You men are wonderful, I can now see exactly where I will make
significant changes. I long ago made Mexican cooking sauces by
soaking/heating so as to end up with a puree of milder dried chile
peppers that were great, but I've forgotten what sorts of peppers to
use. I so appreciate your taking the time to instruct, and I have just
printed:

ENCHILADA SAUCE
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. flour
1/4 cup red chile powder, mild
~~Use ground Chimayo or Ancho, or both here. They're both mild and the
flavor improvement would be worth it. If you aren't in a hurry, grab
some dried ancho chiles, remove stems and seeds and rehydrate them, and
then puree them. Well worth the extra effort.
2 cups beef broth, fresh or canned
2 cups tomato puree, canned
~~Try skipping the tomato, unless you're really married to including it;
make up the volume in chicken stock works (divorce isn't yet final,
maybe)
1/2 tsp. oregano, dried
1/4+ tsp. cumin seeds, toasted, ground
1 fresh minced garlic clove
1 tsp. salt (to taste)
Heat oil in large saucepan; add flour to make a roux. Stir and cook over
medium heat for 2 minutes until browned. Add the rest to the roux;
simmer over low heat for near to an hour....Jack Sauced
~~I would use a handful of whole dried New Mexico chiles, and 1 or 2
ancho. Rehydrate them, and liquify (with the soaking water) in a
blender. Meanwhile, make a medium roux using lard and flour. Add the
chile paste to the roux, and a chicken bouillon cube or two (some
Mexican chicken 'n' tomato bouillon cubes might be nice.) Adjust
seasoning with garlic powder, black pepper, and oregano. Simmer for a
while. Add more water or stock if it's too thick. I seldom use cumin in
anything that has ancho chile. I think large amounts of cumin in Mexican
recipes is often a failed attempt to get that ancho aroma and taste. I
use a *little* bit of cumin sometimes if I make chili using only NuMex

~~Yeah, I always thought that a little cumin goes a long way. Now I
rarely use it except for meat rubs. Not being able to find dried NM
chiles I opt for ground Chimayo, a nice sweet NM chile. Next batch I may
skip the ancho and use the Chimayo alone....Jack Sauced(again)
~~To get that hint of sweetness you mention, I would add a couple slices
of onion before simmering and then remove them afterward.
Just my 2c. YMMV....Sam D.

Picky ~JA~