ENCHILADAS-2(M)          USENET Cookbook          ENCHILADAS-2(M)

ENCHILADAS SABROSAS

     ENCHILADAS-2 - Enchiladas with meat, black olives, and
     cheese

     For many years, I've been involved in Latin American "soli-
     darity work" here in the San Francisco area, and as a
     result, I have learned some of its culinary pleasures.  This
     recipe originated from the back of a can of enchilada sauce
     in Mexico, but was refined by a special Chilean refugee
     friend who won a scholarship to the California Culinary
     Academy (in San Francisco) and now cooks ever-so-lusciously.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 6-8)
     2 lbs     ground meat (mixed ground beef and ground pork)
     1         medium onion
     1/2       green pepper
     5         garlic cloves
     1 bunch   cilantro
     1/2 tsp   red pepper
     1/2 tsp   salt
     1/2-1 tsp cumin
     1/2 cup   wine or sherry
     3/4 cup   black olives
     1 1/2 cups
               enchilada sauce (1 can)
     1/2 cup   tomato sauce (1 small can)
     12        corn tortillas
     1/2 lb    monterey jack cheese
     1/2 cup   sour cream (optional)
               oil

PROCEDURE
          (1)  Chop onion and garlic; place them in a frying pan
               with the ground meats.  Sauté them without adding
               fat.

          (2)  When meat is brown, add the chopped green pepper
               and most of the cilantro leaves and cook for
               another minute or two (until green pepper is
               cooked bright green).

          (3)  Drain well, then add several tablespoons of the
               enchilada sauce and cook for a few minutes longer.
               Set aside.

          (4)  Make the sauce: into a saucepan, pour the remain-
               ing enchilada sauce (from the can).  Add the can
               of tomato sauce.  Add the wine or sherry, cumin,
               salt, red pepper, and cook for 10-30 minutes
               (depending on how compulsive you are). The flavor
               should be smooth (not gritty) and spicy.

          (5)  Collect together everything that you will need for
               assembling the enchiladas. Grate the cheese onto
               wax paper. Have the olives handy (you'll be cut-
               ting them in half). Lightly oil the baking dish.

          (6)  The frying pan from which you drained the meat
               mixture still has some of its grease left in it.
               Take 4 tortillas from their package, separate them
               from each other, then one-by-one, slide them over
               the frying pan surface on each side, to moisten
               them slightly with the grease. That done, stack
               them in the frying pan and heat them until they
               are soft and pliable.

          (7)  The final  assembly requires a bit of manual dex-
               terity and speed: Take the tortillas, and place
               them (bumpy side out) in the oven dish, curved
               into a "U" shape, each right next to its neighbor.
               (At this point, start heating your next 4 tortil-
               las in the frying pan.  I usually wind up prepar-
               ing 10 tortillas in all.)

          (8)  Place a small handful of cheese into the U of each
               tortilla, followed by an appropriate amount of
               meat mixture, and finally several olive halves.
               Then curl one end of the tortilla around to tuck
               into the opposite end, and carefully rotate it to
               conceal the seam.  Each tortilla should be filled
               firmly (not too loosely) but not overflowing the
               ends.

          (9)  Once all the filling is used up and the enchiladas
               are now filled tortillas, pour the sauce over the
               top, helping it run into all the crevices.  Sprin-
               kle lightly with remaining cilantro leaves.

          (10) Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20-30
               minutes, just until the tortillas are soft and the
               sauce is slightly bubbly. Let sit for 5 minutes,
               then serve, topped with a dollop of sour cream.

NOTES
     If you fail to drain the meat well enough, the enchiladas
     will be greasy.  If overbaked, it tastes all right, but the
     tortillas lose their texture. In general, however, the
     recipe is quite forgiving in its proportions.  Feel free to
     adjust the seasoning to your own tolerance for hot spice.  I
     like to assemble this recipe at least 3 hours before baking
     to give the flavors a chance to blend. Left refrigerated for
     a day, the seasoning is even less aggressive.  Served with a
     salad (and some Mexican beer), it's a complete meal.

RATING
     Difficulty: moderate.  Time: 1 hour preparation, 30 minutes
     baking.  Precision: Approximate measurement OK, but time the
     baking carefully.

CONTRIBUTOR
     Karen Kerschen
     EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley, Calif., USA
     karen@silvia.Berkeley.EDU
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