| Modern enchiladas seem to have evolved
from papadzules ("food of the nobles"), an ancient Mayan dish of
corn tortillas dipped in pumpkinseed sauce, rolled up with chopped hard-boiled
egg, and smothered in a tomato sauce. Enchiladas these days can be
found with a wide variety of fillings and sauces, and are an ideal dish
for experimentation.
Traditionally prepared, enchiladas can
be very greasy. There seem to be several variations that all involve
a lot of oil:
Fry corn tortillas briefly in a pan full of
oil, roll up with filling, cover them with sauce and bake.
Immerse the tortillas in sauce, fry them in
oil, fold in half and layer them, top with a little more sauce and bake.
Immerse the tortillas in sauce, fry them in
oil, roll up with filling, top with a little more sauce and bake.
Though these methods can result in enchiladas
that separate a little more easily when serving, we prefer some less greasy
alternatives. Our basic method is:
Put about 2 tablespoons of filling on a fresh
corn tortilla and roll it up fairly tightly. Place the rolled enchiladas
into a lightly oiled casserole dish. Spread the sauce liberally over
the top, cover with aluminum foil, and bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes.
If the tortillas are not pliable enough to
roll easily, you can:
Heat them in a dry cast iron pan for a few
seconds on each side.
If you are using a thick sauce, such as the
ancho sauce in Ancho Chicken Enchiladas,
you might want to:
Warm the tortillas in a dry cast iron pan,
dip them in the sauce, then roll them up with the filling.
This can get quite messy, but will help keep
the enchiladas from drying out when you bake them. With more liquid
sauces, like Roasted Tomatillo Salsa,
this isn't so much of an issue. In fact, the pitfall of using a very
wet sauce (eg, fresh tomatoes) is that the tortillas may soften so much
that they fall apart when you try to serve them. If that happens,
just call the whole thing a casserole and serve squares of it rather than
trying to separate the enchiladas.
One last note: Nothing beats the
taste of a fresh tortilla off the griddle. Making tortillas is very
simple and quick if you use a small tortilla press, and enchiladas made
with fresh tortillas dipped in sauce are truly the "food of the nobles." |