Friday, May 07, 2010

Beef Enchiladas

We love Mexican food! Unfortunately so many times enchilada recipes contain cream of whatever soups. These soups are usually full of chemicals and MSG. I have searched and searched to find good enchilada recipes and I think I have finally found one so I'm going to share!

The reason why I say "I think" is because I'm always looking and recipes and have seen some other beef enchilada recipes lately. If I find one that is tastier and easier to make than this one (and I don't think I will) then I will share it!

Enjoy!

First of all, the recipe called for enchilada sauce. I didn't have any. So I decided to see if I had the ingredients to make it. I did! :)

I have never read the ingredient label on enchilada sauce so I don't know if I can recommend just buying the sauce or not. It was easy to make! :)

For the sauce:

Combine and Heat:
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Flour

Stir together until smooth and cook for 1 minute.


Add 1/4 cup of chili powder. Seemed like a lot to me at the time but the sauce was really good!

Stir to combine and cook for 30 more seconds.
Add:
2 cups chicken stock (I used the organic swanson stuff since I didn't have any of my own made).
10 ounces of tomato paste (read the label on this carefully - sometimes the can with the added "stuff" contains High Fructose Corn Syrup - you can find it without)
1 tsp dried oregano (rub in your palm to release more flavor!)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
Simmer for 15 minutes and it's ready!


Now for the enchiladas!!
Chop the onion and add it to the pan with a little olive oil. Saute a few short minutes until the onion softens.


Add 1 lb of ground beef and brown. (Mmmmm! Yummy grass-fed, antibiotic-free beef).




Add the enchilada sauce and about 1 1/2 cups of shredded colby jack cheese. I just eye-balled it!




Spoon mixture into the tortillas. Okay, so I made these waaaaaaaay too big. The original recipe said it made 8 enchiladas and I only made four - so mine were twice as big as they should have been. Oh well!
Roll the tortillas as best you can (like I said - mine were too big!) and lay them in a 9x13 baking dish.



A word about the tortillas. . . most "regular" tortillas you purchase will have some sort of partially hydrogenated oil in them. We're trying to avoid that! So, I found these lovely ones at Meijer which are made with olive oil and whole grains.
I want to try to make my own sometime but haven't gotten around to it yet!
Sprinkle with the remaining meat/sauce mixture and cheese!


Bake for 20 minutes at 350.
Delicious!
It's not that my husband doesn't compliment my cooking - he does - but he was extra complimentary about these. He kept going on and on so . . . it's a keeper recipe!


Here are both recipes (sauce and enchiladas) in condensed form:
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup chili powder
2 cups chicken stock
10 ounces tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
In a medium saucepan heat oil, add flour, smoothing and stirring with a wooden spoon. Cook for 1 minute. Add chili powder and cook for 30 seconds. Add stock, tomato paste, oregano, and cumin. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. The sauce will thicken and smooth out. Adjust the seasonings. Serve atop your favorite enchiladas.


Beef Enchiladas
Courtesy of jaimeschechter.blogspot.com
Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
1 lb ground beef
16 oz Colby-Jack cheese
8 flour tortillas
12 oz enchilada sauce
salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
In medium saucepan, add chopped onions and cook until soft. Add ground beef and brown. Salt and pepper to taste. Add shredded cheese and enchilada sauce; mix well. Spoon mixture into tortillas and roll. Place in a greased 13×9 pan. Make about 8. Top with remaining meat mixture and then with the rest of the cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. ENJOY!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

complete with pictures....you're a young pioneer woman :)
carol

Unknown said...

Alas, I don't have pictures of calf nuts to put on my blog! :)

Anonymous said...

for that we can all be eternally grateful!