The Whole Enchilada.

Thursday night meal was a test drive. I didn't follow a complete recipe but rather multiple tips from numerous recipes. It was time to divide the flavors, one kid flavor, one adult spicy. Funny, after laboring in the kitchen for that last two nights (I browned the meat and onion the night before and still smell like onions), Hannah was the only "kid" who ate our meal. I'm beginning to get a sense that Elie really likes variety in her week. Mexican is kind of tough to keep her interested. Katy claimed she only likes Mi Mexico so there was no winning (I nearly agree with her). Mexican cooking can be quite time consuming!

So, for the first batch... Beef and Cheese Enchiladas....this was Hannah's only specific request this week. She was wonderful at showing her appreciation for her meal by the sounds of "oh, this is great" coming out of her mouth.

Beef and Cheese Enchiladas
Brown:
1 lb. of ground beef (I used sirloin to offset all the cheese)
1 onion diced. (I only added 1/2 cup for my picky eaters)
1 Tbl. minced garlic
1 - 2 Tbl. chili powder

Heat oven to 325 degrees
Pour a smatter of canned enchilada sauce on the bottom of pan
Add more sauce to the meat mixture along with shredded cheese
Add meat mixture to tortillas, roll tightly and place seams down in the pan
Pour remaining sauce over top and add additional cheese
Bake for 20 minutes


Chorizo Enchiladas with authentic Mexican sauce
Brown:
1/2 lb. chorizo sausage
1/2 cup onion

Mix cooked meat with a 1/2-3/4 cup of the ground beef mixture used in the beef enchiladas
Add shredded chihuahua cheese to the meat mixture

Sauce:
3 Tbl. chili powder
3 Tbl. flour
1 tsp. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. oregano
3 cups water
1 8oz. can tomato sauce
(I added 2 Tbl. chipotle paste to the sauce)

Combine all dry ingredients in small bowl, add water until you make a thin paste, stirring constantly
Pour into sauce pan and add remaining water
Stir constantly over medium heat until sauce thickens
Stir in tomato sauce

Assemble:
Add a smatter of sauce to bottom of pan
Fry corn tortillas over medium high heat in un-greased pan for 12 seconds on each side
Add meat mixture to tortillas, roll tightly and place seams down in the pan
Pour sauce over top and add additional cheese
Bake for 20 minutes

The result was very happy. So tasty, spicy but not overkill. I was a bit nervous since I was flying solo without a clear recipe. I guess you really could call it authentic "Gillaspey cooking".

Muy Fantastico!