Truck Stop Enchiladas from ‘Tex-Mex From Scratch’
Photograph by Roland Persson
From Yahoo Food’s Cookbook of the Week: Tex-Mex From Scratch by Jonas Cramby
Truck Stop Enchiladas
Serves 6
These are a variation on fast-food chain tacos, which are a watered-down version of Mexican cuisine. But in neither genuine Tex-Mex nor Mexican versions is ground beef used – it’s a lazy shortcut to achieve that stringy, melt-in-the-mouth consistency of the slow-cooked meat used in a genuine chili.
12 large wheat tortillas
1 batch Salsa Roja (see recipe)
1 batch Beef Chilli (see recipe)
1 ¾ cups Cheddar or Manchego cheese, grated
1 ¾ cups mozzarella, grated
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Dip the tortillas in the salsa—enchiladas literally means ‘dipped in chili’—add a dollop of beef chili and most of the cheese.
Roll together and place in an ovenproof dish. Drizzle over the remaining salsa, sprinkle over the rest of the cheese, and bake in the oven for 10 minutes, or until it’s bubbling.
Serve with chopped cilantro, white onion and sour cream
Salsa Roja
Serves 4
The classic red salsa that, together with salsa verde, in some states is almost used in the same way as salt and pepper.
1 ordinary onion
4 tomatoes
6 garlic cloves
dried chillies, e.g. ancho or guajillo
1/2–3/4 cup chicken stock or broth
1 small bunch of fresh cilantro
Salt
Cut the onion and tomatoes into quarters and boil together with the garlic and the deseeded dried chilis in so much stock that they’re just covered, for about 15 minutes. Leave to cool. Mix everything in a blender together with the cilantro and strain through a strainer to remove the skin and seeds. Season to taste.
Beef Chili
1 dried chipotle chili
1–2 dried chilis, such ancho
About 2 ¼ pounds braising steak such as chuck shoulder or blade
1 whole garlic bulb
Corn oil, for frying
2–3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried coriander
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1–2 fresh chilis
1 ½ cups beer
1 beef bouillon cube
Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chilis. Cover with 1/2–1 cup water and boil for about 15 minutes.
Dice the steak and finely chop the garlic, then cook the meat and garlic in a little oil.
Cook in small batches to get a nice searing of the meat.
Dust the fried meat with flour, chili powder, the other dried herbs and spices, the sugar and salt and pepper. Finely chop and add the fresh chilis. Process the boiled chilis and water together in a blender or food processor and pour over the stew. Add the beer and the boullion cube so that it just covers the meat.
Cover with a lid and leave to simmer for at least 2 hours, or until the meat is tender and thready.
Reprinted with permission from Tex-Mex From Scratch by Jonas Cramby (Sterling Epicure).
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