Mexican Enchiladas with Red Sauce

We are finally back “home” in Italy after two days of traveling and three days of jet lag. It’s been a whirlwind of getting our cell phones running, updating our Permesso di Sorggiono (Permission to stay in Italy filed at the local commune) and checking on my Citizenship documents. We have eaten the pizza, sipped the cappuccino’s, devoured the Cornetto (breakfast pastries) and slurped the gelatos. We reunited with friends over apperetivo and pasta.

While unpacking all of our goodies from our California home, can you believe what I realized I left in my sister in laws refrigerator in California? My precious package of 72 corn tortillas! I have the chili powder, cumin, multiple bottles of Mexican hot sauce but no corn tortillas. A very sad moment indeed.

I take comfort in the fact that we will have a friend visiting us in less then a months time. I will ask him to bring me some of the precious cargo. When friends come to visit me in Italy I always ask them to bring me chili powder and corn tortillas. I figure they can spare a pound in their luggage to bring me some much need solace in the form of Mexican food.

At home in California, I probably make Mexican food at least three times a week, we have Chili Rellenos, Shrimp Tacos,Taco Salad, Mexican Beef Tacos, Enchiladas, burritos, tostadas, Chili Verde, Pasole, Tortilla Soup, Chili Colorado and Fajitas. Wow! I am actually shocked at how many Mexican dishes I cook! Did I mention that it is my favorite cuisine?!? But here in Italy I have actually slowed down the mexican train and started cooking more Italian. It just seems to fit better here, of course.

In Italy I had made Beef Enchiladas for some guests that were coming over for dinner. Usually I make Chicken Enchiladas, but I had planned on making Beef Pot Pie for dinner before turning on my heals toward Mexican. My dinner guest were an Australian Couple and an Italian couple. Both like Mexican food but told me they could count on one hand how many times they had eaten it in their lives….INCONCEIVABLE! In fact, neither couple knew what Enchiladas were or what refried beans were, for that matter, so we were all in for a treat!

I made “homemade” refried beans from scratch. Here in Italy you can’t buy beans that say “pinto”on the packaging, but I’m pretty sure Bertolli beans are the same thing. Anyway, I certainly can’t tell the difference. Italy loves beans, in fact one of their favorite comfort food is Pasta Fagioli (you might recognize Pasta Fagioli from when Frank Senatra crooned about it in “Amore”, he sang “when the stars make you drool just like Pasta Fazool….”Fazool” being Napolitan dialect for Fagioli) They obviously love their “pinto” beans enough to sing about them, they just never thought of smashing them and frying them up in lard like the brilliant Mexicans.

I also made Mexican rice and salsa. For the salsa I used canned tomatoes and dried cilantro, but I happened across some peperoncini piccante (fresh green hot peppers) at the store so I brought them home and roasted them under the broiler for some delicious salsa!

By the way, I love this Enchilada Sauce recipe. I make it all of the time for Rancheros Huevos (Mexican fried eggs with a runny yoke, red sauce, corn tortillas and cheese) or a sauce for Chili Rellenos or Smothered Burritos (in California they are called Wet Burritos but that doesn’t sound very appetizing). This sauce is a real “life saver” in foreign countries when I need to get my Mexican food fix! You can use this same recipe to make Chicken Enchiladas instead, just stew a chicken or buy a rotisserie chicken and use chicken broth. Or you can even make it vegetarian by using olive oil and vegetable broth and filling your corn tortillas with cheese. I have even made these when I had no corn tortillas in the country I was living in, I just made corn meal crepes and layered those like a layered enchilada dish, just don’t try to roll them. If you live in a country where you can access all of these wonderful ingredients count yourself fortunate and whip up a batch!

This recipe is dedicated to my sister-in-law Devon, who now is the happy recipient of my 72 corn tortillas in her refrigerator. She requested this recipe before I left her house and now she has 72 reasons to make it.

Mexican Beef Enchiladas Rojo (Red Sauce)

Ingredients:

Stewing the beef:

(Or you can just buy a rotisserie chicken or Carnita meat from Costco)

2 pounds chuck roast, cubed into large 2 inch cubes

1 cloves of garlic

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt

Rojo Sauce:

2 Tablespoons Chili Powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

salt to taste

1/4 cup flour

3 tablespoons oil or beef fat

3 cups of beef broth

Assembling the Enchiladas:

12-16 corn tortillas

oil for frying

shredded beef

1 onion chopped

1 bell pepper chopped

1 cup black olives chopped

2 cups shredded cheese such as Monterey Jack or Cheddar, in Italy I used Provolone)

Sauce (recipe above)

Instructions:

First Stew your beef or chicken (for stewing a chicken instructions click here). Saute the chunks of beef in a little oil until brown on all sides. Add the minced garlic at the end of the browning processo so it does not burn. Continue to cook until the garlic is fragrant. Add 4 cups of water, chili powder, cumin and salt. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium low and cook until tender (approx 1-2 hours). It should be at a low bubble. A pressure cooker will greatly reduce the amount of time needed to make the meat tender (approx 30-40 minutes) You can do this step the day before so the fat can congeal on the top and you can skim it off. Its also a good idea to soak your pinto beans over night. If you choose to make your own beans, I recommend soaking them overnight then cooking them in the morning so It is not so stressful before your guests comes over. Or if you are a busy mom or working woman you can have the meat and beans cooked ahead of time.

Prepare your sauce. If you cooked the meat the night before, you can skim the fat off the broth and use it in place of the oil. Place 3 Tablespoons of the fat or oil in a skillet or pan, add the 1/4 cup of flour and spices and whisk until incorporated over heat. Add 2 cups of broth, whisking as you go to prevent lumps from forming.

Sometimes I do this step in the blender because it really eliminates lumps, in that case, skip the oil and just add the flour, broth and chili powder in the blender, you won’t need the oil. Whirl it, then pour it into the pan. Cook and stir until it thickens, if it gets too thick add more broth or water until it gets the thickness you desire. I like it thin with just a little body. Not as thick as gravy.

I always add a little enchilada sauce to my shredded meat, it gives it a nice flavor, add about 1/4 cup of sauce to the meat and stir it around to incorporate. I use my hands, they are so much better than a spoon. Set aside.

Chop the onion, bell pepper and olives, set aside. Grate the cheese and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cook your tortillas. This is an important step, if you skip it and just use plain corn tortillas it will be weird. So heat about 1/2 cup of oil up in a small frying pan or skillet (if you use a large skillet you will need more oil, the oil should cover the bottom of the skillet with about 1/2 inch, my skillet size is about 6 inches, roughly the size of a corn tortilla).

Heat the oil over medium heat. Place the tortilla in the hot oil, frying it lightly on each side. This only takes seconds on each side because you are not trying to make it crispy like tacos, instead just softened up a bit. The oil should start to bubble when you place the tortilla in it and the color lightens slightly on the tortilla. Remove from heat and put on a dish. I fry up about 10 at a time and work in batches.

Once you have fried up the tortillas and they have cooled, they should be soft and not crispy so you can roll them. Place a little of the shredded beef in the tortilla and top with chopped onion. Roll up the tortilla and start to arrange the rolled tortillas in a dish. When your pan is full of rolled enchiladas, pour the rest of the red sauce over the top evenly. Then top the sauce with shredded cheese and then the chopped onion, bell pepper and olives. Cover with tin foil and place in a hot oven 400 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes then remove the tin foil and allow the cheese to bubble and brown a little. I usually turn the oven to broil if I am in a hurry. Serve with beans and rice.