Mexican Enmoladas Recipes

MOLE ENCHILADAS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Warm corn tortillas on a hot skillet for a few seconds on each side, or fry them lightly in oil, then place on a paper towel lined plate to soak up excess grease.
• Pour 1/4 cup of mole sauce into the bottom of a 9x13'' pan. Fill each corn tortilla with a handful of chicken and small sprinkle of cheese, then roll tightly, and place seam side down in the pan.
• Pour remaining mole sauce over the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
• Remove from oven and top with a drizzle of sour cream, a sprinkle of cotija cheese, cilantro and chopped avocado.

MEXICAN ENMOLADAS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to "warm." Set your dinner plates in the oven. Start by heating up the mole in a pot over low heat. You want to thin it to the consistency of melted ice cream. If it's too thick, add some broth. Keep it warm for now.
• Shred the meat (I used wild turkey thighs) and set them in an ovenproof bowl. Sprinkle some salt over them and mix in the chopped cilantro, if using. Ladle some mole over the meat and mix well. Set this in the warm oven.
• You need to make your tortillas pliable. There are two ways to do this. You can simply set them on a ragingly hot comal or heavy pan -- 600°F is not too hot -- for a few seconds per side to get them soft, or you can heat the vegetable oil or lard over medium heat and pass the tortillas through the hot oil for just a few seconds. Don't leave them too long or you'll make tostadas. I prefer the oil-free method. Either way, you need to keep your tortillas hot, so put them in foil if you fried them, or in a tortilla warmer or wrapped in towels if you just heated them up.
• OPTIONAL: You can get more mole flavor by dipping the warm tortillas into thinned mole before rolling them. I do this for normal enchiladas, but not for enmoladas. That said, many people do dip their tortillas. To do so, ladle out some more mole from the pot and thin it with broth until it's just a touch thicker than the broth. Dip your tortillas in that quickly, shake off the excess, then fill them.
• Turn the heat up on your mole pot until it's bubbling gently. Get your plates ready and pull the meat from the oven, too. Working quickly, fill three tortillas with the meat mixture and set them, seam side down, on the warm plates. Top with the mole sauce and crumbled cheese and serve. Repeat with the remaining plates and tortillas.

THE BEST PORK ENCHILADAS

Steps:

• Rinse the red onion in cold water, breaking up the rings and removing any white membrane between the layers. Drain well. Toss the red onions, vinegar, 1 1/2 cups water, 2 teaspoons salt and the sugar in a medium bowl until the sugar and salt dissolve. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature until ready to serve.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook the pork, turning once, until golden brown on two sides, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
• Add the yellow onions to the same pot, season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste, cumin and oregano and cook, stirring occasionally, until the paste is brick red and the mixture is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the ancho and pasilla chiles, bay leaves, raisins, broth and 1 tablespoon salt. Return the pork and any accumulated juices to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce to low, cover and simmer until the pork is falling apart and easily shreds, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Remove the bay leaves and discard. Transfer the pork to a medium bowl. Reserve the cooking liquid.
• Let the hot cooking liquid cool for 5 minutes or so, then transfer it to a blender, filling no more than halfway. Remove the center cap from the lid and place it on the blender. Cover the lid with a folded kitchen towel to catch splatters, and pulse until smooth. Pour the sauce into a medium bowl and repeat with any remaining cooking liquid. Season with salt.
• Pour 1/2 cup of the chile sauce over the pork. Use a potato masher to smash the pork into the sauce; it should fall apart completely. Remove any remaining large pieces of fat and discard. Stir to combine and season with salt if necessary.
• Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.
• Heat the remaining 1 cup oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until it bubbles immediately when the edge of a tortilla touches the surface. Working one at a time, fry the tortillas until just starting to brown and crisp, about 10 seconds per side (they should still be somewhat pliable). Drain on paper towels.
• Dip both sides of each tortilla in the chile sauce just to coat and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Spread 1/2 cup of the chile sauce in a 6-inch strip down the center of a 13-by-9-inch baking dish.
• Spoon 1/4 cup shredded pork across the center of a tortilla. Fold one side over the filling, then roll up the tortilla. Place seam-side down in the prepared baking dish. Repeat with more sauce and remaining tortillas (the enchiladas should be nestled right up against each other in the pan). Top with any remaining sauce in your bowl or leftover on the baking sheet. Cover tightly with foil and bake until the sauce bubbles, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the foil, top with the cheese and bake until the cheese is melted but not brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes.
• Top the enchiladas with the pickled red onions. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing over.

