enchilada red sauce ..... texmex. and cheesy onion rotisserie chicken enchiladas

ENCHILADA RED SAUCE - TEX-MEX 

2 red chilies (stemmed, deseeded, split, soaked in hot water 20 minutes )

3 cloves fresh garlic (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder if in a pinch)

1/2 onion  (or 1/2 tsp onion powder)

1 cup of broth (*total of 3 splits between chilies and gravy) 

1/4 cup oil (plain, lard, olive, etc) 

4 tbsp flour ap 

1/2 tbsp chili powder (nothing fancy, not spicy)

1/4 tsp ground cumin

* 2 cups broth remaining (chicken, veggies, used tomato-chix) 

salt to taste

** Can add any other spices to your taste, as well as tomato paste

dried oregano, cinnamon, coriander, etc.

take the chilies and stem, deseed, split, soaked in hot water 20 minutes. 

after the soak remove from water and add to a blender with the garlic and onion. blend until smooth. reserve. 

in a saucepan or castiron, add oil and flour on medium-high heat and stir until the flour is cooked and slight color change. 

add the spices into the flour and stir till well combined and heated to help get them activated. 

add the chilies/onion/garlic mixture and the broth to the flour spices and the pan will be boiling up quickly. keep stirring to keep away lumps. 

once the sauce has thickened turn off the heat and use it on the enchiladas.I like the sauce to be more liquidy so the enchiladas are moister.  

375F  20 minutes covered 15 minutes uncovered 

Rotisserie Chicken Enchiladas: 

2 breasts from a rotisserie chicken 

1/2 onion diced 

1 tsp adobo powder 

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp Mexican oregano 

1/2 tsp salt

12 oz shredded cheese (cheddar, Monterey jack, etc. )

tortillas (corn are preferred but flour works as well. 

shred the chicken boobies, then season with the spices (you can adjust or add to your taste - wish we had cilantro). 

add around 1/3 of the shredded cheese into the bowl with the chicken. 

if using corn tortillas, heat some oil in a cast iron and lightly fry the tortillas for a few seconds on each side and have them waiting to be filled. 

in a baking dish or enameled cast-iron braiser with a lid, add some sauce to the bottom of the pan then start rolling the enchiladas. 

NOTES: 

the first time I tried this recipe I only used dried spices and no soaked chilies. 

the sauce/gravy turned out to stiff and tasted of the dried spices - not my favorite. 

i added 1 cup of broth and the soaked chilies to the recipe to make the enchiladas more juicy.