Avocado Poblano Enchilada Sauce
This recipe details how to make a delicious avocado-poblano enchilada sauce. It's a simple process involving roasting poblano peppers, sautéing onions and garlic, and blending everything together with avocado and cilantro for a creamy, flavorful sauce.
This recipe details how to make a delicious avocado-poblano enchilada sauce. It's a simple process involving roasting poblano peppers, sautéing onions and garlic, and blending everything together with avocado and cilantro for a creamy, flavorful sauce.
- Carbohydrate 5.90707500009102 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 8.35736458479483 g
- Fiber 2.65374994152348 g
- Protein 1.10756666667121 g
- Saturated Fat 0.974036145941003 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (62g)
- Sodium 3.98291666668829 mg
- Sugar 3.25332505856755 g
- Trans Fat 0.361460937518113 g
- Calories 97 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat broiler. Arrange chile peppers in a large shallow baking pan. Broil 4 inches from heat for 6-8 mins or til chiles are charred, turning occasionally. Transfer chile peppers to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap; set aside for 10 mins or tuntil peppers are cool enough to handle. Remove & discard skin & seeds; chop peppers.
- In a med saucepan cook onion & garlic in hot oil over med heat for 7-10 mins or til onion is tender. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in chopped poblanos.
- In a blender combine poblano mixture, avocado and cilantro; blend until combined. Gradually add 3 cups water in a steady stream through hold in the lid, blending to make a sauce. Blend in lime juice.
Scaling and Blending Mechanics
Adjusting the yield of this sauce requires precise liquid management rather than simple proportional multiplication of the water volume. When doubling the batch, restrict the initial water addition inside the blender to two cups rather than six, then evaluate the consistency before adding more liquid to prevent a watery puree. Ripe avocados act as a natural emulsifier due to their high monounsaturated fat content, bonding the vegetable oil, water, and lime juice into a stable emulsion without requiring dairy products or thickeners. Charring the poblano peppers under a high broiler for six to eight minutes triggers Maillard reactions in the skin, making the outer layer easy to peel away while imparting a smoky depth that raw peppers lack. Sweating the chopped onions and garlic in hot vegetable oil over medium heat for seven to ten minutes softens their cellular walls entirely, eliminating harsh sulfur notes that would otherwise overpower the delicate cilantro.
Storage and Freezing Guidelines
Fresh lime juice contains ascorbic acid, which temporarily inhibits the polyphenol oxidase enzymes responsible for enzymatic browning in avocados, keeping the sauce vibrant green for up to forty-eight hours in an airtight container stored at four degrees Celsius. Freezing this emulsion is not recommended because the high water content and cell structure of the blended avocado break down during ice crystal formation, resulting in an unappealing separation upon thawing.
