It’s easy to make enchiladas. Just roll tortillas around cheese, pour canned enchilada sauce on top and bake. Well, if you insist. But that’s not the way I do it. I make enchiladas to enjoy the rich and varied flavors of dried chiles, which a commercial sauce can’t duplicate.
The best chiles I have worked with came from Ensenada. Walking along Juarez (5th Street), I came across an open-air shop that displayed the most beautiful chiles I have ever seen. They were freshly dried, soft and silky, unlike older, stiff chiles that crack apart when you handle them.
I bought sacks of guajillo and California chiles and made enchiladas with them as soon as I got home. They were wonderful, some of the best I have ever produced. To brighten the color of the sauce, I blended in tomatoes, and I filled the tortillas only with cheese, and not too much of that, because I wanted to emphasize the rich chile flavors of the sauce, not the filling.
Enchiladas are forgiving. You can vary the chiles according to taste. New Mexico chiles will add more heat than California chiles, for example. Once I had only dried anchos on hand and no tomatoes. They produced a dark, intense sauce that was very good in its own way.
The procedure is easy and not time-consuming. Pressing pureed chiles through a sieve is a bit messy, but that’s the worst of it. The best is enjoying the wonderful aromas as you roast the chiles, grind them and cook the sauce. You can’t get that out of a can.
ENSENADA ENCHILADAS
Oil
4 dried California chiles
9 dried guajillo chiles
2 roma tomatoes, about ½ pound
¼ medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1 ½ teaspoons chicken seasoned stock base
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon flour
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
Salt
8 corn tortillas
3 cups shredded cheese, such as a mixture of Jack and Longhorn
1 onion, finely chopped
3 green onions, including some of the tops, chopped
Lightly oil a griddle and heat over moderate heat. When hot, add the California and guajillo chiles and toast lightly. This should take only a few seconds. Be careful not to burn the chiles. Place them in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let stand until very soft.
Drain the chiles, reserving the soaking liquid. There should be at least 2 ½ cups. Remove the stems and seeds and place the chiles in a blender container.
On the same griddle, roast the tomatoes, onion quarter and peeled garlic cloves until spotted with brown. Add to the blender. Add the chicken stock base and ½ cup of the reserved chile soaking liquid. Blend until pureed.
Pour the sauce into a sieve over a bowl and work through as much of the pureed mixture as possible. Discard the solids. Rinse out the blender with 1 cup reserved soaking liquid and strain into the bowl.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium saucepan. Add the cumin seeds and fry 30 seconds. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add the sauce and the oregano. Season to taste with salt. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring. Remove from heat and set aside. If the sauce becomes too thick, thin with some of the remaining soaking liquid.
Heat about 1/3 cup oil in a small skillet. Add the tortillas one at a time and fry on each side until puffy but not crisp. Drain on paper towels. Dip each tortilla in the sauce. Place on a plate and top with some of the cheese and chopped onion. (The green onions are for the topping.) Use about 2 cups cheese for the filling. Reserve the remainder for the topping.
Roll up each filled tortilla and place seam side down in a 13x9-inch glass baking dish. When all the enchiladas are rolled, top evenly with the remaining sauce, then with the remaining 1 cup cheese, any remaining onion and the green onions. Bake at 350 degrees 15 minutes, until heated through.
Makes 4 servings.
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