Fat Tuesday - South of the Border?

American cuisine is a fine array of bastardized ethnic foods altered to fit our particular tastes. And I like that very much. While some authentic ethnic food is good, there are very good reasons that I don’t see other authentic restaurants take off in the states.

Mexican food is one of those tricky in-between ethnic cuisines. Being one of the few places I have travelled, I greatly enjoyed most of the food there. However, I also have come to savor a lot of the Americanized versions of Mexican food. This always presents a dilemma for me when I want to cook some Mexican food. Do I stick with the standard Americanized fair or do I venture into the authentic. Due to my sister having lived in Mexico for a few years, I have been able to pick up a few tricks of authentic cooking. However, my mom also has a long history of great Americanized Mexican cooking. Ahh, the eternal struggle.

Today, Americanized Mexican is going to win out as I revert to one of my all-time favorite dishes, my mom’s and previously my grandma’s Enchiladas. Given some of the ingredients it is apparent that this is an Americanized dish. However, what is also interesting is that given the labor intensiveness of the dish it is also obvious that my grandma came across this recipe quite a while ago when labor intensive activities were not shunned and prepared tortillas were not readily available.

While you can substitute prepared tortillas in place of the homemade ones, the difference in taste is vast, so I encourage at least one effort in the homemade realm.

Enchiladas

-1 to 2 lbs. of hamburger. I have also used shredded chicken, but that can quickly dry out.

-1 can of Hormel chili (hot with no beans)

-1 small can of enchilada sauce (mild-hot depending on your tastes)

-1 Tablespoon chili powder

-Brown hamburger and drain grease. Add can of chili and can of sauce. Add chili powder. I also add a little cumin, garlic powder, and paprika. Simmer this for a while till it thickens a bit. (45 minutes)

-Cheese: 12-16 oz. Grate cheese (whatever kind you want. I've used colby or cheddar or the mexican cheese.) Put in bowl

-Dice 1 onion. Put in bowl.

-Tortillas

-1 cup of flour

-1/2 cup of cornmeal

-1/4 tsp. salt

-1, 1/2 cup water (cool)

-Beat until smooth. Sometimes I might add a bit more water if they don't spread out nice on the griddle. I always double or triple this recipe to make a few pans.

-Fry these on a griddle or fry pan. I use teflon or cast iron so I don't need as much oil but if you use another pan I'm not sure how much oil you need to fry them but I try not to use too much. It is not like an inch in the bottom or anything. I just pour a couple tablespoons of oil, let the pan get hot and then spoon a spoon of batter on and spread it out to a small tortilla size. Fry a bit and flip it over and fry a bit on the other side. They should not get brown at all but be dough colored and pliable. Continue to add oil if they stick. This can go really well or be a nightmare, and stick all over the place. Make sure the pan and oil are hot but not smoking of course. It might take a little practice. As they are done someone can be filling them or you can put them in a pan and keep slightly warm.

-When ready put some meat in tortilla, some onion, some cheese and roll them up. Line them up in the pan. At the end I spread any remaining hamburger mix and cheese and onions on the top.

-The great thing about enchiladas is at this point you can either pop them in the oven of 20 to 30 minutes on 350 ( just until they bubble on the sides a bit.), or else you can just put them in the refrigerator covered and then bring them out and bake them when you are ready to cook them. They may need to bake a bit longer but 30 to 40 minutes is probably good.