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Sunday, February 6, 2011

Beef Enchiladas... it's what's for dinner.

I do a lot of cooking for my family when it comes to weekend meals and actually most every night of the week. This is a recipe that I've fixed twice.. today being the second time and it was just as good this time as it was the first time.. yummy!


Beef Enchiladas I fixed for dinner... they were DELICIOUS!!! This is a recipe I got out of my America's Test Kitchen Best-Ever Recipes book. You need at least 2-2 1/2 hrs to make this.. the meat takes 1 1/2 hrs to cook (I actually let it cook about 15 minutes longer then what they called for)

3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sugar
salt
1 1/4 pounds top blad steaks, trimmed. (I bought a package in the commissary that had 3 steaks in it, and I got 11 enchiladas out of it, I could've gotten 12, had I put a little less in the first six that I rolled)
1 tablespoon oil
2 onions, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce (Hunts is preferred)
1/2 cup water
8 ounces Monterey Jack (this is what I used) or mild cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapenos (I found these near the Old El Paso brand stuff)
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas

1. combine the chili powder, coriander, cumin, sugar, 1 tsp salt and garlic in a small bowl. Trim the meat.. there is a gristly part that runs down the middle of the steaks, trim that out and cut the pieces in half that you get from each side. Pat the meat dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven (I use my Tramontina 6.5 qt Dutch Oven~ Love It!) until it shimmers. Cook the meat until browned on each side, about 6 minutes. Transfer the meat to a plate. Add onions to the pot and cook over medium heat until golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic/spice mixture adn cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato sauce and water and bring to a boil. Return the meat and the juices to the pot, cover and reduce the heat to low, and gently simmer until the meat is tender and can be broken apart with a wooden spoon, about 1 1/2 hrs. Mine didn't get real tender at this time frame, so I cooked it a bit longer.

2. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Strain the beef mixture over a medium bowl. I have a medium size mesh strainer that I poured the mixture into, picked out the meat pieces with tongs and pushed as much liquid through the strainer as I could, then after I chopped up the meat with a knife, I returned it to the bowl and scopped out anything that was left in the mesh strainer and mixed with meat. I turned over the strainer and scrapped off any of the juice that was lingering on the backside.. it smells so good too! In the bowl with the meat mix with 1 cup of the cheese, cilantro and jalapenos.

3. Spread 3/4 cup of the sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish (I used my Pampered Chef stoneware lasagna dish). Microwave 6 tortillas on a plate on high power until soft, about 1 minute (at about 35-40 seconds, they are warmed and pliable). Spread 1/3 cup of the beef mixture (you can use a little less if you want, which is what I wish I had because it seemed like a bit much) down the center of each tortilla, roll the tortilla tightly, and set in the baking dish, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and beef mixture (you may have to fit 2 or more enchiladas down the sides of the baking dish). Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas, and spread to coat evenly. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup cheese evenly over the enchiladas, wrap the baking dish with foil, and bake until heated through, 20 to 25 minutes (I did it for 23). Remove the foil and continue baking until the cheese is bubbly and has brown slightly, 5 to 10 minutes (I did it for 5 minutes, I don't like browned cheese).. then serve it up!!!

right now the Super Bowl is on and the Green Bay Packers are winning ~ yeah!! I took this picture of my plate before I dug in.. it's all gone now.



thanks for looking ~

have a great airborne day!
God Bless All Our Military.. each and every one of them

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