Green Sauce (a.k.a. Green Chile Sauce)

I fell in love with green sauce when I first tried huevos rancheros - green at what has become my favorite restaurant - El Mirador in Deming, NM. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! It has been a while since our travels coincided with their open hours, but the next time they do, I will be having my favorite breakfast and likely bringing a quart of sauce home. But I digress...

One of my first tasks upon moving to New Mexico was to develop a recipe for green sauce so we could have "huevos rancheros green" on a regular basis. I remember asking a friend, a native New Mexican for help - and she laughed at me because she didn't cook. I think that has changed over the years, but I couldn't wait for her to develop a passion for cooking and somehow channel the perfect green chile sauce recipe, so I began hunting around for ideas and tweaking them. 

I have included two versions of what I came up with - large batch (which I usually make) and small batch, for those days when you just need a little (or are on the last few green chiles). No pictures here...because I am a slacker! I will add some one I break out a bag of frozen chiles to make a new batch. In the meantime - here are the recipes!

Sue’s Green Chile Sauce – Large batch

3 tablespoon oil (I prefer olive oil)
1-2 chopped onions
4 cans chicken broth (or 4 cups boiling water and 4 tsp Chicken Better Than Bouillon)
~5 cups (or more) chopped green chiles (enough to make a very full pot)
4-5 large cloves garlic, finely minced
Salt (optional)
1 heaping teaspoon ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the onion until soft. Add broth, chiles, garlic, cumin and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, adding salt if desired. Blend with stab mixer or in a blender. If using a blender, let cool a bit and work in small batches.

If a thicker sauce is desired, mix ~ 2 tablespoons of corn starch in a small amount of water until smooth.  Add to boiling sauce slowly, stirring quickly, until sauce is thick enough. However, this recipe was developed to use the pulverized veggies as thickener.

Yield: Lots!

Sue’s Green Chile Sauce - Small Batch

1 tablespoon oil
2/3 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup (or more) chopped green chiles
2 large cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground coriander
Salt (optional)

1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional)

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the onion until soft. Add broth, chiles, garlic, cumin and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, adding salt if desired. Blend with stab mixer.   

If a thicker sauce is desired, mix cornstarch in a small amount of water until smooth.  Add to boiling sauce slowly, stirring quickly, until sauce is thick enough.

(Variation: Add enough green chiles and onions so the pan is fairly full in relation to the broth.  This will give enough vegetable mass that you won’t need to thicken with cornstarch.)

Yield: 2 cups.

 

Roasting green chiles - a scent straight from heaven!