OK, this is a multi-post Monday. Although this post has chiles, it’s kinda in line with Saturday Breakfast: Fried Eggs atop Sautéed Mushrooms and Onions on Sourdough Toast Finished with Bourbon Sauce because it concerns itself with leftovers. This recipe is for those of you who try the Red Chile Braised Pork Tacos. It’s a killer recipe that everyone will like but the amount of chile paste remaining is roughly 1 to 1-1/2 cups. That is a lot of leftover chile paste. It took some work to make and it’s simply too good to throw away. So, what do you do with this wonderful chile paste? You make enchiladas, that’s what.

When I was finished preparing the red chile braised pork tacos and had put the roast in the oven to braise I was very surprised with the amount of chile paste remaining. That happens to me every now and then, especially when I am fixing something new. Realizing the amount of chile paste remaining, I knew I had no other choice but to make a red chile salsa. So I did. When I finished I had a very full bodied, deep flavored red chile salsa with incredible depth of flavor and character. given its bold flavors, I knew pairing it with chicken would mask the flavor of the chicken. Pork was a possibility but we still had leftovers from the tacos. Beef would work but we don’t really eat beef. I thought about duck and still believe this would be very nice with duck but Baby Lady wasn’t in the mood for duck enchiladas. I guess it’s not really Mexican food if you use duck. 😕 As I was pondering the various fillings to use, it dawned on me – cheese and onions. First, Baby Lady loves cheese. Second, the red chile salsa would be a perfect compliment to the cheese. Third, the onions would provide a little texture with a crunchy bite. We hope you give this a try.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Red Chile Paste (recipe found here)
• 2-1/2 to 3 cups of chicken broth (preferably homemade)
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
• 1/3 of an onion (preferably white Spanish) rough chop
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 24 corn tortillas (preferably white corn)
• 1/4 cup olive oil (or lard)
• 1/2 lb Monterrey jack cheese, grated and mixed with the cheddar
• 1/2 lb sharp cheddar cheese, grated and mixed with the Monterrey jack
• 2/3 cup red onion, diced

Instruction

Add the chile paste, chicken broth, garlic, white onion, oregano, coriander and salt to the blender and blend until you get a smooth sauce. This will give you roughly 2 quarts of red chile salsa. Pour into a 4 qt dutch oven and heat over medium heat until it begins to boil.

Remove from heat and set aside. In the meantime, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil/lard in a skillet. Lightly fry the tortillas. You do not want them fried to the point of being crisp.

Stack the tortillas and continue frying adding oil as you go.

When the tortillas are fried, dredge the tortillas in the red chile salsa.

Lay flat in the baking dish. Add onions.

Next add the cheese

Now roll up into a cylinder.

Repeat and continue the process placing the rolled tortillas next to each other in the baking dish until you are finished. Notice Baby Lady likes to use smaller baking dishes. Regardless, it will take 2 baking dishes to make the full recipe so you might as well use smaller ones.

Once you have filled the baking dish with rolled enchiladas, spoon the remaining red chile salsa over the top of the enchiladas.

Sprinkle the remaining diced red onion over the top

Top with the remaining cheese

Place in a 350 F oven and cook for 30 minutes for cheese to melt and enchiladas to cook through.

Remove from oven

Serve with a shredded lettuce and diced tomato salad. Enjoy!

NOTES: As an option for serving, you can drizzle some sour cream over the top. The sour cream will add a nice sour but creamy bite to the enchiladas.

Also, when done, the salsa will have a slight edge to it from the lime juice. You really won’t notice the edge when the enchiladas are finished but if you want to take the edge off, add a piece of bread to the blender along with the other ingredients and blend it for 1 minute. When you heat the salsa the bread will cook out and cause the salsa to thicken so you may need additional water.