Muy Caliente

I spent the entire day obsessed with enchiladas. Dreamy tomatillo salsa and delicate corn tortillas floated through my classes, the staff meeting, and the drive home. I am dying to tell you about it because I am a long time enchilada fan but have never made them myself. When I was a kid, enchiladas with pork were one of my dad's specialties. In grad school, I drooled as my roommate Lucia whipped up her family's version with homemade salsa verde for the top. And now, I have my very own version!



As for me, I love any excuse to combine delicate sauteed vegetables with melty cheese--a luscious combo. To start, I sauteed the veggies in a little oil-- two poblano chilies, two portobello mushrooms, one small sweet yellow onion, and shallots.

Okay, kid, let's make with the cocktail.


Hey, you know what makes cooking more fun?
Bourbon and soda. And a little nosh...
like a handful of the white cheddar I just shredded. Mmm hmm.

And now, the assembly line. Lucia used to heat the salsa in a saucepan then submerge the tortillas in the sauce until they were soft and pliable (30 seconds?). That's what I tried and it worked great. I recommend having tongs handy to fling the saucy tortilla into your baking dish. Lucia used to use her fingers, but as I've previously mentioned, she was the stuff of legend and was somehow unscalded. I opted for tongs.

I had four things on the stove: the cheese, the veggies, a pyrex baking dish, and the simmering sauce. First a tortilla went into the sauce, then transferred to the baking dish. Meanwhile I sprinkled cheese in the center, then a spoon of veggies, then rolled up like a cigar like my dad showed me. Then another tortilla goes in the sauce to soften.

When the whole pan was done, I poured the remaining sauce over the top and sprinkled with more cheese. I fit 8 total in the pan before I ran out of tortillas, and had leftover cheese and veggies. Baked at 350 for 20 minutes.


Ready for our closeup.

Ooooh yeah, come to mama.

Veggie enchiladas with salsa verde and homemade beans.
Wish you were here to share!