Fire Station Enchiladas
(from redmed2000’s recipe box)
Source: Penzey's Spices
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Serves 6 people
Categories: Mexican, main dish, not tried
Ingredients
- Enchilada sauce:
- 2 lbs. tomatillos (look for the thick, light
- green ones)
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled
- 4 large onions, peeled and quartered
- 1 TB. corn oil
- 1 lb. dried red mild CHILI PEPPERS—
- a mix of ANCHO and GUAJILLO is nice
- 1 TB. MEXICAN OREGANO
- 1 tsp. BLACK PEPPER
- 1⁄2 Cup water, if needed
- Enchiladas:
- 24 corn tortillas
- 1 lb. Muenster or Chihuahua cheese,
- grated (Raul uses Muenster)
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced (optional)
- 1⁄2 Cup corn oil, divided
Directions
-
eat oven to 375.
-
Peel the husks off the tomatillos, rinse them, and then halve them (or quarter if really large).
-
Drizzle a large baking pan with the corn oil and place the tomatillos cut side down with the garlic and onions.
-
Roast them “until they’re good and done,” as
-
Raul says, which is about 30 minutes.
-
While the tomatillos are cooking place the CHILI PEPPERS in a stockpot and cover with water.
-
Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes until they’ve plumped up (they’ll never look like fresh peppers but they do absorb some liquid).
-
Drain the chili peppers. Once cool enough to handle, pull the peppers open and discard the stems and all the seeds you can.
-
Mix the peppers with the roasted tomatillos, onion, garlic, MEXICAN OREGANO, BLACK PEPPER and any juice from the baking pan.
-
If there is no liquid in the pan, add a bit of water as needed while pureeing in a blender until smooth. It will probably take three batches to blend everything.
-
Pour some of the sauce into a wide, shallow bowl.
-
Place another bowl with grated cheese next to the sauce bowl. As Raul says, “I make sure to keep both bowls (bowl of sauce, and bowl of cheese) next to each other to keep the mess in check.”
-
Heat a small amount of oil, about 2 TB., in a
-
large skillet over medium heat.
-
The tortilla is first bathed in the sauce, and then goes straight to the pan with hot oil to let it soften a bit.
-
Add more oil as necessary.
-
Be careful if using your fingers, or use a metal spatula. Using your fingers can get pretty hot; using the spatula is definitely safer but the tortillas can rip.
-
Flip the tortilla once (5 seconds per side) then remove from the pan, sprinkle with cheese and onion (if using), and roll. The trick is to wait long enough to roll the tortillas so that they aren’t burning hot, but soon enough that they are still easy to roll and will stay rolled. Keeping your fingers sauce-free while rolling the tortillas helps as well.
-
Set each enchilada aside, seam side down on a tilted or angled pan to drain the grease, then with a spatula pick it up and put it on a large metal rimmed cookie sheet.
-
Raul drizzles some more sauce on the finished enchiladas,and also sprinkles some cheese on top.
-
These enchiladas are not baked. The heat from the tortillas fresh off the pan with oil melts the
-
cheese.
-
Nutritional Information: Servings 8; Serving Size 3 enchiladas (422g); Calories 690; Calories from fat 250; Total fat 28g; Cholesterol 55mg; Sodium 390mg; Carbohydrate 84g; Dietary Fiber 14g.