The other day, I decided that I wanted to make enchiladas from scratch, so I started looking around for an enchilada sauce recipe. It seems like all of the enchilada sauces online had the addition of flour, which I couldn’t bring myself to include. I ended up combining two recipes that I already had; a Rick Bayless and Cook’s Illustrated. Voila! An enchilada sauce bursting with tomato and rustic earthy undertones.
Enchilada Sauce
(makes enough sauce for 1 pan of enchiladas)
6 small round tomatoes
2 jalapeno peppers
1 1/2 tbsp vegetable or corn oil
1 medium onion, chopped fine (about 1 cup)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tbsp)
3 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 cups stock
Roast the tomatoes and jalapenos directly over a gas flame or on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, turning regularly, until the skins have blistered and blackened on all side, about 5 minutes for an open flame, about 10 minutes under the broiler. Place in a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and when cooled, rub off the blackened skin, tear open the peppers and pull out the seed pod and stem. Remove the hard core from the tomatoes. Process in a food processor until smooth.
Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat until hot and shimmering but not smoking, about 2 minutes; add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, coriander, cumin, salt, and sugar; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomato sauce and 1 cup stock Bring to rapid boil simmer and cook until thick and reduced (like tomato paste), stirring nearly constantly for 15 minutes. Please take caution here, the tomato mixture will start spitting during this process. Add the remaining cup of stock to thin it out. Should be thinner than spaghetti sauce consistency. Taste and season with salt, if needed. Enchilada sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to five days or freeze.
creative noshing 
Here we are needing a food processor again… :)
I have never made my own red enchilada sauce (I’ve done green, but not red) but I am sooo doing this!! Bottled enchilada sauce tastes like a bucket of salt with red food color. I’m excited.
You could do this one in a blender because you want to get it as smooth as possible. Yeah, I agree with the bottled enchilada statement. Not the best stuff.