More on Enchiladas

Yesterday I wrote about a recipe clipping for enchiladas that I found in an old cookbook.

I didn't mention the recipe that I use for an enchilada casserole.

This was mainly because I much prefer to eat my enchiladas out in a restaurant. Cheese are my favorite. I don't usually make enchiladas at home because I can never get them or the plate as hot at home as they come to the table in the restaurant. (I'm a food temperature freak--my food must be steaming hot, hot, hot.) Enchilada plates in Mexican restaurants are too hot to touch when they arrive at the table.

So on the rare occasions that I crave cheese enchiladas but don't want to traverse the 45 miles to get to my favorite Mexican restaurant, I sometimes make the following recipe which was given to me by a co-worker (back when I had co-workers).

I ordinarily would not have tried this recipe in a million years simply because I don't like the looks of the ingredients, or the combination of ingredients, or something. Maybe I subconsciously think the words "enchiladas" and "casserole" don't belong together. Maybe it's the soup ingredient. However, I ate some of this at an office pot-luck and liked it.

For the record, the gal who made this dish did not have copies of the recipe printed up beforehand, but brought her recipe card to the office and copied it later for those of us who wanted it.

This recipe calls for corn tortillas rather than flour. I prefer my enchiladas to be prepared with the corn variety.

ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

1/2 lb. cheddar cheese
1/2 lb. Velveeta cheese (cut up)
1/2 can Rotel tomatoes (diced)
1/2 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 can chili w/o beans
1 lb. ground meat
onions
chili powder
garlic
seasoned salt
1 pkg corn tortillas

Brown and season meat with onions, chili powder, garlic, seasoned salt; drain.

In large bowl mix all other ingredients; add meat mixture.

Layer tortillas and mixture in baking dish. Bake in oven at 400° until cheese melts and bubbles, or in microwave about 10 min. (I haven't ever tried the microwave part.)

If you're going to have Enchiladas, you might like to have some Pico de Gallo too.

In Texas there are at least two Mexican restaurants on every corner. Most of them really serve Tex-Mex, of course, and some are better than others. Everyone has their favorite place for one reason or another.

If you'd like to read about real Tex-Mex enchiladas (and not casseroles or recipes from a soup company in New Jersey) and why I'm willing to drive 45 miles to get to Molina's, I recommend The Tex-Mex Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos. I absolutely love this book.