Because who doesn’t love enchiladas?
Welcome back!
We're going to assume your crowd was not hungry enough to eat up all that filling from our last recipe, and that you still have two thirds of that batch in the freezer. Before you get started reading this, if you plan on cooking today, you might want to go grab a third of it and set it out to defrost. It'll take quite a while in the fridge, but if you set it on the counter, it should be thawed enough to squeeze out of that ziploc bag by the time you're done assembling your necessary items and reading through this post.
In the event they were, in fact, starving, and you're out of filling entirely, we'll just send you back over to the first part of this series to begin again.
This week, you'll need (obviously in addition to your filling)
Ingredients:
12 corn tortillas (you'll most likely have some left over from the first round)
1/4 lb cheese (brick; shredded)
6 ounces salsa
sour cream, to taste
Tools:
deep baking pan, sauce pan or microwave safe dish for reheating, cheese grater, aluminum foil, paper towels or clean dish towel, cooking spray, plate or platter on which to work, spatula, spoon, sandwich bag, gloves (optional - but this can get messy)
First things first, get that filling heated up - it will be much easier to work with once it's warm. While you're welcome to toss it in the microwave in a covered dish, we feel like it loses some of its texture that way. We recommend putting it into a saucepan (or a caldera if you have one) and simmering it, covered, on low heat until all the frozen spots have thawed out and the whole pan is warmed through. For reasons we'll cover shortly, please put the pan on a front burner if possible.
While your filling is reheating, preheat your oven to 375.
Dampen your clean dish towel or two or three paper towels and wring out the excess water. We're going for slightly damp, not dripping wet. Wrap your corn tortillas in the paper towels or dish towel, making sure not to leave the edges of the tortillas exposed. Place your wrapped tortillas in front of the oven vent. On most ovens, it's just under the display for time and temperature. Assuming you're not using the microwave for reheating, please be sure that none of your little bundle is too close to the burner warming the filling! Place it completely on the opposite side of the stove if you can. The goal here is to let the tortillas gently warm while your filling reheats and you take care of all your other prep tasks. Warm tortillas are much easier to work with and less likely to break.
This is an excellent time to shred the brick of cheese if you haven't already. Using store-bought shredded cheese is fine, but the anti-caking agent companies package it with can change the way the cheese melts. It still tastes good, but it doesn't look as pretty - which is why we usually suggest shredding your own. It only takes a minute, and it's also a good way to get a helper involved.
Set aside your shredded cheese (or let your helper work on it) and pick up the aluminum foil. Use a large sheet of it to line your baking pan and make sure the corners are pushed down. Give it a quick spritz with cooking spray so you don't get enchilada pieces later.
Lay out your plate or platter close to your filling, and glove up (or scrub up and be ready to scrub again later) - it's time to fill some tortillas.
Take your first tortilla from the warm bundle, and leave the rest wrapped. Turn off the heat under the filling to avoid scorching either the food or your hands while you work.
Spray one side of the tortilla with cooking spray, then flip it over on the plate and spray again. A little extra oil is another trick to stop the tortillas from tearing (corn tortillas are a lot more brittle than flour ones, we're sure you've noticed).
Spoon some of the filling from your pan (or microwave dish) into the center of the tortilla and roll it up, leaving the ends open. Feel free to adjust the amount of filling per enchilada to your own preference. We like to start with two heaping tablespoons and go from there.
Place the enchilada seam side down in your baking pan, right up against one edge.
Repeat the oil, filling, rolling and placing steps until you're out of tortillas.
As you place your enchiladas in the pan, make sure each touches the side of the one placed before it. This helps prevent them unrolling and dumping their filling all over the place.
At the end of your stack of tortillas, you may still have filling left - this is okay; extras tend to happen with batch cooking. You can add it to the pan and bake it up with the enchiladas and then treat it as spilled filling when you serve, or you can set it aside and make some more enchiladas or a burrito with it for lunch tomorrow.
Now that you have all your enchiladas in the pan, take that salsa and dump it across the top. Spread it around with a spoon so that there's a layer of salsa over all of the exposed tops of the tortillas. It's fine if it's a thin layer. We want crispy ends and tops, but we're trying to avoid reaching the burnt stage.
After you've spread the salsa around, sprinkle that shredded cheese over it all (be sure to thank your helper if you had one) and pop the pan into the oven for about 20 minutes. Since all the ingredients are pre-cooked, there's no worry about reaching proper internal temperature so long as it's nice and warm when it hits the dinner table.
Optional: scoop a little sour cream - about two tablespoons should do - into that sandwich bag, seal it up, snip off a corner and drizzle it over the top after you take them out of the oven.
Divide up with the spatula, serve and enjoy.
Thanks for coming back! Join us in two weeks so that you can see how we’re going to make a final meal out of that original batch of meat. If you’ve got other tips on how to make this work or tricks you find for meal planning, let us know on Facebook! We love to hear from you.
If the worst happens though an your oven stops working midway through, we can help you. Give us a call at ((214) 599-0055), or you can get an appointment set up over on our website.