Pueblo Nuevo on Lindberg in north St. Louis county makes the best green
sauce I've ever had. It's variable, sometimes it's hot enough to make
you sweat, other times it's milder but it's always great, especially on
pork enchiladas or chicharrones.
I have been trying, literally for years, to replicate this sauce and I
haven't even gotten close.
Today's variant started with 8 pasilla peppers, about as many anaheims
and a half dozen jalapenos, blistered on the gas grill then closed up in
a paper grocery bag to steam the skins loose.
While the peppers were steaming (and cooling) I chopped half an onion
fine and put it into a big pot to sautee with a little olive oil. While
the onions were cooking I washed and de-stemmed 10 large tomatillos.
Threw two of them away because they were squishy. Put those into the
food processor with a handful of garlic cloves and pulsed until finely
chopped. Added that to the pot with the onions.
By that time the peppers were cool enough to handle so I donned the
rubber gloves (ever get a jalapeno seed lodged under a fingernail?), and
peeled, stemmed and seeded the peppers. Chopped coarsely in the food
processor. Added the peppers and the juice of half a large lime to the pot.
Tasted. Needed salt. Added salt and thought it still didn't taste
quite right. Added a spoonful of salt-free chicken boullion powder (no
broth on hand). Cooked and stirred. Better. Added some dried
cilantro. Couldn't tell any difference. Added a little more salt and a
light dusting of chipoltle chili powder.
Shredded up the leftover pork roast, added it to the pot and left it to
simmer for about an hour to let the flavors mingle.
And it's good, but it's not what I was going for. Those of you who've
eaten the sauce I'm talking about, what am I doing wrong? Must I
swallow my pride and write into that newspaper column where people plead
for the recipe for this or that local restaurant's specialty?

Kathleen > wrote:

> Pueblo Nuevo on Lindberg in north St. Louis county makes the best green
> sauce I've ever had. It's variable, sometimes it's hot enough to make
> you sweat, other times it's milder but it's always great, especially on
> pork enchiladas or chicharrones.
> I have been trying, literally for years, to replicate this sauce and I
> haven't even gotten close.

Well, your description is pretty much non-existent, so it's kinda
hard to tell what it is.

There is a recipe I have offered at this site/thread that comes
pretty darn close to replicating an elusive green sauce that has
been baffling some of us for years. Don't let it's simplicity fool
you. I quoted the whole thread so you can see the comments
surrounding this elusive green sauce that seems to be sweeping the
nation lately.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/533293

Scroll down the posts where *I* start posting. Screw all those
other dumasses who don't know anything about food or tastes ;-)

-sw

Sqwertz wrote:

> Kathleen > wrote:
>
>
>> Pueblo Nuevo on Lindberg in north St. Louis county makes the best green
>>sauce I've ever had. It's variable, sometimes it's hot enough to make
>>you sweat, other times it's milder but it's always great, especially on
>>pork enchiladas or chicharrones.
>> I have been trying, literally for years, to replicate this sauce and I
>>haven't even gotten close.
>
>
> Well, your description is pretty much non-existent, so it's kinda
> hard to tell what it is.
>
> There is a recipe I have offered at this site/thread that comes
> pretty darn close to replicating an elusive green sauce that has
> been baffling some of us for years. Don't let it's simplicity fool
> you. I quoted the whole thread so you can see the comments
> surrounding this elusive green sauce that seems to be sweeping the
> nation lately.
>
> http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/533293
>
> Scroll down the posts where *I* start posting. Screw all those
> other dumasses who don't know anything about food or tastes ;-)

Well, it's mostly smooth, slightly thickened, either by the addition of
some sort of thickening agent like cornstarch, or maybe just by pureeing
the peppers very finely, sort of translucent, with some smallish soft
chunks of what are probably anaheim chilies (cooked).

My husband swears there's some sort of cheese or dairy in it but I
believe he's tasting the queso blanco and crema that tops the enchiladas.

The stuff I've made is more like a green salsa - kinda relishy in
texture even after processing and cooking. Good, but not what I'm
after. Maybe I didn't go far enough with the processing, plus I've got
onions and tomatillos in there.

And *vegetable oil*? Seriously, a whole quarter cup for 4 jalapenos?!

Huh. I'll be damned. And no cooking at all after the roasting and the
blending?

Well, your version looks easy enough to try next time around. But,
dang, if there's that much oil in the sauce they dump on their
enchiladas, no wonder we end up going home feeling so stuffed.

Kathleen > wrote:

> Sqwertz wrote:
>
>> http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/533293
>>
>> Scroll down the posts where *I* start posting. Screw all those
>> other dumasses who don't know anything about food or tastes ;-)
>
> Well, it's mostly smooth, slightly thickened, either by the addition of
> some sort of thickening agent like cornstarch, or maybe just by pureeing
> the peppers very finely, sort of translucent, with some smallish soft
> chunks of what are probably anaheim chilies (cooked).
>
> My husband swears there's some sort of cheese or dairy in it but I
> believe he's tasting the queso blanco and crema that tops the enchiladas.

I always thought there was crema or somthing in there as well. But
it was the oil that provided the richness (without being oily).

> Huh. I'll be damned. And no cooking at all after the roasting and the
> blending?

No cooking at all. I did seed half the jalapenos, though.

-sw

Kathleen wrote:

> Pueblo Nuevo on Lindberg in north St. Louis county makes the best
> green sauce I've ever had.

I was there last week. I had the pozole. Nothing to do with green
sauce, of course.




Brian

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