Ancho Chile Gravy

[Jay Francis]

I made, what turned out to be, a really good ancho chile puree, for later use
with pork for tamales or an enchilada sauce, etc. The thing is, I was just
putttering in the kitchen and was throwing stuff together, using leftovers,
etc. I was wondering if anyone want to try to duplicate the following, see how
it tastes, and maybe provide comments or corrections, or more exact
measurements.

The Will Probably Never Be Able To Duplicate It Again, Ancho Chile Puree

I took about 6-7 ancho chiles, and seeded and stemmed them, rinsed them under
running water to remove the dust. Weight? I don't know, they were small to
medium.

I brought a pot of water to boil and then soaked the chiles in the water for a
while.

On top of the stove was a pot of pork broth with pork shoulder.

When the chiles were softened, I put them in a blender and filled it to the top
with the pork broth, then had second thoughts and drained the pork broth,
replacing with water. The water was filled up to the 5 cup mark on my Osterizer
blender.

I pureed the chiles and strained them into a pot. I added 1/2 of a large,
chopped onion, a teaspoon of cumin, a teaspoon of Mexican oregano, some Kosher
salt and some sugar, not measured but probably a teaspoon or so . I added two
jalapenos en escabeche, not draining off the vinegar. I added about 1 cup but
maybe two cups of Wolf brand chili (the leftovers part of the recipe) and
simmered for 20 minutes.

Made enough to fill one vacu-vin container, say, 5 to 6 cups.

It was this deepest dark chocolate color, like Hershey's Chocolate Syrup.

Ancho puree was bitter, that's why I added sugar. Tasted strong of the oregano
when first added, but the flavor disappeared. Very little cumin taste, could
probably have added a little more. Wolf brand appears to be a secret
ingredient. Probably because of the flour and maybe some extra sugar.

I wonder if a salt free beef broth would add richness.

I wonder if a light blond roux would add depth.

[davik]

I'm still trying to figure out mexican food, but I may give that a shot at some point; if I do I'll drop you a message.