'EASIEST EVER' CHICKEN MOLE ENCHILADAS

Steps:

• For the chicken: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. On a baking sheet, sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and drizzle with the olive oil. Bake until cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool, then shred into small bite-sized pieces.
• For the mole: Reconstitute the dried chiles by soaking them in 1 1/2 cups hot water for 15 minutes. Then drain and set aside. Toast the corn tortillas in a dry skillet until dry, crisp and golden. Tear into pieces and set aside. In the same skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, season with a little salt and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Transfer the onion and garlic mixture to a blender with the chiles, tortillas, peanut butter and oregano. Pour the chicken stock over and blend until very smooth. Then transfer the sauce to a medium saute pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Stir in the chocolate. Season the mole with salt and pepper. Reserve 1 cup of mole for garnishing the enchiladas, the rest will be used for dipping the tortillas.
• To assemble the enchiladas: Fill a medium saute pan half way with oil over high heat. When the oil is hot, dip 1 tortilla at a time and fry just until soft and heated through, a few seconds. Lift out, let the excess oil drip off and then dip the fried tortilla directly into the warm mole (which should be right next to the pan for easy dipping) and transfer to a plate. Working quickly, put 1/3 cup of the shredded chicken in the center, being careful not to over fill. Roll the tortilla like a cigar to enclose the filling and place in a serving dish seam- side down. Continue to fill all of the tortillas and place them side-by- side. Pour the reserved mole over the top. (This recipe can be tightly wrapped and frozen for 3 weeks at this stage. To reheat: Preheat oven to 350degrees F, unwrap and bake until sauce is bubbly and enchiladas are heated through, about 20 to 25 minutes.) To serve, drizzle with a little sour cream and sprinkle with queso.

ENMOLADAS (LAMB ENCHILADAS WITH MOLE SAUCE)

Steps:

• For the braised lamb: Combine the lamb, tomato juice, Dijon, salt, garlic, lime juice, vinegar, cumin, pepper, coriander, avocado leaves, oregano, thyme, shallots, jalapeno and enough water to cover in a large pot. Simmer on low heat, uncovered, for 3 hours.
• Remove meat and let cool, reserving liquid. Shred meat, removing as much fat and cartilage as possible.
• For the pickled shallots: Cover shallots in a bowl with water.
• Combine vinegars, cumin, garlic, oregano, salt, beet and chile in a saucepot and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and strain the liquid into the bowl with the shallots. Add the beet. Refrigerate until cooled, 4 to 6 hours. Strain the liquid and discard the beet.
• For the Oaxacan red chile-chocolate mole: Char tomatoes on a grill or over an open flame until blackened and splitting.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Heat oil in a large pot, then add corn, garlic, celery, carrot, poblano, onion and jalapeno and saute until soft.
• Spread pumpkin seeds, pecans, sesame seeds and corn and flour tortillas on a baking sheet and bake until browned, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Blend tomatoes, blend with toasted nuts and seeds. Add to the pot, then add the tomato juice, tomatillos, ancho chile powder, raisins, chipotle chile powder, guajillo chile powder, cumin, salt, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, chocolate discs, bananas, bay leaves and 1 1/2 gallons water. Simmer on low heat, stirring frequently, for 2 hours.
• Puree in a blender until smooth.
• For the tinga spice: Mix paprika, salt, granulated sugar, cumin, pepper, brown sugar, chile powders, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano and cayenne together in a bowl. Transfer to an airtight container.
• For the enmoladas: Place crushed peanuts in a large skillet and heat and toss until they begin to release their oils; add some tinga spice and toss to coat. Turn off heat and set aside.
• Put several inches of oil into a Dutch oven and heat up until hot. Dip enchilada shells into the oil with tongs until pliable, 5 to 8 seconds. Place on a large rimmed plate. Place 2 ounces warmed shredded lamb (including any jus) on each shell. Using your fingers, roll each shell. Ladle Oaxacan mole sauce over entire plate-enmoladas are about the sauce!
• Garnish the enchiladas with Cotija, spiced crushed peanuts and 2 ounces pickled shallots. (Save remaining meat, shallots, mole and tinga for another use.)