How to Make Enchiladas

Enchilada is a Mexican cuisine food that is known and loved all over the world. It is made by wrapping a corn or flour tortilla (flat bread) around a filling and covering it in chili pepper sauce. The tortillas can be filled with a variety of ingredients, including meat, cheese, beans, potatoes, vegetables, seafood, or combinations of these. While beef stuffing is the most common, one may use shredded chicken breast or crumbled chorizo for the stuffing as well. Apart from the chili sauce, many other sauces can be used for the enchiladas. One may even garnish them with salsa, cilantro, tomatoes, onions, and lettuce.

• 12 corn tortillas
• 1 cup cheddar/Jack cheese (shredded)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 can (28 oz.) stewed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup salsa
• 2 red onions (chopped)
• 1 steak (cooked)

Step 1: Chop the cooked steak into very small cubes or shred it. In a pan, take some oil and let the beef cook in it for 1-2 minutes. Add 1 red onion to the pan, and cook for another 5 minutes. Take the pan off the heat, sprinkle the mixture with half of the shredded cheese, and mix together. You can also add black beans, corn, and cottage cheese to the meat. Combine them in a bowl, and set aside.

Step 2: Soften the corn tortillas by heating them quickly in a hot skillet or a microwave. This will make them less likely to tear. Mount some of the prepared filling in the middle of a warm tortilla. Roll the tortilla over the filling. Carefully transfer it to a baking dish, seam side down. Repeat this procedure with the rest of the tortillas.

Step 3: For preparing the enchilada sauce, lightly warm the olive oil in a large skillet. Sauté the onion in it for 5 minutes. Then, add in the garlic and after about a minute, add in the salsa and stewed tomatoes. The sauce should thicken in a few minutes.

Step 4: Pour the prepared sauce generously over the enchiladas, and cover it with the remaining cheese. Bake the enchiladas at 350 °F for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the sauce starts sizzling. Remove the pan from the oven, and transfer the enchiladas to a plate using a large spatula. You can serve them along with a meal of rice and beans.

Once you get a hang of the basic recipe, you can experiment with different types of fillings for the enchiladas.