Well, not really, but after rolling 12 enchiladas, I certainly feel good. In this post, I will take you through (with pictures!) how I made Cheese Enchiladas. Honestly, it'll be lame, and I'll probably leave out lots of steps, but I just wanted to post pictures of food. Prepare to drool...
The first step I took in making the enchiladas was to make the enchilada sauce. I take no risks with the canned stuff, and I'm not even certain if I could find it easily here. I probably could, since Old El Paso is quite prevalent, but then it just wouldn't be the same. Besides, I found a tasty recipe and it's pretty easy. Basically, you make a roux (oil and flour) and CAREFULLY add some chili powder. At this stage, I should note from recent experience, that you face should not be anywhere near the saucepan when the chili powder is added. I think my lungs may actually be scarred, hence the all capital wording above.
Anway, after I did the chili powder thing for a couple of seconds, you add some liquids and some more spices. Then voila! You get this:
I then tasted my masterpiece of sauce, and was surprised. I was not surprised at how incredibly yummy it was, but rather by the burning in my mouth and on my lips. That was not the sensation I got the last time I made the sauce. I went back to consult the spices. Apparently, all those times I was told that "spicy" in Britain wasn't spicy at all, it was a lie! Seriously, the Hot Chili Powder in my cabinet is actually quite hot. But, the sauce was still good, and it didn't byrn that bad, so I kept going. I then let the sauce cool.
Good cooks might use this time to prepare the next step. Lazy cooks, like me, would take a break, surf the net, watch some TV for a while, or whatever makes them happy while the sauce cools. It doesn't really matter, but you have to stick your hands in the sauce at some point, so the cooling step is a good one.
After being lazy for a while, I prepared the items for the next step. Here they are:
I particularly like the saucepan of warm-to-hot oil. It just makes the "southerner" in me all warm and fuzzy. Anyway, with these ingredients, a lot of dipping and rolling takes place. The tortillas get coated with a good amount of oil, which supposedly makes them floppy. Then they get dipped in the sauce which supposedly sticks to the supposedly floppy oily tortillas. Obviously, this was not my experience. I had non-floppy, non-saucy tortillas at the end. But, it still worked out. After dipping, I rolled cheese--LOTS of cheese--and onions in the tortillas and placed them in a pan.
Then I poured the rest of the really yummy sauce over the enchiladas. And, I forgot to take a picture of it.
Cooking the enchiladas made the flat smell pretty fantastic and I was met with a smile as my wonderful husband came in from basketball. It was all very Leave It to Beaver, which kind of makes me want to puke. However, I won't, and instead will just continue with the conclusion of my enchilada experience.
The enchiladas also looked great when I took them out of the oven. Unfortunately, this is another step I forgot to capture for all eternity, because my stomach was just too excited and overrode my brain. It's not surprising.
I hoped that the smell and sight of the enchiladas would only mean better things from the taste. I was right...and somewhat wrong--they tasted quite yummy indeed, before my my mouth turned to fire and I had to run to fridge for some Coke Zero (of course I would have preferred Diet Dr Pepper, but what was I to do?!). I like spice, lots of it. But, this was REALLY spicy. I won't kid you. Go for the mild chili powder if you make this. You won't regret the decision, unless you're a masochist, and then more power to ya.
Oh, and after all that, here's what was left:
I won't lie. The food was mouth-wateringly good...and also eye-wateringly spicy. I have to chock this experience up to living in the UK, because I would never have tried making enchiladas if I had a good Mexican restaurant to go to. Next, we'll try making Tacos al Pastor, but seeing as we don't own a grill or have a place to use one...that might get a little tricky.
