Enchiladas Gone Wrong Can Be So Right.

Sometimes there is a day when you set out to make a delicious meal to satisfy an intense craving.  Your tummy begins to anticipate the food which is certain to come, your mouth waters, then...you make: THE LIST.  I am a big fan of THE LIST.  The pleasure of deciding on a basic recipe, going through what I already have in my kitchen, writing down each ingredient that I will need to purchase - I love it!  It is sort of similar to the planning of a trip that you are looking forward to; you even paint a picture of it in your mind.


One day in particular comes to mind (a.k.a. two days ago).  I was feeling a bit funky, homesick, aaaannnnd hungry (as per usual).  Something quite unfortunate about Massachusetts is the lack of Mexican food available.  I have yet to find GOOD Mexican food here.  (No, Chipotle does not count. Neither does Anna's Taqueria or any of the other wannabe Mexican food restaurants around here - can we tell that Sara is bitter?  Prove me wrong, and I will admit fault gladly and buy you a taco.)  The simple fact is that I believe that I can make better Mexican food here in my own kitchen.  Once I decided on Mexican, I almost instantaneously hooked onto enchiladas.  So saucy, so cheesy, so delicioso!  I made THE LIST and headed to the store.


FAILURE.  I have chalked it up to punishment for forsaking my native California for Massachusetts.  I had planned on making my own sauce - the canned stuff is no competition for the real deal.  I vigorously searched my cookbooks and multiple online recipes for a sauce to try and decided on this one from a sweet Mexican food blog.  So what could possibly go wrong you may ask?  There were NO ancho chiles, chiles de arbol, actually - no chiles AT ALL on sale.  Mexcian oregano? Nope! And when a girl can't even get some yellow corn tortillas, well, I just don't know what this world is coming to.  My basket was already full of the other ingredients needed for these enchiladas I had become so intent on making.  So, I swallowed my pride, bought the white corn tortillas, two cans of canned enchilada sauce, and sulked my way home.

Some notes to start:

1.  I made chips and guacamole to make my meal complete and amazing.  Yes, I made my own tortilla chips - I am such a snob, I won't even touch the ones bagged in the stores.  Making your own = SOOOOOO worth it!

2.  If possible, make your own sauce. ALWAYS the first choice (but if not, these are still pretty darn good).  

3.  Of course, after the disappointment at the grocery store, I needed some seriously awesome tunes to lift my spirits :)

Saved by the Goat Cheese Enchiladas

Serves:  4-6 (How hungry are you?!)

Difficulty:  Easy

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:

4 oz Goat cheese

2 oz Romano cheese

10 oz Monterey Jack cheese, grated

10 corn tortillas

1 small can red enchilada sauce

1 small can green enchilada sauce

3 tbsp oil

1 clove garlic

Cilantro

Cayenne Pepper (if you like things spicay :)

Salt

Cooking Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl (or blender), combine goat cheese, romano cheese, garlic, and cilantro, cayenne pepper, and salt to taste.  If using a blender, puree the mixture.  If you blender is preoccupied with, say, a green juice...mince the garlic and mix thoroughly with a fork.

Prepare your baking pan by pouring enough red and green enchilada sauce just to cover the bottom.  On a separate plate, pour a small amount of each sauce and mix together.  Heat oil in a small pan.  Once the oil is heated, give each tortilla a quick fry (about 10 seconds on each side), until the tortilla is warmed and sturdy around the edges.

Using tongs, place the tortilla onto the "sauce plate" to lightly coat it with sauce.  

Then, I like to place the tortilla into the baking pan, fill it with about 2 tablespoons of the cheese (or other) filling, and roll it up.  At home we form a sort of assembly line which works really well.  Making enchiladas alone requires a bit of a balancing act - there is no right or wrong way - just don't burn the oil.

Once all of your enchiladas are rolled up, pour the rest of the enchilada sauce evenly over the top.  Then cover with the grated monterey jack cheese.  

Pop into the oven, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the enchiladas are heated through.  The cheese will be gooey and bubbly and you will be oh so happy!  These are also good the next day (and the next and the next.....)

Quite a few afterthoughts:

1.  If I were to do it over, I would not have put the cilantro in my goat cheese mixture and just used it as a fresh garnish at the end.

2.  I used both red and green enchilada sauce because they both have great flavors and I wanted both!  ::I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it NOW::

3.  Especially with this dish - it's all to YOUR taste.  If you don't like goat cheese, maybe a mild Mexican cheese would be better for you (however, if you live in Massachusetts, this may be impossible).  Enchiladas can be filled with almost anything - chicken, beef, or pork/cheese, green chiles, and potatoes - mmMM!

4.  You can CERTAINLY fit more enchiladas into your pan.  I did ten, you could squeeze in twelve, FOURteen, SIXteeen!

5.  Why is goat cheese so expensive?  WHY?!  I have asked myself the same question many times. Conclusion: it is cheese sent straight from heaven above.  No lies.  I checked the label.

Clearly, I have decided not only to post my successful cooking, but my somewhat challenged cooking.  Mistakes help me to learn important lessons about things from technique to flavor to how to to keep my cool when things do not go as planned.  Thanks for allowing me to vent about the whole Mexican food deprivation thing - it feels great to get that off of my chest.  I forgive you Boston, I forgive you.