Beef Enchiladas

I have not kept it a secret that I love Mexican food. I really believe it is one of the simple pleasures in life! The only issue is that I cannot eat spicy food (a combination of having ulcers when I was younger and crazy heartburn) so I always tame down the recipes. For those of you who love spicy food, no worries I'll let you know how to make it spicier.

About the tortillas - I used corn one night and whole wheat the next. My families consensus is that the wheat tortillas were better as the corn tortillas masked the taste of the filling just a tad. Plus using the whole wheat tortillas eliminates the need to brush them with oil so it makes them healthier. Of course if you want a more authentic Mexican dish you'll use corn tortillas.

Enchiladas

Recipe adapted from Rick Bayless - Mexico One Plate At a Time

Start by roasting two jalapeno peppers in a skillet over medium heat until they are soft and blackened in spots. It takes about 7 minutes - be sure to rotate the pepper so it blackens on each side.

While the jalapeno is cooking, grab 2 - 28 oz cans of whole tomatoes (in juice)

Drain the tomatoes (reserving the juice if you want to use it later for some other purpose.)

I used a slotted spoon to get them out of the can to preserve the juice.

Add tomatoes and stemmed roasted jalapenos to the blender. For a milder enchilada remove seeds (I actually used about 1/8 of the seeds and the sauce had a little bite) from peppers, for a hotter sauce just toss in the stemmed pepper.

Chop and saute one medium white onion until it starts to turn brown.

Add onions to blender and puree until smooth.

It should be a little over 5 cups of liquid.

Pour into large saucepan.

The air from the blender will give the tomato a funny color when first pouring, that is normal.

It will tame down really soon.

Cook sauce over medium high until tomatoes are darker and it has thickened to about the consistency of tomato paste - about 10 minutes.

Then add chicken broth.

About 2 cups of it (as you can see I did not make sure it was exactly two cups, but that is fine.)

Pour broth into the tomato mixture.

Mix together and let the tomato and broth mixture simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add 1/2 tsp salt - you can add more to taste.

 While the tomato mixture is cooking down prepare the remaining ingredients. (I actually did this during the first cooking - you can tell by the broth that we've already used)

2 cups shredded beef (you can use chicken also), 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, 1-1/2 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese, and 1 cup more shredded cheese.

The enchilada sauce will have a slightly soupy consistency now. Turn off burner. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 Add 1/2 cup cream to sauce

Stir until combined.

I love the way it swirls.

Add 1-1/2 cups sauce to the bottom of a 9*13 inch baking dish.

Next take 2 cups shredded beef

and 1-1/2 Monterey Jack cheese (you can also use mild cheddar or Colby Jack)

Mix toss together in a bowl.

Add 3/4 cup enchilada sauce to the beef & Cheese mixture

Mix together.

I dare you not to snitch a bit of this mixture at this point.

We're almost ready to put these suckers together. We're just missing the tortillas... I made this recipe using Whole Wheat as well as corn tortillas. To use the whole wheat (or white) tortillas, heat in microwave for 30 seconds until warm.

For corn tortillas, brush each side of tortillas with oil and place on baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 3 minutes.

Move to warm plate.

Cover with a towel to keep them warm.

Remove one corn tortilla at a time.

Using either tortillas (these shown are corn), holding one in your hand, place about 1/3 cup mixture in each tortilla.

Roll up tortilla and place into baking dish.

Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Top filled tortillas with 1 to 1-1/2 cups sauce.

Sprinkle on the 1 cup cheese. Bake about 15 minutes or until cheese starts to turns brown.

Garnish with cilantro. Serve with a side of sour cream if desired.

Enjoy!

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