This recipe comes from my sister, Linda (otherwise known as Sissy). I descended upon her house with camera and notepad in hand because she had volunteered to share her OMG rated Tex-Mex Cheese Enchilada recipe. Sissy obtained this recipe from Eddie, who used to run a Mexican Restaurant in our hometown. Eddie did a great business until he got arrested – but that’s another story. He may have had his problems, but this recipe is unbelievably good, and is as traditional Tex-Mex as you can get. The sauce is rich and full of chili powder, cumin, and garlic, with just enough gooey cheese to keep you coming back for another bite. You going to want to make a double batch – they go down easy. Follow along with me and I’ll show you just how easy they are to make, or should I say, my sis will…
The first order of business is making the roux, or base for the enchilada sauce. Equal parts of any neutral oil and flour are cooked together until they bubble. Cook another minute after that happens, and then the hot spiced chicken broth gets whisked in…
And the result is this beautiful sauce!
You can set the sauce aside for a minute or two while the enchiladas get assembled. Heat up your tortillas, fill them with cheese and onion, and roll them on up! The cheese for this project is a good Cheddar (how about Tillamook?) and Mexican Cojita, which is a slightly salty, crumbly addition. First you have to do a little bit of crumbling, then roll those babies right up.
Line these guys up in a 13×9 inch baking pan, and then pour all that sauce right on over the top. Sprinkle with even more cheese and some chopped white onion..
Bake them, serve them, devour them.
Delicious all by themselves, or even better with some crema or sour cream drizzled over the top and served with beans, rice, guacamole and a little chopped cabbage salad.
…..It appears that may mom, Neeners would agree.
Thanks for sharing Sissy! I hope Neeners saved some leftovers for you, but knowing her, I doubt it.
Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!! xoxoxox
Cheese Enchiladas
Ingredients
- ENCHILADA SAUCE
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup canola oil
- 4 -5 cups chicken broth heated to a simmer
- 1-2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1-2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1- tablespoon garlic powder
- 1- tablespoon onion powder
- Salt to taste
- ENCHILADAS
- 12-14 Corn tortillas
- Chopped onion or use sliced green onion
- Cheddar and Jack cheese about ½ pound of each, in equal proportions
- 2 cups approximately crumbled Mexican Cojita cheese
- Chopped black green or Kalamata olives (optional – about 1 ½ cups)
Instructions
- ENCHILADA SAUCE
- Place flour and canola oil in a large Dutch oven. Cook over medium heat until mixture starts to boil, and continue cooking for another minute stirring often so it doesn’t burn.
- Heat chicken broth over medium high heat until simmering. Stir in the cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Add chicken broth slowly to flour mixture – be careful of spatter. Wisk while adding to prevent lumps from forming. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Bring to a boil and boil for one minute, or until mixture is thickened – if too thick, just add more broth. If sauce has lumps, use an immersion blender and they will disappear.
- TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE
- One by one, soften tortillas by placing in a hot cast iron skillet, flipping once, until pliable. Another quicker option is to place your tortillas in a microwave safe dish, covered with a paper towel, and heat until all are softened. This should take about 60 seconds.
- As soon as one tortilla is pliable, remove from pan and roll with mixture of cheeses, onion, and olives (if using). Place in a 13x9 inch-baking pan. It usually takes between 12-14 enchiladas to fill a pan of that size.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Just before you are ready to put enchiladas in the oven, add the enchilada sauce. Note: this sauce thickens as it sits, so you may need to stir in additional broth if there has been a long amount of time between making the sauce and baking, or if you have refrigerated the sauce. Pour sauce over enchiladas, then you can use the blade of a knife to separate the enchiladas so some of the sauce can flow to the bottom of the pan.
- Top with additional cheeses, onions & olives if you wish.
- Bake until bubbly and cooked through – usually around 20 minutes or less.
- Proceed to stuff yourself.