I used to make enchiladas in my dorm room.


Between that, the plant nursery my roommate and I nursed (our planquitas), the espresso maker I busted out on special occasions (yeah, we lived it up!) and the pot(s) of fresh coffee I made every morning, I was pretty much the Martha Stewart of my floor. Yeah, I’ll say it.


It was a total hack…canned pinto beans, bags of shredded cheese, canned enchilada sauce. Assembled and microwaved in the crappy microwave/refrigerator combo in our Jester dorm room. If I was feeling like a super hostess, I might even make some ‘homemade’ queso–also known as velveeta and a can of rotel (have I mentioned how I miss having the insane college metabolism?).

Of course, none of this mattered to the college students I was feeding. Perhaps it was the break from dorm food. Or, maybe it was just the novelty of cooking and eating dinner together. Whatever it was, we all loved it and it was a huge hit.



So, it made sense that my first real meal attempt once I had a real kitchen was enchiladas. Wisely, I decided to try something a bit more complex than the canned assembly version of my dorm days. Unlike many other recipes I tried that year, this recipe was a huge success. My friends from the dorm liked these even better. Of course, by this point they no longer had dorm food to sustain them, so that’s not really a selling point here. Hmm…


Back then, it took me hours to prepare. Well, at least two. Now that I’ve been making it for close to 10 years, I can knock it out in about 30 minutes. Practice, practice, practice.

I’m not sure where I got this recipe. I want to say it’s from some restaurant in California, but I can’t for the life of me find it now.

Red Chile Enchiladas

Sauce:
2 T vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T flour
4 T ground New Mexico chile
2 cups water
2 cups tomato juice
1 t Mexican oregano
1 t salt
Preparation:
Heat the oil in a large, heavy saucepan. Add the onion and the garlic. Saute until soft. Mix in the flour until all lumps are gone. Add the chile. Mix well. Add the water and stir. Add tomato juice, oregano and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook until ready to use. I usually use as is, but you can also mix with an immersion blender for a smooth sauce.


Enchiladas:
8-10 large corn tortillas
Enchilada Sauce
1 pound shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
1 pound shredded Cheddar cheese
1 bunch finely chopped green onions
1 can diced green chiles
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
vegetable oil
Preparation:
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Brush the bottom of a small casserole dish with oil. Cover bottom of pan with thin layer of enchilada sauce.
Microwave tortillas in a wet paper towel for 1 minute to make them pliable. Mix cheeses, cilantro, chiles and green onions in a large bowl. Assemble enchiladas by rolling a large spoonful of cheese mixture in each tortilla. Top with enchilada sauce and any remaining cheese (you may have extra sauce…save this for use in tacos, on eggs, or for another batch of enchiladas). Bake for 15 minutes, until cheese bubbles. Top with sour cream, guacamole and black olives (optional).