Saturday Tex-Mex

[sudsandswine]

Food looks great...gotta ask though - what's the story behind the handle on your grill??

 

[LordRiffenstein]

Thanks, now I'm hungry!

 

[aks801]

Food looks great...gotta ask though - what's the story behind the handle on your grill??

Ha! That melted mis-shapen thing? One too many times sliding the hot lid over during grilling (i.e. to keep the lid on but bleed off some heat, while still getting smoke effect).

 

[aks801]

All looks good. Love TexMex. Can you share the chili gravy recipe?


Thanks,


Robert

Sure thing. I found this somewhere around 13 years ago and have modified it somewhat. This will make a dozen delicious enchiladas.

3/4 # ground beef
1 pound block Yellow American Cheese (store deli can do this for you)
corn tortillas
Shortening
Chili powder
Salt
Ground cumin
Paprika
Garlic powder
Black pepper
White onion

1. Shred the cheese, set aside in large bowl
2. Brown the ground beef, adding a generous amount of black pepper and light dusting of paprika. Drain the fat. Set aside in bowl
3. Put 2 tablespoons flour in a small bowl, set aside
4. Put 2 tablespoons chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon garlic powder in small bowl, set aside
5. Set aside 1 cup warm water (do it now. You have to have it ready to mix into the below step to keep the mixture from burning)
6. Be ready to move in this step! In a skillet over medium low to medium heat, put in 2 tablespoons shortening. Heat until it is melted and you start to see "ripples". Add the flour. Stir constantly for about 4-5 minutes, making a light brown roux. Add the chili powder mixture. Stir in with a whisk quickly, then add the 1 cup warm water immediately. Stir briefly, then add 2 more cups warm water. Stir briefly, then simmer for about 15-20 minutes, adding the cooked ground beef about halfway through. Don't let it boil, just lightly bubble. You want the sauce to have just started to thicken, but not too much
7. While the sauce is in its simmering stage, take a skillet and heat up a few tablespoons of cooking oil. One at a time, take a corn tortilla, put it in the hot oil for about 3 seconds, with tongs turn it over for about 3 seconds, then remove and place on paper towels. Do this with 12 tortillas. Note that this step is only necessary if you are using the Baking Dish method as shown below.

So, you can either make a whole baking dish of enchiladas all together, or do a few on a plate (done plate by plate), which is how it is done in restaurants.

Baking Dish method: put in a few tablespoons shredded cheese into tortilla, roll it up tight, and but in dish. Once all 12 are in, just pour the sauce over the whole deal. Add the remaining cheese on top, top with some chopped onion if you like. Bake in oven about 15 minutes, until the sauce is fairly bubbly and the tortilla edges are starting to almost look crispy. Remove from oven and let it set for a couple of minutes.

Plate method: you don't need to do the tortilla in oil thing for this. Just roll cheese up into the tortillas (2 or 3 per plate), put them on a plate and microwave it for about 30 seconds. I know this sounds funny, but that is how they did it at a Mexican Restaurant I used to work at. Then top with some of the sauce, some shredded cheese and onion as desired. Put under broiler in oven, watch until it gets bubbly and/or almost too browned then take it out. This is my preferred method, as the baking disk method turns out more like a casserole.

Enjoy!

 

[BillN]

Beautifully done.

 

[Robert]

Sure thing. I found this somewhere around 13 years ago and have modified it somewhat. This will make a dozen delicious enchiladas.

3/4 # ground beef
1 pound block Yellow American Cheese (store deli can do this for you)
corn tortillas
Shortening
Chili powder
Salt
Ground cumin
Paprika
Garlic powder
Black pepper
White onion

1. Shred the cheese, set aside in large bowl
2. Brown the ground beef, adding a generous amount of black pepper and light dusting of paprika. Drain the fat. Set aside in bowl
3. Put 2 tablespoons flour in a small bowl, set aside
4. Put 2 tablespoons chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon garlic powder in small bowl, set aside
5. Set aside 1 cup warm water (do it now. You have to have it ready to mix into the below step to keep the mixture from burning)
6. Be ready to move in this step! In a skillet over medium low to medium heat, put in 2 tablespoons shortening. Heat until it is melted and you start to see "ripples". Add the flour. Stir constantly for about 4-5 minutes, making a light brown roux. Add the chili powder mixture. Stir in with a whisk quickly, then add the 1 cup warm water immediately. Stir briefly, then add 2 more cups warm water. Stir briefly, then simmer for about 15-20 minutes, adding the cooked ground beef about halfway through. Don't let it boil, just lightly bubble. You want the sauce to have just started to thicken, but not too much
7. While the sauce is in its simmering stage, take a skillet and heat up a few tablespoons of cooking oil. One at a time, take a corn tortilla, put it in the hot oil for about 3 seconds, with tongs turn it over for about 3 seconds, then remove and place on paper towels. Do this with 12 tortillas. Note that this step is only necessary if you are using the Baking Dish method as shown below.

