Here, Taste This: Tex-Mex Enchuritos

I am so over turkey.

And leftover mashed potatoes. And green bean salad.

Anyone with me?

The goal for the week after Thanksgiving is to use up the danged leftovers and then move on in the flavor department. Introduce something new, something spicy, something our forefathers would never have thought of.

Let's make some enchiladas, filled with spicy beef and sharp cheddar and covered with a fiery chipotle sauce and baked until crispy and bubbling.

Only, technically, enchiladas are made with corn tortillas, and I'm not a fan, probably because it's hard to get good corn tortillas here in the Upper Midwest. So I make these with flour tortillas. Which means I'm really making something more akin to burritos here.

Let's call them enchuritos. The purists will be pacified.


photo courtesy Everyday Food


Tex Mex Enchuritos

3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup flour
30 ounces chicken broth
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 small chipotle chiles in adobo, minced
2 tablespoons adobo sauce from the can
1-1/2 cups water
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1.5 pounds lean ground beef
Coarse salt and ground pepper
10 flour tortillas
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Chopped cilantro

Directions:
1. First, let's make the sauce. In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium. Add the flour and whisk together; cook 1 minute. Add broth, chili powder, the minced chipotles and adobo sauce, and water. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce heat, and simmer until lightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
2. Next, let's make the filling. In a large nonstick skillet, cook beef, onion and garlic; season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir occasionally until cooked through, about 10 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spoon 1/2 cup sauce in bottom of an 9x13 baking dish, enough to just cover the bottom.
4. Time to assembled the enchuritos. Fill each tortilla with a heaping 1/4 cup beef mixture and 2 tablespoons cheese; roll up tightly. Set each enchurito, seam side down, in the baking dish. When the dish is full, pour remaining sauce on top; sprinkle with cheese. Baked, uncovered, until hot and bubbly, 15-20 minutes. Serve garnished with cilantro.

Tips:
1. For the chicken broth, you can either buy 2 15-ounce cans or one of those resealable boxes and just measure what you need.
2. If you've never bought chioptles in adobo, don't be scared. They are awesome. You'll find them in the Mexican food aisle, and you can freeze the chiles and the sauce that remain after this recipe. I use chipotles in all kinds of recipes; I love having a few stashed in my freezer at all times.
3. Stuff those enchuritos in your baking pain in whatever direction you choose. I usually end up with the majority lined up the long way and a few stragglers lying along the bottom. Doesn't matter. It all tastes good.
4. If cilantro is the herb from hell to you, you don't have to use it.
5. I always serve this with a crunchy green salad, as show in the picture. It's the perfect accompaniment.