First of all, I got this recipe from my friend April. Her husband is Mexican and she learned how to make this from his grandmother so it is VERY authentic! Craig's fav is Mexican food and since he won't be seeing anything like it in Peru for the next few months I decided to learn how to make it for him. Some of the ingredients will need to be purchased from a Mexican market.
Enchiladas:
2 cups home made Red Enchilada Sauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil or fat
1/4 of an onion/ diced
1 small bag white corn tortillas (32 - 36)
2 lbs. Mexican made Asadero cheese/ grated
Heat oil over stove top on medium/high heat in a large frying pan. Slightly fry corn tortillas on each side. Place them on a plate and cover with a paper towel so they don't dry out. Fry all of the tortillas in the bag and place them on top of each other with a paper towel in between. Dip the tortillas into the Red Enchilada Sauce and fill with cheese and onion. Roll up and place in a 13x9 pan. Continue dipping and filling tortillas until your pan is full - make sure they are squeezed tightly together. Top with lots of cheese and the remainder of the Red Enchilada Sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and heat on high in microwave for 5min or until cheese is melted. They can be baked in the oven as well but they tend to dry out that way. Serve.
Red Enchilada Sauce
(makes 3 batches)
6 Pasilla Ancho Chile pods
6 New Mexico Chile pods
6 California Chile pods
6 Mulato Chile pods
4 Laurel leaves (bay leaves)
6 cloves of garlic
1T salt
2T vegetable oil or fat
Wearing a plastic glove, de-stem and de-seed all of the chile pods. Boil water and add all of the ingredients. Cover and boil until the chile pods are all soft. This will take 35-45 min. Take water from pot and fill blender half way. Add softened chiles, garlic, and laurel leaves. Blend until smooth. Add oil to large frying pan or pot and heat on medium- high. Pour enchilada sauce through a strainer into the oil. Simmer on stove to thicken. Add salt to taste. Distribute 2 cups each into freezer safe containers. They can freeze for months. When you are ready to use it take it out of the freezer and de - thaw it in a pot of cold water for a few hours.
Spanish Rice
1 tomato
1/4 onion/ minced
2 garlic cloves/ minced
2 cups uncooked rice
4 cups water
1T oil
3 tsp. tomato bouillon
Saute minced onion & garlic. Add rice and let it brown. Add tomatoes and water. Let it come to a boil. Add bouillon and stir. Cover rice and put on lower heat. Simmer 20 min or until water evaporates. Optional garnish of chopped cilantro.
Fresh Salsa (Brammer Recipe)
4 Roma ttomatoes/ diced
1/3 onion/ diced
2 garlic cloves/ minced
2 T vinegar
1 T lime juice
1 T lemon juice
1 tsp. sugar
salt to taste
chopped cilantro to taste
Chop all produce into tiny pieces, add other ingredients, mix, and enjoy.
What a fantastic family day! Craig has been looking forward to the Scottsdale Culinary Festival since hearing about it from another student a month or so ago. He is totally a lover of good food. When the weather channel said rain and low 60's we were pretty bummed out. We decided to dress warm and tough it out and I'm so glad we did because it was such a fun day. This is how it worked - You pay a $10 entrance fee then put money on a GAP card to use at all the booths. There were 70+ restaurant booths that sold small entrees, side dishes and desserts for $5 and under. We tried so many different places that were SO yummy. The kids got pizza from Grimaldis Coal Brick Oven Pizzeria. I had a bite and it was to die for. However, after trying an assortment of different foods our favorites went to Roka Akor Sushi & Steak's flat iron steak & fried zucchini. I also really liked the New Orleans Beignets from the Grand Lux Cafe. Later I realized that the interestingly yummy sauce was actually Jack Daniels Creme Anglais Sauce.... OOops. It definitely wasn't cooked out. I guess I won't be enjoying that anymore. Honorable mention went to the street tacos, crab filled Spanish's peppers, and gelato. The atmoshere was fun. They had live music and dancing. There were some families but was mostly populated with lots of trendy mid-twenty to mid-thirty single crowd tyring to pick up on each other. I laughed at the girls who still chose to sport their mini skirts and tiny tops even with the unusual inclement weather. There were several roped off drinking areas but when we weren't eating you could find us at The Family Zone. There they had characters doing face painting, bounce houses, games, kid snacks, and balloons. Jace & Brooke especially loved the bounce house. Jace reminded me that we need to set up our bounce house at home .. the one that Nani & Grandpa got them for Christmas a few years ago. I haven't set it up since moving. I guess I need to find it in the garage. We stayed for about 5 hours then headed home right before another big storm started but not before grabbing some delicious Italian Gelato for the road. So GOOD! Actually we were quite lucky with the weather and came at the perfect time ... we didn't get rained on once. On the way home we saw a beautiful rainbow. What a perfect day!
