Preparation:
Heat the oil in a 1 or 2 quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, cover and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes to wilt the onions. Check halfway through to make sure they are not browning. Raise the heat to medium again, stir in the flour, cumin and black pepper, and cook stirring, for 2 minutes to cook the rawness out of the flour. The onions will tend to ball up into clumps, but that does not matter. When the onion-flour mixture just begins to color, remove pan from heat and gradually pour in the broth, stiring constantly to prevent lumps. Add all the remaining ingredients. Return pan to heat and bring to the boiling point, then cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. The finished sauce should be thick enough to nap a spoon. The basic sauce is now ready to use or to store in the refrigerator. It keeps well for a week or so, but a skin will form on the cooled sauce, and when cold it will almost solidly congeal. All can be made right again by reheating the sauce as you need it. This chile verde is warming but not nearly so hot as almost every native New Mexican likes it. For a hotter suace, add the optional chopped jalapenos at the same time as the mild chilies go in. The upper limit to how hot chile verde can be has yet to be determined, but I am nearly positive that no one is reputed to make their entirely with jalapenos. |
