Chicken enchilada with homemade sauce

Hi, here is how I make homemade enchilada sauce. Not for critiquing (I'm Canadian, I'm no authority on Mexican cooking) ~ just give it a try it's yummy.

First I use a few dried Ancho Chillies. For this recipe I used four large ones. In the end with all the other ingredients it ends up being a good heat, maybe other people would like it hotter~ last time I added a fresh Jalapeno to the recipe and was a bit hotter, so either add more ancho chilies for more heat or add heat another way ~hot sauce or Jalapeno. Soak the Chilies in water until soft and pliable. Remove the hard stem and discard, as well as the seeds inside. (a few seeds will stick to the skin~that is fine).

Dice up a couple white onions, or really whatever onion you have on hand. Mince up a couple cloves of garlic. Dice or slice up some red pepper or which ever colour you have on hand.

Heat up oil in pan or frying pan, add the onions and cook until almost translucent, add the garlic~careful not to burn, throw in the red peppers. Cook down for a few minutes.

I added red peppers I had previously frozen, doesn't matter the size/shape because this will all be blended later. Cut up the now rehydrated ancho chillies and add to the pan. 1/2 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp chilli powder, salt, pepper to taste. You could even double these spices if you taste it at the end and needs more.

I added a huge ice chunk of frozen tomatoe chunks I had frozen. You could add 1/2 can of tomatoes. You could also add in chunks of fresh tomatoes. Cook this down for quite a while. I had mine on for almost an hour.

I let the mixture cool down a bit, then (blender broke) I put in food processor to liquify, then put through a strainer to get out the skins/etc.

Then assemble by dipping both sides of a tortilla bread in the sauce then laying out the fillings you would like. I put precooked chicken shredded, medium cheddar, a tiny bit of refried beans, and a bit of salsa. You could eliminate either one of those items, and you could also put rice inside. It's a little messy but roll them up with your hands. Top with cheese and bake 350degrees until cheese is nicely melted and they seem to be heated through.

Most times I make this, I take a bit of the extra enchilada sauce and put it in the rice water to make a sort of 'mexican rice' taste to accompany the enchiladas. I forgot to take picture before they went in the oven, so pulled them out halfway through baking.