Copyright © 2009 Diana Gabaldon
My father was always one to recognize both merit and shortcomings. Consequently, while he was often generous with praise, all his compliments came with a “BUT…” attached. “This is wonderful, BUT…”
In fact, I remember only three unqualified compliments from him. Twenty years ago, he told me that my swimming stroke was perfect. Fifteen years ago, he told me that my children were beautiful. And on Christmas day ten years ago, he told me that my enchiladas were as good as his.
That Christmas Day was the last time I saw him. But he’ll always be with me, in the pull of water past my arms, in the faces of my children–and in the smell of garlic and chile, floating gently through the air of my kitchen.
*************
For them as don’t know, an enchilada is an item of traditional Mexican food, composed of a tortilla (mostly corn tortillas) rolled into a cylinder around some type of filling (traditionally cheese, but can be anything from chicken or beef to spinach, mushrooms, and seafood, particularly in nouveau Southwest or turista restaurants), covered with a spicy sauce, and baked. (Some restaurants don’t bother rolling their enchiladas, and just sprinkle cheese and fillings between flat tortillas, but we Do Not Approve.)
The traditional (cheese) form requires:
Garlic (one head)
olive oil (enough to cover the bottom of a large saucepan)
flour (a few tablespoons)
canola oil (or other light cooking oil) – enough to fill a small frying pan halfway
white or yellow onion – one
cheddar cheese – a pound will make 10-12 enchiladas
corn tortillas – these come in packages of 12, or three dozen. If you have more than two people coming to dinner, get three dozen. You can always make home-made tortilla chips out of the extras.
tomato sauce – three small cans
red chili (in any usable form; puree, frozen, powdered, or already mixed with the tomato sauce, which is my preferred variety; I use El Pato brand tomato sauce, which has the chili already in it)
I’m not giving quantities as such, because you can make enchiladas in any quanttity–but if you’re going to the trouble, you might as well make a lot of them. [g] (They freeze well, though the tortillas will degrade when frozen and give you enchilada casserole, rather than discrete enchiladas.)
As a rule of thumb, a pound of cheese and twelve tortillas will make about a dozen enchiladas; sauce for a dozen enchiladas takes about one to one-a-and-a-half cans of El Pato, and three-four Tablespoons of olive oil. I almost always use three cans of El Pato, and end up with 2 1/2 – 3 dozen enchiladas.
All right. For starters, mince four or five (or six) cloves of garlic finely. Cover the bottom of a heavy saucepan with olive oil (about 1/8″ deep) and saute the garlic in the oil (the bits of garlic should just about cover the bottom of the pan, thinly). Cook until the garlic turns BROWN, but be careful not to burn it.
Turn heat down to low (or pull the pan off the burner temporarily) and add flour a little at a time to make a roux (paste about the consistency of library paste). Add the El Pato (or plain tomato sauce) and stir into the roux. Add WATER, in an amount equal to the tomato sauce (I just fill up the El Pato cans with water and dump them in). Stir over low heat to mix, squishing out any lumps that may ocur. If you used plain tomato sauce, add chili to taste (or if you use El Pato and want it hotter, add extra chili)—roughly one large tablespoon of raw chile per can of tomato sauce.
Leave on very low heat, stirring occasionally, WHILE:
1) heating oil (I use canola oil, but you can use any vegetable oil, including soy, peanut, or olive) in a small, heavy frying pan. Heat over medium heat, and watch it as it gets hot; if it starts to smoke, it’s too hot–turn it down.
2) grating cheese
3) and chopping onion coarsely.
At this point, the sauce should have thickened slightly, and will cling to a spoon, dripping slowly off. Turn off the heat under the sauce, or reduce to low simmer. (If at any time, the sauce seems too thick, stir in a little more water.) Stir occasionally to prevent it sticking.
Now put out a clean dinner plate for assembling the enchiladas, and a baking dish to put the completed ones in.
With a pair of tongs, dip a fresh corn tortilla briefly (just long enough for the oil to sputter–2-3 seconds) into the hot oil. Let excess oil run off into the pan, then dip the now-flexible tortilla into the sauce, laying it back and forth with the tongs to coat both sides.
Lay the coated tortilla on the dinner plate (and put down the tongs [g]). Take a good handful of cheese and spread a thick line of it across the center of the tortilla (you’re aiming for a cylinder about two fingers thick). If you like onions in your enchiladas (I don’t, but Doug does, so I make half and half), sprinkle chopped onions lightly over the cheese. Roll the tortilla into a cylinder (fold one side over the cheese, then roll up the rest of the way, and put the enchilada in the baking dish. (They won’t have a lot of sauce on them at this point)).
When the baking dish is full, ladle additional sauce to cover the enchiladas thoroughly, and sprinkle additional cheese on top for decoration (I also sprinkle a few onions at one end of the baking dish, so I know which end is onion). Bake at 325 (F.) degrees for between 10-15 minutes–until cheese is thoroughly melted–you can see clear liquid from the melted cheese bubbling at the edge of the dish, and the enchiladas will look as though they’ve “fallen in” slightly, rather than being firmly rounded. Serve (with a spatula).
The method is the same for other kinds of enchiladas; you’d just make the filling (meat, seafood, etc.) as a separate step ahead of time, and use as you do cheese (for chicken enchiladas, brown diced chicken slowly in a little oil with minced garlic, onion, red and green bell pepper, and cilantro (coriander leaf)–bell pepper optional, and in very small quantity; for beef, you can use either ground beef or machaca).
It usually takes me a little more than an hour to do three dozen enchiladas, start to finish. Once the sauce is made, cheese grated, etc., though, the assembly is pretty fast.
