I love the combo platters at Mexican restaurants so I decided to try making one of my own. Making your own enchilada sauce is time consuming but well worth the effort. The men preferred the pork. I preferred the cheese but I would have liked to try the cheese with the red enchilada sauce. Next time I want to try it with short ribs.
My family loves tacos. I gave up the taco packets when I found Penzey's Taco Seasoning. This taco recipe is so easy and is made with things I usually have on hand.
I have also been experimenting with cooking with dried beans and have found that slow cooking from scratch and adding a little milk at the end you can create "refried" beans without all the fat and calories.
Pork Enchiladas
Rojas
adapted from Bon Appetit September 2015
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 Tbsp cumin seeds
14 dried guajillo
chiles, seeds removed
4 dried ancho
chiles, seeds removed
3 dried arbol chiles, seeds removed
8 garlic
cloves, peeled
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp corn oil
1½ lb boneless pork shoulder, trimmed
Kosher salt
2 bay
leaves
1 cup vegetable oil
8 6-inch
white corn tortillas
Cotija cheese, crumbled
Toast coriander
seeds in a small skillet over medium heat for about 2 minutes or until fragrant. Shake the pan frequently to prevent them from burning. Add the cumin
seeds during the last 30 seconds of cooking. Let cool, then finely grind in spice mill.
Bring guajillo,
ancho, arbol chiles and stock to a boil in a saucepan. Cover, remove from heat, and let sit to soften the chiles. Depending on how dry the chiles are this can take 30-60 minutes.
Transfer chile
mixture to a blender and add toasted spices, garlic, tomato paste, and oregano. Purée until smooth.
Preheat oven to
250°. Heat oil in a oven safe pot. Season the pork with kosher salt
and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides. Pour
off excess oil and add chile purée and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, cover, and
transfer to oven. Braise pork until meat is very tender and shreds easily, about 2 hours.
Transfer the pork to a large bowl and shred. Discard the bay leaves
Mix ½ cup chile sauce into pork; season with
salt. Set remaining sauce aside.
Preheat oven to
425°.
Prepare a baking pan my spreading a cup of reserved chile sauce over the bottom.
Heat oil in a skillet over until it bubbles
immediately when edge of tortilla touches the surface. Working one at a time,
fry tortillas until just starting to brown and crisp, about 10 seconds per side. They should still be pliable. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
Dip both sides
of each tortilla in the reserved chile sauce to coat lightly. Spoon ¼
cup pork mixture across the center of a tortilla and roll up the tortilla. Place seam side down in prepared
baking dish. Repeat with more sauce and remaining tortillas.
Top with the remaining sauce and cotija cheese and remaining
sauce.
Bake until sauce is bubbling and cheese is beginning to brown, about 15–20
minutes.
Cheese and Onion Enchiladas with Tomatillo-Green Chile Sauce
adapted from Bon Appétit.July 2001
¾ lb tomatillos, husked, rinsed, quartered
2 Tbsp minced seeded jalapeño chilies
12 garlic cloves
2½ cups
chopped scallions, divided
¾ cup canned
mild green chilies
12 large spinach
leaves
8 white corn tortillas
3 cups shredded Mexican Blend Cheese
Cooking spray
Bring tomatillos, water, jalapenos and garlic to boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer
until tomatillos are soft, about 15 minutes.
Transfer mixture to blender; add 2
cups of green onions, green chilies, and spinach and puree. Season sauce with salt and
pepper. Return sauce to skillet.
Preheat oven to
350°F.
Coat a baking dish with cooking spray.
Using the same oil as the pork enchiladas. Fry the tortillas, one at a time until just starting to brown and crisp
Dip the tortilla into sauce. Top with about 2 Tbsp cheese, 1 Tbsp green onions,
and 1 Tbsp sauce. Roll up tortilla. Place seam side down in prepared dish.
Repeat with remaining tortillas, sauce, cheese, and onions.
Pour remaining
sauce over enchiladas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake until cheese melts,
about 15 minutes.
Makes 4 servings.
Beef
Tacos
adapted from The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2016 (2015) America's Test Kitchen, Brookline, MA
2 Tbsp corn oil
1 small
onion, minced
3 cloves
of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp chili
powder
1 tsp ground
cumin
1 tsp ground
coriander
½ tsp dried
oregano
¼ tsp cayenne
pepper
Kosher salt
1 lb ground beef
½ cup tomato
sauce
½ tsp brown
sugar
2 tsp cider vinegar
Freshly ground black
pepper
8 taco
shells
Shredded Mexican blend cheese
Lettuce, shredded
Tomatoes , chopped
Cook the onion in the oil until softened. Add the garlic, spices, and 1/2 tsp salt; cook, stirring constantly,
until fragrant.
Add ground beef and cook, breaking up the meat up and scraping pan bottom to prevent scorching, until it is no
longer pink, about 5 minutes.
Add tomato sauce, chicken broth, brown sugar, and
vinegar; bring to simmer. Simmer, uncovered,
stirring frequently until the liquid
has reduced and thickened (mixture should still be moist), about 10
minutes. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.
Fill the taco shells with the meat mixture and top as desired.
Creamy Black
Beans
adapted from Food Network Magazine September 2010
½ lb dried
black beans, rinsed
1½ Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion,
minced
2 cloves
garlic, minced
½ jalapeno
pepper, halved and seeded
1 tsp ground cumin
1 dried oregano
¼ cup skim milk
Kosher salt
Cotija cheese
In a large saucepan cover dried beans with triple their volume of cold water. Bring the water to a boil and cook beans, uncovered for 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and soak beans 1 hour. Drain.
Cook the onion, garlic, jalapeno and cumin in the oil, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.
Add the oregano and the beans,
then add enough water to cover (about 4½ cups). Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low, partially cover and
cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are just tender and moist of the liquid has been absorbed, about 3½ - 4 hours.
Add the milk and heat through, stirring to cream some of the beans. Season to taste with salt.
Top with cotija cheese.
