Yes Dave, I actually saw Rick Bayless do that on one his TV shows, and copied it - so I do it myself every time now.
Vitamix - Linda knew all about that type of blender, but I didn't - I'll have to look into it - probably quite expensive, huh ?
Yeah, they are expensive, but I can't tell you how much I have used it - a lot more than my FP, for sure. I won't tell you how much I paid for mine; suffice it to say that it was used only a few times, and I got it from a lady whose mother went into a home, and she had given it to her, but she almost never used it!
Would have been like me giving my mom one!
Besides the Mexican sauces, I have used it for Thai curry pastes, but the problem with those is that it thickens so much, that I'd have to put about 1/2c water in, to a little less than a pint, so that it could circulate. I just have to remember than they are diluted, somewhat. Nothing like gazpacho made in it either; that I thicken by adding chia seeds, letting them gel for a few minutes, then blend until no longer visible.
A friend got one of those refurbished ones, after he fell in love using mine for Mexican (he did the same thing with a number of things in my kitchen, when he and his fiancé watched my house for me on a vacation), and has had no problems with it in almost 15 years.
On the topic of pasillas, there are many areas in Mexico that have different chiles, fresh and dried, that they call pasillas, the best known being
pasillas de Oaxaca , which is another smoked chile, but fairly large, like a mulato. If you ever see them, get some - incredible flavor in them! Regular pasillas have gotten expensive, but check this out:
Pasillas $17.99/lb Bayless has a concentrated pasilla paste recipe in one of his books that I used to keep around all the time, along with his
salsa negra.