Enchiladas: The Topic

[memesuze]

With reference to the cream and green sauce for seafood enchiladas, how 'bout some poblano crema....that's delicate but with a little zip

[marie-louise]

Mabelline, thanks for the reply. I cannot imagine my grandmother using ricotta but can certainly imagine cottage cheese. The odd thing is when you said a strip of cheese, I had a flashback and it was indeed a strip of cheese she put in: it wasn't grated. I can sort of half remember an assembly line of sorts and each enchilada got "one" from each of the piles:chees, chiles, etc. I will Google and see if I can find a reference to the Gebhardt's recipe.

If you find it, can you please post a link to it? It sounds good.

[Rachel Perlow]

I made enchiladas for the first time last night. I had made chicken mole last week, and had a lot of pulled chicken left over from the carcass. Inspired by this thread, I used a pint of leftover roasted eggplant tomato sauce with a pint of leftover mole sauce and a chipoltle pepper (combined in the blender) as the enchilada sauce (excellent). I grated some cheddar cheese and combined it about 50-50 with some Mexican white cheese. I used the dipping method described by Jaymes:

Dip corn tortillas, one at a time, first into the oil, then the hot red sauce, quickly, just to soften and coat with sauce.  (This is very tricky.  I had a hard time with it for years until finally a Mexicana friend of mine told me she could never do it either, so she got a pie pan and dipped the tortilla into the hot oil, then laid the tortilla in the pie pan and SMEARED it with the red sauce.  She did these one at a time until she had four or five in the pie pan, then made her enchiladas from the tortillas in the pan.  MUCH easier!)

It worked really well. I never thought about enchiladas being something so flexible before. I had a dozen corn tortillas and plenty of meat (what should I do with the other pint of pulled mole chicken I still have in the fridge?), so I just used them all up, the extra rolls I put 2 at a time into 3 individual aluminum loaf pans, added sauce and cheese on top and put into the freezer w/out baking for an easy lunch in the future.

[snowangel]

Enchiladas for dinner last night. Used leftover smoked butt for filling.

I remembered to make enough for leftovers for lunch today.

Yummy.

[eunny jang]

I love enchiladas.

I usually use a charred tomatillo sauce (VERY tart), a charred tomato/red pepper sauce, or a smoky, smoother chipotle/pumpkin sauce.

Does it make me a heretic if I use flour tortillas? I can never seem to remember to pick up corn tortillas at the store, and always end up rolling out lard and flour on my countertop half an hour before we're supposed to eat

[Jake]

Anything that looks that delicious cannot make you a heretic, Eunny!

[snowangel]

Leftover smoked chicken thighs made the most wonderful enchiladas tonight. Roasted tomato and pepper sauce. I really like enchiladas with leftover smoked meat. Yummy.

[Patrick S]

Enchiladas are definitely one of my favorite dishes. A local restaurant makes a fabulous enchilada with a fairly mild red-brown (mostly brown) 'gravy'. I know that's not much of a description, but if anyone has a sauce recipe that fits that bill, I'd be eternally grateful. I'm also eager to hear any tips on preparing beef for beef enchiladas.

andiesenji, as usual you've posted a recipe that makes me want to sprint to the kitchen and start cooking.

[snowangel]

I did enchiladas again tonight. Again with a packet of leftover smoked chicken thighs.

So, I did some things different. I had flour, not corn tortillas. And, I didn't make enough sauce, so I dumped a can of rotel on top of them. And, it was a mish=mash of cheese.

But, they were wonderful. Peter had a friend over for dinner. The friend comes from a take and bake (or hamburget helper) household. He watched and could believe what I'd done. He noted the smoky smell of the chicken, and the smoky taste afterwards. He was enchanted and delighted and could wait to tell his mom what Peter's Mom can cook. When his mom came and picked him up, he stated "Mom, I didn't think I liked spicy food, but it is good! Especially when the meat smells like bacon."

[tejon]

Made chicken enchiladas last night. Absolutely delicious. Bonus for me was getting the lovely broth that I promptly froze for later Albondigas soup.

[TongoRad]

I used to go to a hole in the wall place in Queens, NY (La Casa del Puebla) that made these wonderful brightly flavored enchilladas, not baked but freshly made on the grill, and have been copying them ever since. Sometimes they would even whip up the salsa verde (tomatillos, poblanos, and all that) upon my order.