Hope y’all enjoy them!
–Diana
These look delicious and I will definitely be trying them soon! I’m looking forward to the rest of your recipes from the best of ’08. Like Merrymags, the part about your dad got me misty-eyed. He must be so proud of you, I’m sure you would get some more unconditional compliments on your success!
Diana:
Thanks for letting me know about Uncle Lam’s demise–can’t believe I missed it, since I’ve not only read Outlander several times but have it on CD so I can listen to it (and other of your works) on my drive to and from work–very relaxing!
Can’t wait for Echo–counting the days (okay, months)!
I love Mexican food and can’t wait to try your recipe. Thanks for sharing it with us. It reminds me a little of the process for making manicotti which is time-consuming but easy. So I’ll definitely try it
Dear Diana
what do you think about “The tenth gift” of Jane Johnson?
Dear Mariella–
I really enjoyed the book, but thought it was a dumb title. The original title (under which I read it) was “CROSSED BONES,” which was better, though still not quite right.
Thanks for the recipe for the sauce. I used to be able to get decent sauce in California but, alas, I now live in rural Alabama and there is no good sauce in Alabama.
Also, when I make chicken enchiladas, I put bone-in chicken in a crock pot with a jar of salsa and cook until it shreds easily. Add to enchiladas when assembling. Very yummy!
I made these last night at my mom’s house. They were a big hit. Thanks so much! I can’t wait to try the other 7 things on your list
A funny aside I told my husband I was making Enchiladas – he said “You can’t make enchiladas, you’re not Mexican.”
I told him I beg to differ, if I have a recipe I can make ANYTHING!
Everyone loved them, so apparently I CAN make enchiladas! Thanks again!
Sounds absolutely delectable. I’ll have to try this on my boyfriend!
I’ve only just discovered your blog, though I’ve been a fan of your Outlander Series for YEARS, and my mother before me (She owns three copies of each book from the series, ha!). It never occurred to me to search you on the internet before (why? I don’t know), but I’m glad I did! Now that I’ve had time to peruse your website and this blog, I thought I would put my two-cents in re. Claire’s portrait (though I know I’m belated here!).
I LOVE IT. She looks exactly – and I mean exactly – how I pictured her in my mind’s eye. I opened the link, saw the picture, and *GASP* said to myself “That’s her!” The portrait is very true to her descriptions from the books, and she’s a perfect mix of beauty and strength. Don’t change a thing!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your work. Your books are such a pleasurable escape from reality, I just can’t put them down! I’m re-reading the whole series for the third time, yet I love it more each time.
Nathalie – where did you see a portrait of Clair? I’d love to see that.
April,
So far as I know, the portrait is only posted on Diana’s website – http://www.dianagabaldon.com. Click the “excerpt” tab, then click the “graphic novel” link, then scroll down to “untitled first excerpt sketch of Claire.”
I think it’s breathtaking!
Diana,
I made these for dinner last night. While the end result was wonderful, I had a hitch with the process. My tortillas kept falling to pieces by the time I got them out of the sauce, until I started skipping the oil dipping step. Then they became perfectly flexible without falling apart. Whether or not it changed that taste, at that point I didn’t care. I was fast running out of tortillas!
I added chicken to mine. And I used El Pato sauce with chile in it. Man oh man, that was HOT. Next time I’d use half that sauce and half a plain tomato sauce. I’m a medium-hot girl. *s*
Thanks for the recipe. Despite the hitch, we loved it.
Hi Diana,
I just came across your blog and have to say hello and how much I love your books. When my son brought his girlfriend home for the first time I gave her Outlander. She stuck her nose in it and it didn’t come out until she finished the sixth book. I told him, “She likes green olives and Diana Gabaldon. She’s the girl for me.”
We can’t wait for Echo. And please post a picture of your new puppy.
Wendy
Absolutely delicious enchilada recipe. I used the el pato tomatoe sauce that made the perfect amount of heat for me. Thanks for the awesome recipe and detailed instructions. I have never been successful in making enchiladas until now!
Made these last night and I have to say they were amazing but man the kitchen looked like a warzone (red sauce everywhere). We compromised on the frying part and tried brushing them with a bit of oil instead of dipping them in the oil and we added a bit more chilli (we like our food spicy!) other wise we copied the recipe word for word. Yum!
Diana,
I made your enchiladas tonight for dinner tonight and they were The best I have ever had! It was a big hit with my whole family (even my pickiest eater)
Thanks for the recipe.
Is it ok if I link to you recipe on my blog?
http://sprucehill.typepad.com/
My day to day life while kicking cancer’s butt
Dear Spruce–
Oh, of course you can link to it! (Same for anybody else who wants to do that.)
I had a quick look at your blog just now, btw–what beautiful photos of your ice storm!
Dear Nadine–
Well, yes, it’s a pretty messy undertaking [g], but worth it.
Thank you! I am going to link to it today. I am having the leftovers today for lunch. Again the BEST I have ever had!
The enchilada recipe was fabulous. My husband loved them. I have made enchiladas in the past and followed the same basic instructions except for the great sauce recipe and I think that is what makes them so good! I also used “super-sized” corn tortillas about 8 inches in diameter which made them easier to roll. Dunking them in the hot oil is the only way to go! Thanks for your great writing and recipes!
Thank you so much for the recipe. I made them tonight for dinner and they were a huge hit. Very delicious. I too had the problem of the tortillas falling apart after the hot oil step but I literally dipped them only 2 seconds and that helped.
I also tried your curry recipe in OUTLANDISH COMPANION – another a fabulous dish! The best part was eating leftover curry (and you are right, it gets better “aged”) the next day for lunch while re-reading OUTLANDER.