So, you can either make a whole baking dish of enchiladas all together, or do a few on a plate (done plate by plate), which is how it is done in restaurants.

Baking Dish method: put in a few tablespoons shredded cheese into tortilla, roll it up tight, and but in dish. Once all 12 are in, just pour the sauce over the whole deal. Add the remaining cheese on top, top with some chopped onion if you like. Bake in oven about 15 minutes, until the sauce is fairly bubbly and the tortilla edges are starting to almost look crispy. Remove from oven and let it set for a couple of minutes.

Plate method: you don't need to do the tortilla in oil thing for this. Just roll cheese up into the tortillas (2 or 3 per plate), put them on a plate and microwave it for about 30 seconds. I know this sounds funny, but that is how they did it at a Mexican Restaurant I used to work at. Then top with some of the sauce, some shredded cheese and onion as desired. Put under broiler in oven, watch until it gets bubbly and/or almost too browned then take it out. This is my preferred method, as the baking disk method turns out more like a casserole.

Enjoy!

Alan,


Thank you for the recipe. I always wanted to try making my own enchilada gravy/sauce to see if I could get a better flavor than the stuff in the can and get close to duplicating what I get in Mexican restaurants. I have tried a few recipes and was underwhelmed. So looking forward to this one.


Thanks,



Robert

 

[aks801]

Alan,

Thank you for the recipe. I always wanted to try making my own enchilada gravy/sauce to see if I could get a better flavor than the stuff in the can and get close to duplicating what I get in Mexican restaurants. I have tried a few recipes and was underwhelmed. So looking forward to this one.

Thanks,

Robert

I'm excited for you to try it! You won't buy the canned stuff ever again (except for green enchilada sauce, but that's another matter altogether). Let me know how it turns out!

 

[chingador]

Sure thing. I found this somewhere around 13 years ago and have modified it somewhat. This will make a dozen delicious enchiladas.

3/4 # ground beef
1 pound block Yellow American Cheese (store deli can do this for you)
corn tortillas
Shortening
Chili powder
Salt
Ground cumin
Paprika
Garlic powder
Black pepper
White onion

1. Shred the cheese, set aside in large bowl
2. Brown the ground beef, adding a generous amount of black pepper and light dusting of paprika. Drain the fat. Set aside in bowl
3. Put 2 tablespoons flour in a small bowl, set aside
4. Put 2 tablespoons chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon garlic powder in small bowl, set aside
5. Set aside 1 cup warm water (do it now. You have to have it ready to mix into the below step to keep the mixture from burning)
6. Be ready to move in this step! In a skillet over medium low to medium heat, put in 2 tablespoons shortening. Heat until it is melted and you start to see "ripples". Add the flour. Stir constantly for about 4-5 minutes, making a light brown roux. Add the chili powder mixture. Stir in with a whisk quickly, then add the 1 cup warm water immediately. Stir briefly, then add 2 more cups warm water. Stir briefly, then simmer for about 15-20 minutes, adding the cooked ground beef about halfway through. Don't let it boil, just lightly bubble. You want the sauce to have just started to thicken, but not too much
7. While the sauce is in its simmering stage, take a skillet and heat up a few tablespoons of cooking oil. One at a time, take a corn tortilla, put it in the hot oil for about 3 seconds, with tongs turn it over for about 3 seconds, then remove and place on paper towels. Do this with 12 tortillas. Note that this step is only necessary if you are using the Baking Dish method as shown below.

So, you can either make a whole baking dish of enchiladas all together, or do a few on a plate (done plate by plate), which is how it is done in restaurants.

Baking Dish method: put in a few tablespoons shredded cheese into tortilla, roll it up tight, and but in dish. Once all 12 are in, just pour the sauce over the whole deal. Add the remaining cheese on top, top with some chopped onion if you like. Bake in oven about 15 minutes, until the sauce is fairly bubbly and the tortilla edges are starting to almost look crispy. Remove from oven and let it set for a couple of minutes.

Plate method: you don't need to do the tortilla in oil thing for this. Just roll cheese up into the tortillas (2 or 3 per plate), put them on a plate and microwave it for about 30 seconds. I know this sounds funny, but that is how they did it at a Mexican Restaurant I used to work at. Then top with some of the sauce, some shredded cheese and onion as desired. Put under broiler in oven, watch until it gets bubbly and/or almost too browned then take it out. This is my preferred method, as the baking disk method turns out more like a casserole.

Enjoy!

that is how it is done. Two key components of tex mex enchiladas is the sauce and the type of cheese you use. You have them both nailed. You don't get fancy on cheese. American cheese, even velveeta is absolutely necessary to get the real thing.