Right Wing Nation

Tex-Mex at its very finest: Chorizo and cheese enchiladas

They’re rich and filling. Two or three per person, and this recipe makes 15 or 16. Note: Mexican and Spanish chorizo are not identical. Mexican chorizo is not cured; Spanish is. If using Mexican chorizo, just slit the casing and squeeze it out. If using Spanish, pulse it in a food processor until it’s finely chopped.

Also, can the nasty canned enchilada sauce. This includes a recipe for Tex-Mex red enchilada sauce you can use instead — and it’s easy.

First make the sauce:

1/2 large white onion, or 1 small white onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, diced
2 T. oil
1 T. flour
2 T. good-quality chili powder, or make your own (grind together 1 dried pasilla, 1/2 T. cumin seeds, 1/2 T. oregano, and 1/2 t. black peppercorns)
1 15oz. can tomato sauce
2 T. red wine vinegar
chicken stock

Saute onion and garlic in oil over medium-low heat until soft. Add flour and chili powder. Stir in tomato sauce and thin to the consistency of cream with chicken broth. Simmer for about thirty minutes to blend the flavors. Thin again to the consistency of cream with broth (if you need to), then add the vinegar. Taste. The vinegar should make it sharp, but not sour.

Now make the enchiladas:

1 lb. queso anejo or good jack, shredded
10 ounces chorizo, finely chopped
1/2 large white onion, or 1 small white onion, diced
4 poblanos
15 or 16 corn tortillas

1. Roast the poblanos till blackened. This is easy. Put them over direct heat — I just turn a couple of burners on my gas stove on and put them right on the grids — and turn them until they’re mostly black all over, and yes, I said black. Put them in a paper or plastic bag and fold down the top. Let them sit for about fifteen minutes, then rinse them under running cold water. The charred skin will come right off (but you don’t need to get all of it off — the char adds to the flavor). Remove the cores and chop.
2. Spray a saute pan lightly with Pam (you can use oil, but you just need enough to keep the chorizo from sticking at the very beginning) and put over low heat. Add the chorizo, and when it begins to render its fat, turn the heat up to medium-high and cook it until done, about ten to fifteen minutes.
3. Add the onion and poblanos, and cook for another five minutes, until onion is soft. If using Spanish chorizo, since it does not need to be cooked, saute it until it has rendered most of its grease, then proceed.
4. DRAIN THE GREASE! SERIOUSLY!
5. Nuke the tortillas for 1 minute in a plastic bag to soften them.
6. Assemble the enchiladas (I do this on a plate, then put them on individual serving plates then nuke them, but if you want, you can put them in a baking pan, then put them in the oven for fifteen minutes or so to get them good and hot at the end):
1. Dip both sides of a tortilla in the sauce.
2. Put a spoonful of the chorizo filling on the tortilla.
3. Cover the filling with shredded jack.
4. Roll or fold the tortilla and place on individual plate. Rinse and repeat.
7. Moisten the tops of the enchiladas with more sauce (don’t drown them!) then put some more jack on top. Nuke each individual plate for about 1 minute.

rightwingprof :: Jan.02.2009 :: Food :: 1 Comment »

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