Enchiladas Red Chili Recipes

ENCHILADAS ROJAS, RED CHILE ENCHILADAS

Steps:

• Prep the chile sauce. Start by taking the stems off and opening the chiles to shake out the seeds. Flatten them as best you can. Heat a cast iron skillet or better yet, a Mexican comal over high heat. When it is blazing hot, toast the chiles. Press them down with a spatula for just a couple seconds: When they blister, flip them and do the other side. Remove to a bowl.
• When all the chiles have been toasted, char the quartered onion and the garlic cloves on the comal or skillet. You want some blackening. The garlic cloves will blacken first, so watch them.
• Now that you have everything smoky and charred, tear the chiles in pieces. Chop the onion. Peel the garlic. Heat the lard or vegetable oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add the chiles, onions and garlic and saute for a minute or two. Pour in the stock, add the cumin and oregano and bring to a simmer. Add salt to taste and simmer gently until the chiles are soft, about 20 minutes.
• Puree the sauce in a blender. This sauce can be made up to a week in advance and stored in the fridge.
• Make the filling. Cut the meat into pieces about the size of your fingernail. Salt well. Mix with about 1/4 cup of the red chile sauce, the chopped sage as well as about 5 ounces of cheese and the minced white onion.
• Prep the tortillas. Heat the tortillas on a comal or other heavy skillet until they blacken a little. Then put them in a tortilla warmer, or stack on a plate and put a bowl over them. Let them steam a few minutes before building the enchiladas.
• Build the enchiladas. Pour a little red chile sauce into a casserole dish. Dip a tortilla in the red chile sauce briefly and shake off the excess. Fill a tortilla with a little of the filling and roll it up. Place seam-side down on the casserole. Repeat until you're done. You should get about 15 tortillas.
• Pour more red chile sauce over the enchiladas and top with lots of the shredded cheese. Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes and serve.

RED ENCHILADA SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the onion, oregano, chili powder, basil, ground black pepper, salt, cumin, parsley, salsa and tomato sauce.
• Mix together and then stir in the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

NEW MEXICO-STYLE RED CHILE ENCHILADAS

Steps:

• Oil a 9-inch square baking dish.
• Dip tortillas in the red chile sauce, to make pliable, and place 4 on the bottom of the dish.
• Sprinkle with 1/4 cup onions.
• Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese.
• Repeat layers 2 more times, ending with cheese.
• Bake at 350ºF.
• for 30 minutes, or until hot and the cheese is golden.

ENCHILADAS (RED CHILI)

Steps:

• Fry corn tortillas in deep fat to soften.
• Immerse in chili sauce and place on a warm oven-proof plate.
• Sprinkle with grated cheese and chopped onion.
• Cover with red chili sauce and place another tortilla on top.
• Repeat the process then pour enough chili sauce over them to cover tortillas.
• Three tortillas make one serving.
• A fried egg is traditional on top of each enchilada.

TRADITIONAL NEW MEXICO RED CHILE CHEESE "STACKED" ENCHILADAS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Each serving will contain 3 corn tortillas. Take the tortilla and dip it in hot oil or dip it in the red chile sauce and put on plate. Top this with cheese and onion and more sauce and put another dipped tortilla on top and repeat this 2 times. Heat in the oven or under the broiler until cheese melts and top with a fried egg. Garnish the plate with the lettuce and tomato. You can serve this with fried potatoes or pinto beans.
• To make a casserole, you can layer the above in a baking dish with the final layer on top being cheese, do not put eggs on the casserole. Bake for about 20 minutes, until all is warm and melted. Garnish with lettuce and tomato. Can also serve with sour cream, chopped olives and guacamole.
• Remove the stems and seeds of the chile pods. Soak the pods in water or simmer on stove for about 10 minutes. Place chile and garlic in a blender with 1/4 cup water and puree until smooth. (Use 6 to 8 pods of chile and 2 cloves of garlic at a time, which will make the puree smoother and easier to work with.) Add more water as needed to get a medium consistency. In a sauce pan, add pureed chile with Mexican Oregano and salt to taste. Bring to a slow boil, and then simmer for 20 minutes. Pork can be browned and added to sauce while simmering.