New Mexico Style Red Chile Enchiladas Recipes

NEW MEXICO-STYLE RED CHILE ENCHILADAS

Steps:

• Oil a 9-inch square baking dish.
• Dip tortillas in the red chile sauce, to make pliable, and place 4 on the bottom of the dish.
• Sprinkle with 1/4 cup onions.
• Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese.
• Repeat layers 2 more times, ending with cheese.
• Bake at 350ºF.
• for 30 minutes, or until hot and the cheese is golden.

ENCHILADAS ROJAS, RED CHILE ENCHILADAS

Steps:

• Prep the chile sauce. Start by taking the stems off and opening the chiles to shake out the seeds. Flatten them as best you can. Heat a cast iron skillet or better yet, a Mexican comal over high heat. When it is blazing hot, toast the chiles. Press them down with a spatula for just a couple seconds: When they blister, flip them and do the other side. Remove to a bowl.
• When all the chiles have been toasted, char the quartered onion and the garlic cloves on the comal or skillet. You want some blackening. The garlic cloves will blacken first, so watch them.
• Now that you have everything smoky and charred, tear the chiles in pieces. Chop the onion. Peel the garlic. Heat the lard or vegetable oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add the chiles, onions and garlic and saute for a minute or two. Pour in the stock, add the cumin and oregano and bring to a simmer. Add salt to taste and simmer gently until the chiles are soft, about 20 minutes.
• Puree the sauce in a blender. This sauce can be made up to a week in advance and stored in the fridge.
• Make the filling. Cut the meat into pieces about the size of your fingernail. Salt well. Mix with about 1/4 cup of the red chile sauce, the chopped sage as well as about 5 ounces of cheese and the minced white onion.
• Prep the tortillas. Heat the tortillas on a comal or other heavy skillet until they blacken a little. Then put them in a tortilla warmer, or stack on a plate and put a bowl over them. Let them steam a few minutes before building the enchiladas.
• Build the enchiladas. Pour a little red chile sauce into a casserole dish. Dip a tortilla in the red chile sauce briefly and shake off the excess. Fill a tortilla with a little of the filling and roll it up. Place seam-side down on the casserole. Repeat until you're done. You should get about 15 tortillas.
• Pour more red chile sauce over the enchiladas and top with lots of the shredded cheese. Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes and serve.

TRADITIONAL NEW MEXICO RED CHILE CHEESE "STACKED" ENCHILADAS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Each serving will contain 3 corn tortillas. Take the tortilla and dip it in hot oil or dip it in the red chile sauce and put on plate. Top this with cheese and onion and more sauce and put another dipped tortilla on top and repeat this 2 times. Heat in the oven or under the broiler until cheese melts and top with a fried egg. Garnish the plate with the lettuce and tomato. You can serve this with fried potatoes or pinto beans.
• To make a casserole, you can layer the above in a baking dish with the final layer on top being cheese, do not put eggs on the casserole. Bake for about 20 minutes, until all is warm and melted. Garnish with lettuce and tomato. Can also serve with sour cream, chopped olives and guacamole.
• Remove the stems and seeds of the chile pods. Soak the pods in water or simmer on stove for about 10 minutes. Place chile and garlic in a blender with 1/4 cup water and puree until smooth. (Use 6 to 8 pods of chile and 2 cloves of garlic at a time, which will make the puree smoother and easier to work with.) Add more water as needed to get a medium consistency. In a sauce pan, add pureed chile with Mexican Oregano and salt to taste. Bring to a slow boil, and then simmer for 20 minutes. Pork can be browned and added to sauce while simmering.

ENCHILADAS - NEW MEXICO STYLE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces, and cook until browned. Season with cumin and chili powder. Pour in the enchilada sauce, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
• In a separate skillet over medium heat, warm the tortillas. Don't fry them, just warm them until they are flexible.
• To assemble the enchiladas, dip a tortilla in the enchilada sauce, and place it on a serving plate. Spoon some of the meat and sauce on, then add shredded lettuce, cheese, onion and sour cream. Top with another tortilla that has been dipped in the sauce. You may repeat the layering as many times as you wish depending on your appetite. Make additional stacks for each person. Top stacks with a fried egg, if desired.

NEW MEXICO RED CHILE SAUCE

Steps:

• Coat the bottom of a heavy saucepan with oil; add chile pods. Toast over medium heat until aromatic, about 3 minutes.
• Stir in onion and garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add enough chicken stock to allow pods to float; simmer until they develop the texture of wet leather, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Fill blender halfway with chile-stock mixture. Cover and hold lid down with a potholder; pulse a few times before leaving on to blend. Pour into a bowl; repeat with remaining mixture. Strain sauce through a fine mesh strainer into a saucepan over medium heat. Discard solids.
• Stir cumin, coriander, and oregano into the saucepan; add honey. Cook until sauce is thick and evenly coats the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes.

NEW MEXICO RED CHILE CHICKEN ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

Steps:

• At least ½ Leftover Rotisserie Chicken/ Whole pieces / Breasts boiled in water to cover,.
• Drain, reserve liquid, set aside to cool then bone, skin and chop.
• Reduce the remaining broth to about 1 1/2 cups or so while chopping this stuff:.
• ½ as much yellow onion as you have chicken. About 2 cups of Red Chile Puree, either from dried Red Chiles dehydrated and blended to a puree, or look in your grocers freezer section. Hot or mild your preference.
• Throw it all in the broth with 1 teaspoons Oregano, 1 tsp Cumin, 1 Tlbs chopped garlic. Simmer til onion is soft, if it's still watery stir about ¼ cup cornstarch into some cold water or cooled broth, then add back into the stew to thicken. Once the stew is a satisfying thickness you can layer it as you would lasagna *using 1cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese or more if you're a cheese hound like me. 9 - 12 White or Yellow corn tortillas use any stale taco shells you might have. Tom with Cheese and bake at 350 until done.
• * if you just want some awesome Red Chile Chicken Stew, add par boiled chopped to bite size potatoes in at this point and when it looks like soup, put it in a bowl garnish with cheese and eat with a fresh hot flour Tortilla.