Recipe:Julies Enchiladas
Ingredients
Sauce Per Serving: 1 tblsp butter, shortening, or lard 1 tblsp flour 1 tblsp hot chile powder (dried and ground chiles, flavor of this is key, see below) 1 clove garlic, pressed some water Also: 1 egg 3 Corn Tortillas Sharp Cheddar Cheese Green Onions Fresh Tomato Lettuce
Side Dishes: Salsa Sour Cream Black Olives
Instructions
Saute sauce ingredients for a few minutes to combine flavor, use just enough water to keep liquid and then add water after sauteeing to make into a gravy consistency. Fry or bake corn tortilla until heading towards crispy. Dip tortilla in gravy to coat. Place first tortilla on plate. Lightly layer cheese, tomato, green onion on coated tortilla. Dip second tortilla, making a second layer. Dip third tortilla, plate on top of other 2 to make a stack. Place fried egg on top of third tortilla, cover with cheese. Bake in oven / broiler until cheese is melted.
Serve covered with chopped lettuce, fresh tomato, and green onion. Accompany with side dishes of sour cream, black olives, salsa, etc.
Ingredient Notes
Earth's Notes: Choosing the chile powder can be the biggest problem. Many are bitter and have weak flavor. A good chile powder for this is something that has a distinct "sweetness" to it when tasted dry. How hot the chiles are is very much to taste. My family's tendency was to use chile powder from a family friend (Julie) who sent us some every year that was absurdly hot and would make our Minnesotan neighbors ill when they tried to eat it. My current favorite is [The Chile Shop's] Hatch Mild or Native Nambe. When fresh and a good year, this stuff is amazing. In a pinch, cayenne can be used, but the hot-per-flavor ratio is pretty high and if you're using cayenne, you're probably getting it from a spice jar so the price for a meal could be pretty high.
I will probably add a bit of cumin to the chile-powder gravy the next time I make this.