Enchiladas Rojas

We like enchiladas at our house and eat them quite often -- whether at home or at our favorite Mexican restaurant, La Esperanza in Lindenwold, NJ. If you like real Mexican food, you've got to try this place. Check out their website here. When they first opened, the dining area was about 1/3 of the current size and reminded me of a place you'd find in Tiajuana. A couple of years back they remodeled and expanded which greatly alleviates the wait for seating on Friday and Saturday evenings. It's still the same great food, though the new space doesn't have quite the same intimate feel.

At home, I admit that I often cheat when it comes to making this versatile dish. When I'm in a rush, I'll used canned sauce. And, I've found that shredding a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket makes a great filling. Perhaps my biggest shortcut, though, and it's a step many fine cooks insist on, is to skip frying the tortillas before filling. I just can't bring myself to dirty yet another pan. I suppose if I was preparing a meal for discerning guests (and, more importantly, if I had a babysitter on hand to keep the kids out of my hair) I might fry the tortillas.

One step I don't skip -- and it's a somewhat messy process -- is to coat the tortillas with enchilada sauce before filling. It really seems to make a difference in the finished product.

As noted earlier, I sometimes use canned enchilada sauce. It's ok, but certainly not as good as homemade. I would love the opportunity to experiment more with making my own enchilada sauce, but for now I've found a recipe by Emeril that is easy and tastes pretty good. His recipe is on the Food Network website. To add some more depth, I added a little bit of bittersweet chocolate and cinnamon. And to balance the bitterness of the canned tomato paste, I used a trick from my tomato sauce recipe (see post) and added about a teaspoon of sugar. Next time around I might try adding a chili pepper from my garden, too.

Last night I used shredded chicken and black beans, mixed with about 1/2 cup of Emeril's enchilada sauce, plus some shredded mexican-style cheese for the filling. Also tasty is browned ground beef with or without beans. Both versions are also good with some sauteed onions and peppers added to the mix. Top the rolled enchiladas with remaining sauce and more cheese. Bake covered with foil for 20 minutes at 375 deg., remove foil and bake another 5 minutes. Serve with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, radishes, or whatever condiments you like.

Noodle Night

At our pool club, Tuesday is Noodle Night. We find that it's a fun excuse to spend the evening at the pool. Earlier this season, Colleen announced that Noodle Night at the pool is a good reason to have noodle night at the dinner table. So, tonight we enjoyed spaghetti with sausage and peppers in homemade tomato sauce.

The sauce recipe (if you can call it that, as I have a habit of improvising based on what's in the pantry) is built upon the one used by my sister-in-law. Erin is a very good cook (and baker) in her own right, but this particular recipe is one she learned from watching her mother-in-law. I don't know where Janet came up with it, but I like to think she learned from watching yet another family member in the kitchen. It's comforting to know that we are connected through the generations by a simple bowl of spaghetti and sauce.

Basic Tomato Sauce
1 or 2 Tbs. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large cans crushed tomatoes
1 large can diced tomatoes
1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped*
1/4 cup red wine (use a wine you would enjoy drinking with your dinner)
5 baby carrots
1 Tbs. sugar
A few sprigs fresh thyme, or 1 tsp. dried thyme
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Saute onions for a few minutes until softened and starting to brown. Add garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Add remaining ingredients. Let come to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for several hours. Remove thyme sprigs and carrots before using with your favorite recipe.