Cheap, Fast, and Tasty!: Enchiladas

No, this recipe does NOT require that you make your own corn tortillas.

I am not adept (yet) at corn tortillas so in the interest of honing that skill, I made my second batch ever of corn tortillas today with the intent of using them in Mom's Enchilada Casserole (see recipe below). My tortillas aren't yet good enough to simply fill with delicious taco ingredients and enjoy fresh or to smear with butter while still warm. But for enchiladas they're more than serviceable. I think my tortilla press doesn't quite squish the masa flat enough. Or, perhaps, I just need to practice a lot more.

Normally, I would just use store bought corn tortillas for enchilada casserole--but, like I said, I needed the practice. And since I'm no Tortilla Wizard, I won't drag you through the written instructions on how I make them until I get it perfect. Following are just some photos of the process--there are a multitude of recipes and suggestions online.

I have learned a few things about making tortillas--they need to be kneaded for at least three minutes. I keep intending to knead them for five minutes but my arm wears out.

If I don't knead them for a few minutes, they simply don't cook up as well.

Another trick I've learned is that tortillas are not done until they've sat and steamed for at least a couple of minutes. A tortilla warmer is a must. It can turn the stiffest tort cooked by the most ignorant tortilla cooking noob into a soft, pliable, useful food item. Putting warm tortillas in a tortilla warmer with some paper towel on the bottom to absorb excess moisture and closing the lid allows the cooked tortillas to steam perfectly.

Now, if you are going to make the following recipe, I suggest you use store bought corn tortillas and either warm them up wrapped in paper towel in a tortilla warmer (make sure yours is microwaveable) for one minute or warm them in very hot oil. Personally, I don't find that dunking them in hot oil improves the flavor at all. Steaming them in the warmer makes them pliable enough for rolling, and dipping them in the warm or hot enchilada sauce improves that even more.

This recipe assumes that you are using a 9x13 baking dish. It's the closest approximation I can get to the way my Mom made enchiladas. These are my all time, favorite enchiladas. We used ground Axis meat instead of hamburger for this recipe, not that we can taste the difference.

Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1 to 1.5 lbs. lean ground beef, turkey, pork, or venison
Half a large onion, chopped--reserve enough chopped onion to sprinkle on top of casserole
2 jalapenos for spicy enchiladas or 1 for mild. Cut off stem and chop, do not remove seeds.
Approximately 12 oz. grated cheddar
15 to18 corn tortillas depending on size
1 batch of Killer Enchilada Sauce
Enough sliced black olives to sprinkle on top of casserole

Cook ground meat until it is about half done or so--but not completely done, then drain off excess fat and liquid. Add almost all of the chopped onions, except for what you've reserved to sprinkle on top, and all of the chopped peppers. Sprinkle in a bit of salt if you like. Saute until meat is completely done and onions are tender. The fat melts off ground meat well before it's done and you won't find that anymore needs to be drained off after the vegetables are cooked.

Doing it this way allows my onions and peppers to cook with the meat without my having to pour off half their flavor when I drain the fat from the meat. It probably doesn't REALLY matter if you saute your onions and peppers separately and add them to the meat after it's done or if you add them to the meat after it's cooked and drained and then saute the whole mess until the veggies are done. But something inside me says the veggies and the meat need to cook together so that's what I do.

Once cooked, set meat aside. Your enchilada sauce should at least be warm, if not hot. So warm it if necessary. You will use all but about 2/3's cup of the sauce. Take that out now, if you like, so you don't forget.

Warm tortillas as suggested above the ingredients list and set aside in tortilla warmer to keep them warm, moist, and pliable.

Get ready to get dirty, this is a messy process.

One at a time, dip a tortilla in the sauce to coat the entire tortilla. In the image below I only dipped most of it, but I was trying to keep from getting too dirty while I took photos of this process. After tortilla is dipped, lay it in your baking pan and put a bit of the meat mixture and a little bit of cheese in the tortilla and roll it up. Don't be tempted to over-stuff tortillas, you need to be able to roll them. Also, you don't want to run out of meat. Roll tortilla and start with the next and keep going until you have a pan full of meat and cheese stuffed tortilla rolls.

As you can see below I started rolling them in the pan one way and then realized I needed to lay them out in the pan differently. Oh well. In addition to that boo boo, I was desperately hoping that 16 tortillas would be enough but it wasn't and at the last minute I had to whip up two more. The maseca bag actually has a recipe for just four tortillas, so I didn't have to do any math in my head. The extras took almost no time at all to make--probably since everything was still sitting out!

My homemade tortillas are a bit smaller than store bought tortillas so you may find that 15 store bought tortillas are enough. You'll just have to figure that one out on your own!

Once your pan is full, don't fret if you have leftover meat, just sprinkle it over the rolled enchiladas. Then pour the enchilada sauce (all but that 2/3's of a cup) over the enchiladas and spread it evenly over the top of the casserole with a spatula or your hand. If you think it needs more, add the rest, but mushy enchiladas are not pretty on a plate so don't use too much. Besides, the extra sauce can probably be used for a little snack the next day!

Now sprinkle enchiladas with remaining cheese, adding more if you wish. Sprinkle remaining onions over the top of the cheese and then sprinkle with sliced olives.

Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is beginning to bubble.

Serve and enjoy!

Mmm mmm good!

Click here to see a version of JUST THE RECIPE, you'll find it much easier to print than the above mess!

Enchilada sauce dry ingredients
As a kid growing up around Eagle Pass, Del Rio, Ciudad Acuña, Brackettville, and San Antonio I got used to a certain kind of enchilada sauce. But then the enchilada sauce I knew and loved disappeared. I think it was companies like Ben E. Keith who came along and started mass producing things like salsa, enchilada sauce, white gravy, and preformed chicken fried steak patties that changed everything around here. None of the restaurants in my neck of the woods seem to make enchilada sauce like they did when I was growing up here. I've spent the last decade trying to find the perfect enchilada sauce recipe.

This recipe for homemade enchilada sauce may not be perfect, but it's really close. Maybe it needs stock! It's the taste and texture I remember. It's still missing something, I'm not positive what, but it's close enough! I actually found it at http://www.recipezaar.com/. A site I've really come to appreciate.

Here is the recipe as it was posted at Recipe Zaar. And below is how I tweaked it to suit my tastes and special dietary needs. Oh, and I know it calls for tomato sauce which made me nervous because tomatoey enchilada sauce isn't enchilada sauce, it's marinara and has no business on my tortillas. But you don't taste the tomato in this sauce at all.

Mexican Enchilada Sauce Recipe
3 tablespoons chili powder
3 tablespoons ground cumin
5 tablespoons cornstarch OR 3 tablespoons of flour. I prefer the cornstarch, makes the sauce a little silkier.
2 teaspoons oregano (preferably the Mexican variety)
1 teaspoon cocoa powder -- this is not an optional ingredient
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups water (or chicken stock)
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

Photo to the right shows sauce before adding tomato sauce.

Combine all dry ingredients in a small sauce pan. Whisk constantly while slowly adding the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until mixture thickens. Stir in tomato sauce. Use in your favorite enchilada recipe.

Completed enchilada sauce
How to make enchiladas:

My favorite way to make enchiladas now is to use my microwaveable tortilla warmer to heat as many tortillas as I'll be using. I wrap the corn tortillas in a paper towel, put them in the warmer, put the lid on and microwave for one minute. The steam makes the tortillas pliable enough for rolling without tearing. The warmer keeps them warm and moist as you build each individual enchilada. However, if you want a more authentic taste, the way to really prep your tortillas is to soften them up in hot oil. And if you really really want an authentic taste, the tortillas would be hand made and they wouldn't be stuffed, rolled, and swimming in sauce--they'd be served with fixings where you could kind of make your own little tacos and you'd dip your little tacos in the enchilada sauce. Sometimes I make quesadillas and just serve them with a some enchilada sauce as a dip. Drizzle a snack like this with a little bit of Mexican cream and you'll be in heaven.

For the inside of the enchilada, it's really up to what you have available or what you are craving. Ground and seasoned beef or venison is excellent. Shredded turkey or chicken is also wonderful. But my favorite tends to be just cheese. Although a turkey and black bean mixture runs a close second.

If you want these the way you'd get them in a restaurant:

Prepare each serving of enchiladas on an oven-proof plate. In each enchilada add your meat (if using any), a bit of cheese (or a lot if they're cheese enchiladas), and a bit of the sauce on top of that. Roll, then start with the next one. For my own enchiladas, I prefer a combination of half cheddar and half Kraft American. I like the texture very much. Hubby hates American cheese. I hate admitting how much I like it but oh well. Using even a little American cheese really improves the texture and you don't get gloopy melted cheddar. Using mild cheddar instead of sharp cheddar also improves the texture, it melts better in my experience. Also, the American cheese seems to melt into the sauce and gives it a much better flavor over all to me. I'd never ever use JUST American cheese, but some (I like half) helps a lot.

By the plate or by the pan, they're delicious!
Once you've got a plate full of rolled enchiladas, cover them with enchilada sauce and sprinkle with cheddar. I like mine swimming in sauce, but you may prefer to be more moderate. Heat the plate in the microwave or in a 350 degree oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly. While the enchiladas are heating, chop some onion and put them in a sieve and run them under cold water. Rinsing your chopped onions really mellows the flavor. It makes them taste fresh but not bitingly strong. It's something I picked up from watching Rick Bayless on PBS and it was a fabulous tip. Sprinkle these onions over your enchiladas before serving. Garnish with cilantro. And if you are feeling especially gourmet, drizzle lightly with Mexican Cream.

This enchilada sauce can be used just like any other enchilada sauce for enchilada casserole. Click Here For My Mom's Enchilada Casserole. If you are making chalupas, cincos, or pericos, this sauce is very good drizzled over the beans but under the melted cheese. And Mexican cream is nearly always a good addition when drizzled over any Mexican entree or appetizer.

NOTE: Do you like Ranch Style Beans? If so, add a few tablespoons of this enchilada sauce to a bowl of homemade pinto beans and you'll have your own, homemade Ranch Style Beans. Cheap, fast, and Tasty! Maybe not as fast as opening a can but...