To Roll or Not to Roll

To roll or not to roll that is the question! The Mexican enchilada dish is a people's favorite. If you have never eaten Mexican food in your life, enchiladas are dish that will set you on your way to becoming a true Mexican food believer. When I was a child I was served enchiladas that were rolled, filled with cheese and covered with sauce and more cheese. The dish was crispy on top and it was a beautiful thing.

When I got older, my first date actually, I was taken to an "authentic" Mexican food restaurant in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. The enchiladas there were flat with a scant amount of cheese between two corn tortillas. It was a bit of a disappointment really.

Then I got even older and started dating my husband, a man of Mexican descent whose family had immigrated here to the United States. After years of preparation by his aunt in order to be good enough to marry her nephew, I mastered the rolled enchilada myself - although I was still not good enough for her nephew (like he was a saint!), but she gave me high marks for cooking.

In the last ten years or so, I have been exposed to what I call the lazy enchilada - the enchilada casserole. The taste is good, but still nothing can compare to the rolled enchilada in my book.

Rolled Beef and Cheese Enchiladas

The filling

1 lb. ground beef
2 T. Extra hot New Mexico red chile powder
1/2 average size onion, chopped
1/2 t. Garlic Salt
1/4 t. Pepper
1/4 t. Salt
1/2 t. Oregano
1 t. cumin
1 6-8 oz can tomato sauce

In a frying pan brown ground beef with chile powder, onion, garlic salt, salt, pepper, cumin and oregano. Drain off fat. Add tomato sauce and simmer for 5-10 minutes until heated through and not soupy.

Red Chile Sauce

1 T. Vegetable oil
1/2 average size onion, chopped
1 t. minced garlic
1/4 c. Extra hot New Mexico red chile powder
¼ t. dried oregano
1-28 oz Tomato Sauce
1/2 c. water
In a sauce pan, heat vegetable oil. Sauté onion and garlic until onions are translucent. Add rest of sauce ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes.

The Assembly

Vegetable Oil
1 dozen corn tortillas
1 lb. Grated Cheddar Cheese