Semi-Homemade Enchiladas

I made David Mexican food this weekend. I never do. Usually we go to Jose's for this. I have made great enchiladas for parties before, so I thought I'd make those and use up some of the leftover braised meats I had in the freezer. I made three kinds of enchiladas: cheese, braised beef and braised turkey.

In two separate bowls, I soaked 10 corn tortillas each in spicy green enchilada sauce (I bought it in a specialty store) and in mild red enchilada sauce for a couple of hours. I find this makes them easier to roll up when I fill them later. I thawed my leftover meat and grated chihuahua cheese and crumbled Mexican farmer cheese for later.

I seasoned my turkey in a taco seasoning...cumin, paprika, garlic, salt, adobo powder. I left the beef, because it was slow cooked in peppers and peppercorns. I sliced some Mexican cheese into spears for the cheese ones, to make filling them easier, and I finely diced a small Spanish onion.

I sprayed two casseroles. In one, I rolled the beef with some onions in half of the red steeped tortillas, and the cheese and some onions in the other half. In the other, I rolled the turkey in the green tortillas.

I topped both casseroles with the remaining corresponding enchilada sauce, some shredded cheese and some crumbles of the farmer cheese. Then I baked them in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes until bubbly. You can tell they're done.

I made guacamole and served chips, yellow rice and refried black beans alongside the enchiladas, and garnished them on the plate with fresh cilantro. They were a hit. David said, "It's not that easy to pull off Mexican food at home, but you did a great job. I guess we USED TO go out for Mexican."