ISO expert advice-home made enchiladas

[LEFSElover]

last weekend while in vegas babysitting, I decided on my last night there, to make enchiladas and the rest of the meal to complete a Mexican dinner. Usually, I can do enchiladas just fine. I did chix, cheese, beef. So 3 kinds. Anyway, my question is, why'd they turn out so blad?
I used corn tortillas that I dipped in warm oil. Is that the problem? I usually dip the tortillas in the warm enchilada sauce to soften them before filling. They were dry and rather flavorless. I baked them coved in toil, at 325° for 35 minutes. The top cheese had melted, but they were quite disappointing to me and I am a better cook than this showed.
If any of you out there make a killer home made enchilada, could you help me please?
thanks in advance.

 

[Dina]

Sounds like you did everything right but perhaps the sauce needed more flavor? There are some great threads on here for enchiladas that you might want to check out. I make mine filled with three cheeses and meat sauce with lots of spices in the sauce. Let me know if you'd like my recipe.

 

[LEFSElover]

Sounds like you did everything right but perhaps the sauce needed more flavor? There are some great threads on here for enchiladas that you might want to check out. I make mine filled with three cheeses and meat sauce with lots of spices in the sauce. Let me know if you'd like my recipe.

I'd like that, thank you. Do you think that perhaps it was the dipping in oil instead of the sauce? Or the temp? Or the brand of tortillas I used? hum, frustrating, as I said they should have been wonderful

 

[Shunka]

Dipping the tortillas in oil might have kept the sauce from penetrating them. I always dip in the sauce. Dina is right about the sauce maybe needing more flavor added.

 

[Constance]

Here is a killer recipe from a Texan friend of mine:

VIVI'S CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

¼ C butter or margarine
¼ C all purpose flour
1 (10 ¾-ounce) can chicken broth, undiluted
¾ C water
1 (8 ounce) carton sour cream
2 canned jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
12 corn tortillas
Vegetable oil
¾ C chopped cooked chicken
2 C shredded Monterrey Jack cheese, divided
¾ C chopped onion
Enchilada Relish

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat; add flour, stirring until smooth. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add chicken broth and water; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly. Stir in sour cream and chopped peppers. Pour half of sour cream mixture in a lightly greased 12 x 8-x 2-inch baking dish; set aside dish and remaining sour cream sauce.
Fry tortillas, one at a time, in 2 T oil in a medium skillet 5 seconds on each side or just until tortillas are softened; add additional oil, if necessary. Drain on paper towels.
Place 1 T each of chicken, cheese and onion on each tortilla; roll up tortilla and place seam side down in reserved baking dish. Pour remaining sour cream sauce over top. Bake uncovered, at 425 for 20 minutes. Sprinkle remaining 1 ¼ C cheese on top, bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Garnish cilantro and serve with Enchilada relish.

Enchilada Relish
1 large tomato, finely chopped
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 to 2 canned jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
¼ cup tomato juice (I use V-8 Picante)
½ t salt
Combine all ingredients; stir well. Chill.

 

[Swann]

There are 2 kinds of corn tortillas... one is thick the other thin. I prefer the thin ones for enchiladas. I generously pour sauce over them before sprinkling with cheese to bake. I like lots of sauce. If you use oil it needs to be @350° to dip but not fry crisp only to soften to be able to roll. After frying in oil, you can still dip in sauce before assembling. If I make a stacked enchillada casserole, I use the thick ones as you do not need to worry about them cracking.

 

[corazon]

Dipping the tortillas in oil might have kept the sauce from penetrating them.

My thoughts exactly.
We steam our tortillas before layering.

 

[ENCHILADA LOVER]

shredded beef

has anybody ever made shredded beef enchiladas?

 

[Dave Hutchins]

Thank you connie copied,pasted, printed

 

[kitchenelf]

has anybody ever made shredded beef enchiladas?

For some reason I've always made chicken. Are you looking for a recipe?

 

[Andy M.]

I use Dina's recipe with ground beef.

 

[Michael in FtW]

has anybody ever made shredded beef enchiladas?

Yep - I use shredded meat (beef, pork, chicken, cabrito) for enchiladas ... also tamales, flautas, taquitos and chimichangas. It's more effort to roast the meat and shred it than to use ground meat - but I prefer the texture. Also, it's a good way to tell the difference between something approaching "authentic" Mexican from Taco Bell.

 

[GrillingFool]

I recently tried something a bit different that came out fairly well. The meat
wasn't as tender as I wanted, but I didn't cook it terribly long, either.

Cut my nice roast into fairly small pieces, about 1/2 inch cubes.
Put it into a pot, lightly peppered and salted it, cooked it, covered, over low heat.
Once it developed a good amount of juices, I mixed in some homemade
enchilada sauce powder and a little tomato sauce, then let that cook for
an hour or so. Made enchilada style burritos...
Great flavor!

 

[bigjimbray]

I only make beef enchilada`s, and I always dip my tortilla`s in the sauce to tenderize them, it`s more healthy than in oil. everytime I have made the one`s with chicken I always get a foul taste.

 

[GotGarlic]

Funny, I always make mine with chicken and they're great. Friends from Colorado raved about how authentic they tasted. I poach the chicken with bay leaves for 20 minutes, then shred and mix with sauteed peppers and onions and a bit of homemade tomatillo enchilada sauce, then top the rolls with more sauce and cheese and bake. Here's the recipe, if you want to take a look.