Enchiladas are not what’s for dinner here tonight; they’re a lot of effort when you’re cooking for one, even though they do freeze and reheat well. But they’re high on my list of things to take to a potluck, so next weekend I’ll probably be cooking one of these recipes.
Garlic Beef Enchiladas
From Gilroy Garlic Lovers' Cookbook - for 8 to 12. All these years I’ve lived barely 30 miles from Gilroy and never been to the Garlic Festival, partly because it’s nearly as famous locally for the crowds and traffic jams as for the great food.
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons shortening
1 28-ounce can red chile sauce
3 tablespoons flour
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 pound ground chuck
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup shortening
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cups grated cheddar cheese
2 6-ounce cans chopped ripe olives
2 dozen fresh corn tortillas
Melt 3 tablespoons shortening in a saucepan. Add 4 minced cloves of garlic and sauté until golden. Add chile sauce and reduce heat.
Put flour in a bowl and stir in the tomato sauce until smooth. Pour this into the chile sauce mixture and stir over medium heat until slightly thickened. Set sauce aside and let cool. Can be made ahead; refrigerate and then reheat slightly when ready to use.
Sauté ground chuck over low heat with 2 cloves garlic, salt and pepper until browned. Set aside and let cool slightly.
Set aside 1 cup grated cheese and ¼ of the olives for topping.
In a large bowl, mix together meat, chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic, and remaining olives and cheese.
Put about ½ cup sauce in each of 2 large baking dishes.
Heat shortening in a skillet over medium-high heat. Carefully dip one tortilla at a time in the hot shortening. Fry 5 seconds on each side, just enough to soften the tortilla, not crisp it. Dip fried tortilla in sauce and place on a plate. Place some of filling mixture in the center and roll up tortilla. Place the filled tortillas seam side down in the baking dish.
When all tortillas are filled, pour remaining sauce over enchiladas. Sprinkle with reserved cheese and olives. Bake 15 to 20 minutes at 350°F.
How to make sixty Enchiladas with One Small Chicken
From the “Friends of Wagnerian Opera” Cookbook, and previously diaried here.
This recipe makes 12 enchiladas, which should serve six. If you really want 60, stew the whole chicken instead of a breast and multiply the filling ingredients by 5 and the sauce ingredients by 4. [You can tell it's an old recipe; these days you can't buy a small chicken, fryers are 5 pounds not 3. ]
1 whole chicken breast
3 cups water
1 clove garlic
¼ onion
¼ teaspoon oregano
sprig cilantro
1 bay leaf
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Combine above ingredients in saucepan, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Remove and cool chicken; strain and reserve broth.
1 7-ounce can chopped mild green chiles
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 12-ounce can tomatillos, drained
2 to 4 jalapeño or serrano chiles, chopped, or 1 to 4 tablespoons salsa jalapeña
1 clove garlic
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Chicken broth
Combine above ingredients in blender and whirl until smooth. Thin to desired consistency with chicken broth.
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 medium onion, finely chopped
salt to taste
Cream
Shred cooked chicken breast. Blend with above ingredients. Add a little cream to make the mixture fairly soft.
1 dozen corn tortillas
1 cup vegetable oil
Heat oil in a medium size skillet over high heat. Fry tortillas one at a time for just a few seconds on each side until softened. Don't cook too long; if they 're crisp they won't roll.
Dip cooked tortilla in the sauce, fill with some of the chicken mixture, roll and place in oiled baking dish. When all tortillas are done, pour remaining sauce over them and top with grated Parmesan. Bake 15 minutes at 350°F.
What’s for dinner at your place? Please consider writing about it for a future wfd.