it plain--it's too strong. But I do like it as part of enchiladas. And chili. Which brings me to my next point.
Another thing I've been wanting a good recipe for is chili. I like Carroll Shelby's package (without using the hot pepper packet), but I don't want to be dependent on a company staying in business (well, either of two companies: Three-Alarm Chili is also good). And I suspect it's cheaper to put together the ingredients myself. I've been trying various things based on the ingredients list on the Carroll Shelby package, but the results have always been disappointing.
Then one day I decided to check what happens if I add meat and beans to this chili gravy. What happens is it becomes a kind of chili I like. Who knew I would like chili with no tomato sauce at all?
I use a pound of hamburger (or similar) plus two or three cans of beans. If you do this, it may or may not fit in a regular sauce pan, so that's when I'd recommend using a large pot.
I also put way more cheese on than is in the picture, and usually serve it over brown rice, though it's yummier over corn chips (as frito pie), or actually with the corn chips on top so they don't get so soggy.