Dear Chili Gravy,

I love you.

Love,
Megan

I have published a lot of enchilada recipes over the years, and I’m not ashamed of it.
I really love enchiladas. I always order them when I go to Mexican restaurants, even though that’s boring.
I am a connoisseur of enchiladas. I am constantly working on perfecting the enchilada. But you see, it can’t be done. Because the enchilada can be as varied as the stars in the sky, and I mostly love them all.

Kiley, our roommate/sister wife/baby sitter/friend/life-saver-in-general, and I were discussing the enchilada the other day, as I made 30 of them for my family’s annual trip to Grand Lake, and we agreed that everyone thinks their enchilada is “right.” To her, an enchilada should be in a flour tortilla, it should be stuffed with ground beef and cheese (no “taco” seasonings on the meat, thankyouverymuch) and easy on the sauce.

I’m not quite so specific. As I said, I have never really met an enchilada I didn’t like. But in my ideal world, an enchilada will be in a corn tortilla, will have beef and onion and cheese, and will be drenched in chili gravy.

For my family at the lake, I made four different kinds, because I am crazy, and I had bowls of “toppings” out for folks to add what they want to their basic enchilada. I had bowls of jalapenos, black olives, tomatoes and cilantro, because in my family, all of those items are controversial. For enchiladas, I used corn tortillas with beef and some with chicken and green chilies, and I had flour with plain beef and flour with beef plus onions.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2014/jul/30/277038/

Sounds like a pain, but it’s really not. I have a system. You just bake the chicken breasts in the oven with a little salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder. While they bake, you brown ground beef and in another pan, saute some diced onions.

For corn tortillas, you need to fry them quickly in a little vegetable oil. I don’t think that step is necessary with flour.

Make up some chili gravy (or a lot).

4 tablespoons fat from ground beef (or melted butter)
3 heaping tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons chili powder
Make a “roux” over medium-high heat.
Gradually add chicken or beef broth (I prefer beef for this), up to 4 cups, whisking continuously, until you get your desired consistency.
a teaspoon of cumin, a dash of salt and a dash of garlic powder and whisk thoroughly, making sure there are no lumps.
Heat it up if you like with cayenne or hot sauce.

So, to make my perfect enchilada, you start with these basic things: a lightly fried corn tortilla, some chili gravy, some ground beef and sauteed onions, and good, freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese. (That bagged and shredded stuff is for the BIRDS. No, wait, don’t even give it to the birds.)

In an assembly line fashion, do the following: spread a bit of chili gravy all over the bottom on a casserole dish. Take your fried tortilla (that has had a chance to drain a bit into a paper towel), and dip it on both sides into a little chili gravy mixed with water to a thin consistency, barely more than that of water. Do it quickly — don’t make a soggy tortilla.

Put a couple of tablespoons of meat/onion mixture down the center, and a healthy pinch of cheese. Roll up tightly, and repeat. When you’re finished, use chili gravy to liberally cover the top of everything, and sprinkle again with cheese.

Bake, covered with foil, at 350 F for about 25 minutes or until heated through.

Simple, basic and yet so delicious. Chips, salsa, a little salad, maybe some black beans. It doesn’t get better than this.