Thursday, June 5, 2008

The best cheese enchiladas I've made yet

So I've struggled with enchiladas in the past. I continually try and make them, but Matt (and I) are always disappointed. The only enchiladas he's ever eaten that he's liked are Amy's brand organic cheese enchiladas. So that's what I am supposed to try and emulate.

I made a red chili sauce earlier this week for the tamales and it was the best chili sauce I've made yet. So I decided I ought to try the enchiladas yet again. I thought they were good. Matt said they were the best I've made, but they weren't as good as Amy's. I told him it's a good thing I'm not trying to mass market them. He even went back for seconds (gasp!). I thought it was a keeper.

10 min. Red Chili Sauce- Originally found on Allrecipes.com (all my changes are in this color.)
Ingredients
1/4 C vegetable oil
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 C chili powder (Mexican style)
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 C water
1/4 tsp cumin
2 large cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 onion, finely diced
salt to taste

Directions
  1. Soften the onion in the oil (in a medium saucepan) over med. high heat.
  2. Just as they are getting soft, add in the pressed garlic for a few seconds, stirring to make sure it doesn't burn.
  3. Stir in flour and chili powder, reduce to medium heat, and cook until lightly brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning flour.
  4. Gradually stir in tomato sauce, water and cumin, and continue cooking over medium heat approximately 10 minutes, or until thickened slightly. Season to taste with salt.
  5. After it's cooled a little, blend with a blender or stick blender if you want a smooth sauce.
Cheese Enchiladas-my own recipe I made up tonight (made 6 corn tortilla enchiladas)
Ingredients
2-3 nice sized handfuls of shredded cheese.
(I used cheddar and mozzarella because that's what I had. Monterrey Jack, Pepper Jack, Colby, and/or Colby Jack should work fine as well.)
1/4 bell pepper, diced very finely
(I used yellow because it's what I had. The flavor worked well for me.)
1/4 red onion, diced very finely
handful of black olives, diced very finely
a spoonful or two of sour cream
A little salt

6 corn tortillas
Red chili sauce (see above)

Directions
  1. Mix the ingredients (except the sauce and tortillas) all together.
  2. In an 8x8 baking dish, spread sauce on the bottom.
  3. In a skillet (I used my trusty cast iron), put a small amount of oil (I used olive oil), and heat. Warm each tortilla on the skillet before you fill it. If you don't do this, your tortillas will most likely crack when you roll them. My mom used hot water to soften them when she made hers growing up, but every time I try that, they fall apart on me.
  4. Fill each tortilla down the middle with the cheese mixture and roll it up.
  5. Spoon a good amount of sauce over the top and cover the dish with foil.
  6. Bake at 375* for 30 ish min. (or until cheese is bubbly).
Serve with a side of beans or rice, lettuce, guacamole, pico, and anything else that floats your Mexican boat.

4 comments:

Erin said...

These sound really good...and I have a ton of corn tortillas on hand! I'll have to try them!

A.J. Dub. (Amy) said...

These sound fanstastic!
I have a question for you, do you have a good recipe for Chicken Empanadas?

I have tried several from allrecipes.com and haven't found one I liked. I am thinking like the ones at On The Border.

Celia Marie (W.) B. said...

I've never had them at On the Border. I've made chicken empanadas before, but I don't know how close they'd come to what you're wanting. We have a gift card to OTB, so maybe I'll try the empanadas this time and figure it out.

A.J. Dub. (Amy) said...

Cool! Thanks! I would like to try your recipe too, if you don't mind.