Enchiladas

One thing I've been enjoying since I moved down here to Houston has been really good mexican food. I can't say I ever ate anything that wasn't taco bell or just taco meat, cheese and so on at home. There are some fantastic places to eat down here. That's probably why I've put on some weight. Also food is delicious. WHICH IS A PROBLEM. But my exercise bike will be here soon and I'm going to work that food off so I can stop feeling so guilty everytime I eat anything.

Anyway! Mexican food. Have you ever had enchiladas? Wikipedia says that an enchilada is a corn or flour tortilla rolled around a filling and covered with a chili pepper sauce. Enchiladas can be filled with a variety of ingredients, including meat, cheese, beans, potatoes, vegetables, seafood or combinations.  Enchiladas are delicious. I found this recipe on PW's site. SURPRISE. Well, let's just say I'm always willing to give her recipes a shot and her photos always make it look so easy. There's a reason I like making her food.

I probably shouldn't have made this the night that I did, I was feeling under the weather, as was Sean, and neither of us were in good enough spirits to probably enjoy the fruits of my labors. However, they were even better the next day and the day after so it all worked out.

This recipe has 3 components. The sauce, the meat and all the other stuff. Let's go in order, shall we?

THA SAUCE. Very important. Cans of enchilada sauce, canola oil, all purpose flour, chicken broth, salt, pepper and fresh cilantro. Oh cilantro. There is nothing like it. Say it with me now. And don't say it all americanized and crap. Ceelahntro. And roll those r's, people. ROLL THEM.

First cook your oil and your flour until it gets happy and bubbly. Then cook it for 2 or 3 minutes. This is the base that will make your sauce thick. Mine didn't turn out quite like PW's did, it was not so thick. Sigh. I have roux issues.

Then you add your sauce, your broth, your salt and your pepper. That's right. My powdery pepper and I scoff at your fancy pants pepper mill. Scoff! (Until I get my own)

It's so happy. Remember to check the heat level of your sauce before you add the pepper, it may already be spicy enough for you. Or you can add some hot sauce if it isn't! I used a bigger can of mild and a smaller can of medium. Once it's bubbling, turn it down low and let it simmer away while you do your other stuff. Don't forget to stir it now and then!

Next is your meat! You need ground beef, two small cans of diced green chilies, onion powder and salt or seasoning salt. Yeah, that's Steak and Shake brand, baby. Gooooooooood stuff.

Brown your meat, drain it as usual. Add in your chilies, onion powder and seasoning salt. Cook for a couple more minutes if you'd like to heat your chilies through and set it aside. I think I was so busy cooking I forgot to take pictures, so here you go.

MEAT!

Next, you will need the rest. Cheese. More Cilantro. Green onions if you want to use them. And corn tortillas.

I may have wound up going a bit overboard on the cheese by the end of this. I can't tell if I used too much inside of the enchiladas or what. Not a very healthy dish in any case. But soooo good.

Oh and a few minutes before using your sauce, throw some cilantro in.

Okay once you have your meat, your sauce and your other stuff, IT IS TIME. Granted, PW had another step where you fried your tortillas a bit before wrapping them but I have FoF and that's a whole other story for another post.

Create your assembly station.

Pour about half a cup of sauce into your baking dish. Oh and be sure to heat those tortillas in some way so they're pliable, though the sauce is plenty hot too.

Now comes the messy part. Dip your tortilla in your sauce. You may want to use tongs but my tortillas felt like they might rip if I used tongs so I used my hands and had helper monkey Sean take a picture. One of these days I'll get a tripod. Don't leave them in the sauce for too long, depending on your brand, they might not stand up to the sauce very well.

Dip! Shake off excess!

And add some meat and some cheese and some green onions.

Then you roll the two sides into the middle and place them seam side down in the baking dish.

I stuffed those things so full and I STILL had a bit of extra meat. But not much.

Pour the rest of your sauce over top. Now, you can either spoon a little or a lot. My sauce was too watery so I didn't pour it all, I just spooned until it had a nice layer over everything.

And then I got so excited that I forgot to take a picture with the cheese on before it went into the oven. Sorry. It happens!

When they come out of the oven 20 minutes later, sprinkle with more green onions (I didn't) and some cilantro! Mmmmm!

And there is one with my less than good taco rice that I made from a box.

It felt like a lot of work but it really wasn't too bad. Make sauce. Make meat. Fill and put in dish. Not hard at all. I wanted to use the green onions because I know they can impart a fresh kind of flavor but in the end even though I used not very many, it still felt as though they were overpowering them. Of course, I don't really like onion flavor very much, I prefer it to be very subtle. So other people might love tons of onions. Good stuff.

You know, one of these days I'll figure out what I want to do with this blog. Some blogs only show a picture of the finished products, some just link to where they got their recipe from instead of posting it as well. That'd sure be a lot less work. But I think it's nice to not wind up following a bunch of links. Though it is a good idea to look at the original sometimes, they might have more info than mine did!

Enchiladas (adapted from Pioneer Woman's)

• FOR THE SAUCE:
• 1 Tablespoon Canola Oil
• 1 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour
• 1 can (28 Ounce) Enchilada Or Red Sauce
• 2 cups Chicken Broth
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ½ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro

• FOR THE MEAT:
• 1-½ pound Ground Beef
• 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
• 2 cans (4 Ounce) Diced Green Chilies
• ½ teaspoons Seasoning Salt
• _____
• TO ASSEMBLE:
• 10 whole (to 14) Corn Tortillas
• 3 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 1 cup Chopped Green Onions
• ½ cups Chopped Cilantro

Preparation Instructions

Step #1 – The Sauce
In a large saucepan over medium heat, add oil and flour and whisk together to make a paste, cooking for one minute. Pour in the red sauce, chicken broth, cilantro, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30-45 minutes. (Wow I definitely didn't simmer mine for 45 minutes, maybe that's another reason it wasn't quite so thick)

Step #2 – The Meat
Brown the meat in a skillet. Drain off fat. Stir in 2 cans diced green chilies and seasoned salt. Set aside.

Step #4 – Assembly
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour ½ cup red sauce in bottom of baking pan. Spread to even out. Dip each tortilla into red sauce, then remove to work surface. Spoon meat, a little grated cheese and green onions in the center of tortilla. Roll up and place, seam down, in baking pan. Repeat until pan is filled. Pour extra red sauce over enchiladas. Top with remaining cheddar cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle cilantro over enchiladas before serving.

 Ohhhh. Delicious. Next time I want to try a chicken enchilada recipe I have. Enjoy!