The corn tortillas are placed on a hot griddle for a minute and then flipped. Onto that goes the filling (queso blanco, chicken or beef) and then they are rolled. Line up about four on a plate, cover with your sauce, and then a layer of shredded lettuce or cabbage. On top of that goes chopped tomatoes, crumbled queso fresco, sliced radishes (do not discount the power of the radishes- they make the whole thing work for me) and a squirt of crema. Garnish with lime wedges. They would always brighten up my day, though I cannot speak for the authenticity of the method.

[snowangel]

These are sounding somewhat like one of the kids of enchiladas that my former neighbors (Hispanic) used to make. I think too often we associate enchiladas with being baked. "Authentic" is an odd terms. There are many things that are authentic that aren't all the same. Like we're discussing on the Pad Thai thread. Having lived in Thailand, I ate pad thai, cooked by Thais, in Thailand, and I would swear that not one single person's pad thai tasted like another's.

[Jaymes]

As I think I said back on this thread somewhere, traditional Mexican enchiladas are usually made with ingredients that are already cooked, and often already hot. When they do go into the oven, it's just for a few minutes, to be sure they're heated throughout. They're not really baked for a long time...like they required it in order to cook something. The recipes that call for baking 30-45 minutes are usually gringo versions with a lot of heavy, gloppy sauce.

[andiesenji]

If you go back to post #17 in this thread on page one, you will see the recipe I got from my neighbor, a native of Durango, Mexico.

I have had a lot of enchiladas in my life and these are the best I have ever tasted.

You don't even have to cook the chicken yourself. You can buy one of the inexpensive rotissiere chickens at the market to save time. If you do, pull it apart and sprinkle a little lemon juice over it and toss it a bit and let it set for a few minutes. Lime juice is okay too.

Edited April 6, 2005 by andiesenji (log)

[pam claughton]

Thank goodness I have a bag of tortilla chips to snack on as I read this thread, because I am salivating. Don't remember the last time a thread made me so hungry. I've never made enchiladas, and look forward to trying these recipes. Now I'm really looking forward to lunch tomorrow, made plans earlier to meet up at a great Mexican restaurant that I haven't been to in years. Will have to try their enchiladas.

:) Pam

Edited April 7, 2005 by pam claughton (log)

[Pat W]

I used to go to a hole in the wall place in Queens, NY (La Casa del Puebla) that made these wonderful brightly flavored enchilladas, not baked but freshly made on the grill, and have been copying them ever since. Sometimes they would even whip up the salsa verde (tomatillos, poblanos, and all that) upon my order.

The corn tortillas are placed on a hot griddle for a minute and then flipped. Onto that goes the filling (queso blanco, chicken or beef) and then they are rolled. Line up about four on a plate, cover with your sauce, and then a layer of shredded lettuce or cabbage. On top of that goes chopped tomatoes, crumbled queso fresco, sliced radishes (do not discount the power of the radishes- they make the whole thing work for me) and a squirt of crema. Garnish with lime wedges. They would always brighten up my day, though I cannot speak for the authenticity of the method.

←

I just happened to have all these ingredients on hand tonight.... OK, I didn't have the radishes... I never have radishes on hand.... So... after picking up the radishes I followed TongoRad's directions. The only thing I did differently was spoon a little of the red chile sauce on the plate under the enchiladas. I've never made enchiladas this way before & I have no idea if I did it correctly, but they were delicious. The hot tortilla wrapped around the crumbled enchilado cheese & chopped onions.... ¡Que delicioso! Half way through the munching part of this I went back for more red chile sauce and more radishes. I completely forgot to slice the lime. Thank you TongoRad for a very tasty dinner.

Pat

[TongoRad]

Jaymes-

As I think I said back on this thread somewhere, traditional Mexican enchiladas are usually made with ingredients that are already cooked, and often already hot. When they do go into the oven, it's just for a few minutes, to be sure they're heated throughout. They're not really baked for a long time...like they required it in order to cook something. The recipes that call for baking 30-45 minutes are usually gringo versions with a lot of heavy, gloppy sauce.

Thanks. I figured as much, just couldn't say so definitively. I do prefer the non baked version, myself.

Pat- great photos. And you even improved upon what I remember having, by accompanying it with a beer (instead of my usual Jarritos)!

I don't have a recipe, but another memorable enchilada dish I had utilized smoked duck and mole poblano. I suspect if you have those two items on hand they sort of make themselves. I wouldn't want to add any other competing flavors.

[Pat W]

Thank you Michael. And thanks again for your original post. This has become my new favorite fast food. It works especially well with the Enchilado anejo because the warm tortilla melts only the outside of the cheese bringing out the flavor but a nice texture remains. In a word... yummy.

