Beef Enchiladas

My chicken/white sauce enchiladas are admittedly unauthentic. These, however, are pretty spot on if you want *real* Mexican food. I found them thanks to Leigh Anne over at Your Homebased Mom, but the recipe originated from Ree at The Pioneer Woman. They are a little bit of work but it's worth it! They are great enchiladas & a wonderful addition to your list of things to do with ground beef.

Here's the line up:


Ground beef, white onion, red enchilada sauce, chicken broth, cilantro, corn tortillas, shredded cheese, green onions, sliced olives, diced green chilies, salt & pepper.

First thing you're gonna do is doctor up your sauce a little bit. Start out with a tablespoon of canola oil & a table spoon on flour in a pan over medium heat. Whisk them together in the pan for about a minute then add the red enchilada sauce, chicken broth, some cilantro, salt & pepper into the pan. Bring it to a boil then reduce the heat & let it simmering together for 30-45 minutes.


After that' s had a chance to simmer for a while you'll want to get your meat going. Dice up an onion & then toss it into a pan with your beef. Brown the meat, drain off the fat & then dump in your 2 small cans of diced green chilies & season salt.


So now your meat & sauce should be done & ready to go - but your tortillas are not! So heat up some oil in a skillet over medium heat & drop in each tortilla, one at a time. We're not frying them - we're just softening them, so only about 10 seconds per side.


OK - Finally!!! Everything is all set for assembly! Whew! You can finally preheat your oven now - to 350.

First take about 1/2 cup of the red sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 dish - it's there to serve as the 'greasing' for our dish. Next, take a tortilla, dip it into the red sauce then set it on your work surface - which, for me, was a paper Halloween plate! LOL


Put in a scoop of the meat, shredded cheese, some diced green onion & sliced olives.


Now carefully, and with a full disclosure that your hands will get messy, roll it up & place it seam side down the prepped 9x13 dish. Keep going until your whole pan if full. Then pour the rest of the red sauce down over the enchiladas.


Top with the rest of the cheese.


Stick the whole pan into a 350 oven for 20 minutes.


When they're fresh out of the oven like this top with some chopped cilantro & serve it up!!


Yum! Seriously. YUM!!

Beef Enchiladas:

---Ingredients---

Sauce:
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp flour
1 28-oz can red enchilada sauce
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro

Meat:
1 pound ground beef
1 medium sized onion, finely diced
2 4-oz cans diced green chilies
1/2 tsp seasoned salt

Tortillas:
10 corn tortillas
1/2 cup canola oil

For assembly:
3 cups grated cheddar cheese (I used cheddar/jack)
1 4-oz can sliced black olives
1 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

---Preparation---

Sauce:
In a large saucepan over medium heat, add oil and flour and whisk together to make a paste, cooking for one minute. Pour in the red sauce, chicken broth, cilantro, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30-45 minutes.

Meat:
Brown the meat with onions in a skillet. Drain off fat. Stir in 2 cans diced green chilies and seasoned salt. Set aside.

Tortillas:
Heat canola oil in a small skillet over medium heat. One by one, using tongs, fry tortillas in oil until soft, not crisp – about 10 seconds per side. Remove to a paper—towel lined plate. Repeat until all tortillas have been softened.

Assembly:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour 1/2 cup red sauce in bottom of 9x13 pan. Spread to even out. Dip each tortilla into red sauce, then remove to work surface. Spoon meat, a little grated cheese, a little black olives, and green onions in the center of tortilla. Roll up and place, seam down, in baking pan. Repeat until pan is filled. Pour extra red sauce over enchiladas. Top with remaining cheddar cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle cilantro over enchiladas before serving.