About the Recipe
Sauce can be made a couple of days in advance if you need to.
Ingredients
4 cups water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 cup onion finely diced
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 clove fresh garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
16 oz tomato sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed in 3/4 cup cold water
Preparation
Brown hamburger meat- add onion and garlic.
Add the salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder and stir well. Cook for another 2 minutes then add the flour. It will get hot and dry really quickly- Cook for 1 minute more, stirring to absorb the oils.
Add the tomato sauce and stir well, being sure to ‘scrape’ the bottom of the pan for any sticking particles. Add 4 cups of water and bring to a slow boil. Let the sauce simmer for 30 minutes uncovered. Clean up your messy kitchen.
Mix 2 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch into 3/4 cup of cold water. Increase the heat to a medium high setting and when the sauce is at a ‘rolling’ boil, slowly add the cornstarch mixture into the sauce. Stir constantly as you do this. The cornstarch will thicken the sauce, and it is activated when the sauce begins to boil.
When the sauce begins to boil again, reduce the heat to a medium low heat, making sure there is a ‘slow’ boil. Simmer the sauce for 20 minutes, uncovered. Remove from the heat and let sit for up to 30 minutes.