Pat w

[jm chen]

Here's a related request... with everyone putting together such beautiful and authentic enchiladas I feel bad as a shortcutter, but here goes:

I've been cooking a lot with meat substitutes so I don't have to plan ahead and thaw meat. It's also very helpful if I can do some of the prep and/or cooking for a meal when I get home from work, then meet my boyfriend at the gym for 45 minutes or so and then we eat together afterwards. So last night I put together an enchilada dish with meatless crumbles (blended with 1/2 pkg prepackaged taco mix, fresh onion/garlic, and many Tabasco dashes), frozen shredded cheese, and a jar of Ortega or El Paso or whatever sacreligious enchilada sauce I had in the cupboard. Sprinkled with remaining cheese, put the lid on. Preheated the oven to 400, put the food in, and turned it off -- when we got back from the gym, they were just right.

We were both very happy with the result, but as you might imagine, this was WAY salty. I have plenty of cumin, chili powder, et al to season the "meat" so I can leave out the taco mix, but I'm not sure what to do about the enchilada sauce. I have a big jar of smooth chipotle salsa, which will of course be different but would work basically the same way.

But if I want to get that specific enchilada-sauce taste, can anyone suggest a recipe, or a product you've seen on your local shelves that doesn't have quite so much salt in it? Y'know, thicker and deeper than salsa, with the heavier mouth-feel.

[reesek]

i just wanted to circle back - and thank both jaymes and andiesenji for the inspiration to make enchiladas.

they were spectacular. i sort of combined recipes/suggestions from both Jaymes and Andie (who graciously provided her neighbor's recipe on the first page of this thread)

here's what i did - sorry i haven't got photos...

stewed the bird. i covered a 4.5lb chicken in a mixture of chicken broth and water and cooked it at a bare simmer for about 3 hours. into the liquid i added a couple of stalks of celery, a dried guajillo, 2 bay leaves, an onion, a couple of cloves of garlic, some mexican oregano and some pepper corns. when the chicken was tender i removed it and took the meat off in very large chunks. i then added the bones back to the pot and reduced the stock. i tossed the chicken (large, juicy pieces) with andie/mrs. obregon's onion, tomatillo, tomato mixture and refrigerated overnight. i loved that chicken...

i made the sauce with new mexico chili powder (accepting no substitutes!) my chicken stock, and some tomato sauce. mine needed a squeeze of lime in addition to the other spices.

i fried and smeared the (corn) tortillas a la jaymes - awesome trick btw, added a strip of pepper jack, some chicken and rolled. i topped with sauce just before leaving, then baked when we arrived at our friends. they held just fine, though i skimped on the sauce a little and wished later that i hadn't - that sauce was delectable.

thanks so much for all the tips and advice!

[fifi]

Over in the Tex-Mex Cooking with Robb Walsh thread, I made his "Montparnasse Gruyere Enchiladas." That was quite a taste adventure.

[Mabelline]

You all have been reading my mind! (I know, sort of like perusing a blank journal--but nevermind )

This morning I started some EXCELLENT boneless pork ribs in slower than a snail in a coma oven of 225*, and only had to hobble out every 45 minutes-with timer- to turn and check on. Had some thick bacon ends on the pork so that it wouldn't dry too bad. Made my spices a mixture of fresh "game" masala and mex.

Once meat was gettting on with it, added a 4oz'er can of green chiles and a can of Stokes brand Green chile Enchilada sauce along with a can of cream and back into the oven.

When everything was excellently tender, dipped some fresh corn totillas in hot oil, laid out in baking pan, worked one at a time and rolled those puppies up with a tortilla-length strip of Swiss cheese in each. Covered right down the middle with the cooked sauce. Hiked the oven to 300* for 20 minutes.

Worked in a super way! Tastes very good with "hot" green salsa and sour cream. Ah, for the love of mex in your tum!!!!!!!!!!!! Made me forget about my splint friggin' thingy, my nasty weather, and nearly all the past week's UGGHs.

[fifi]

Mabelline . . . I am so glad that the enchiladas added to your serenity. Those that I did had the same effect. There is something soul satisfying about this dish that evades description. I needed that when I cooked them and they have definitely come through.

[Mabelline]

Thanks, Miz fifi! Good enchiladas are the counter to the old saying about the outsides of a horse being so good for the insides of a man. Enchiladas are good for everyone, inside and out!! They sure can cure what's ailin' ya!

[Jaymes]

I used to go to a hole in the wall place in Queens, NY (La Casa del Puebla) that made these wonderful brightly flavored enchilladas, not baked but freshly made on the grill...

Tongo....if you read the first post on this thread, I give a typical recipe for New Mexico-style stacked enchiladas. They, too, are just assembled...not baked.