I've been thinking about Cinco de Mayo for a couple weeks now, I LOVE Mexican food, but I have never really made any of it from scratch. I decided that needed to change this year. I looked up a few different recipes online and set off!
All of the tortilla recipes were essentially the same, but there were a lot of enchilada sauce varieties. I settled for one that did not include tomatoes. It was interesting to me that when you read the ingredients on a can of enchilada sauce, you do not see any wheat ingredients anywhere, but EVERY recipe I found included flour for thickening. This kind of made me wonder what might have been in all those cans I bought, but might not have been labeled.
The sauce was easy enough to make, I altered the recipe to fit our gluten free diet and my crazy tendency to do everything from scratch rather than cheating(why use garlic powder when I have 6 heads of garlic in the spice cupboard!?). But I'm not going to lie, the tortillas scared me at first.
The recipe said to use a tortilla flattening thing, but when do I ever follow directions all the way? I was sure I could handle it with my own two hands. I kneaded the dough and started shaping, and... stuck to my hand. I put flour on my hands and squished the dough flat, and... stuck to my hands. I added more flour to the dough, put flour on my hands, and flour on the plate, and... almost success;) My tortillas were thicker than your typical tortilla, but when all was said and done, the enchiladas tasted good, the tortillas tasted like tortillas, and everyone was happy. SO, my advice, make sure you don't add too much water to the dough, and use flour on your hands and the surface you are flattening them on. Actually, my advice is to use wax paper and a tortilla maker, but, if you don't have those things, follow my first advice;)
After writing all the recipes down, I realize this seems like a daunting task. The whole endeavor took me about an hour and was well worth the task. I could have split it up easily by making the sauce and tortillas ahead of time. Just try it!
Corn Tortillas:
2 cups Masa(not corn meal! I found it in the Mexican section of the grocery store)
1 1/2 cups warm water
Add water to flour, mix, and let sit for 5 minutes. Knead for a few minutes, add more masa if still sticky. Put Masa on the surface you will use to flatten them on AND your hands AND after each tortilla OR use a tortilla maker and 2 sheets of wax paper. Grab a small ball of dough and roll it into a ball. Smoosh it flat to create your tortilla, then put in a frying pan on med heat with a little bit of oil. Cook each side for 30 seconds-1 minute on each side.
Enchilada Sauce
2 T butter
2 T garbanzo bean flour
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 T chili powder
1 t cumin
1/2 t oregeno
Dash of salt
Red pepper flakes to taste depending on how hot you want it
2 cups chicken stock
Melt butter in pan on med low heat. Add flour and cook for a minute, then add garlic and the rest of the spices. Add broth slowly and whisk to get rid of lumps. Cook until it starts to thicken.
Enchilada Stacks
Tortillas
Enchilada Sauce
Cheese of choice, I use Colby Jack
1 Package chicken tenders
1/4 onion
Lettuce, Sour Cream, cilantro and whatever else you would like to garnish with
Cook onions in a pan with butter on med low heat for several minutes. Add chicken and cook through. As the chicken is cooking, cut it into pieces with your spatula.
Put a tortilla on the bottom of a glass casserole dish or other baking sheet. You may be able to make 2 stacks depending on the size of the pan. Add a spoonful of the chicken/onion mixture onto the tortilla. Add desired amount of cheese and 1/4 cup-ish of sauce. Repeat for several layers. Top with a tortilla and sauce.
Bake in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted. A BBQ works just as well:)
Serve with lettuce, cilantro, sour cream and whatever else you enjoy on an enchilada. Don't forget your margarita;)
