Beef Enchiladas

By á-13856

Beef Enchiladas
From Cook's Country
April​/May 2007


WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Traditional beef enchiladas recipes require simmering steak for hours. Unappealing convenience recipes call for hamburger and canned sauce. Sticking to the steak and using a few shortcuts gave us a Beef Enchiladas recipe that cut the cooking time considerably. Instead of using ground chiles and tomatoes, we use store-bought chili powder and canned tomatoes, along with onions, garlic, and spices to make a quick sauce with authentic flavor. Inexpensive blade steaks lent our recipe the soft chew and beefy flavor we were after. Cutting the steaks into small pieces kept our cooking time at just an hour and a half. Authentic beef enchiladas recipes fry the corn tortillas and then dip them in sauce to soften and season them. Instead, we softened the tortillas in the microwave, assembled the enchiladas, topped them with sauce and cheese, and baked them until heated through.

Season 3: Southwestern Suppers

Cut back on the pickled jalapeños if you like your enchiladas on the mild side. Sour cream, diced avocado, shredded lettuce, and lime wedges make great enchilada sidekicks—let everyone at the table pick and choose as they wish.

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

• INGREDIENTS
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Salt
• 1 1/4 pounds top blade steaks, trimmed
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese or mild cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapeño chiles
• 12 (6-inch) corn tortillas

Details

Adapted from Cook's Country.com

Preparation

Step 1

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Combine garlic, chili powder, coriander, cumin, sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt in small bowl. Pat meat dry with paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook meat until browned on both sides, about 6 minutes. Transfer meat to plate. Add onions to pot and cook over medium heat until golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic mixture and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomato sauce and water and bring to boil. Return meat and juices to pot, cover, reduce heat to low, and gently simmer until meat is tender and can be broken apart with wooden spoon, about 1 1/2 hours.

2. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Strain beef mixture over medium bowl, pressing on mixture to break meat into small pieces and extract as much sauce as possible; reserve sauce. Transfer meat to medium bowl and mix with 1 cup cheese, cilantro, and jalapeños.

3. Spread 3/4 cup sauce in bottom of 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Microwave 6 tortillas on plate on high power until soft, about 1 minute. Spread 1/3 cup beef mixture down center of each tortilla, roll tortillas tightly, and set in baking pan seam side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas and beef mixture (you may have to fit two or more enchiladas down the sides of the baking dish). Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas and spread to coat evenly. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup cheese evenly over enchiladas, wrap with aluminum foil, and bake until heated through, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until cheese browns slightly, 5 to 10 minutes. Serve.

Make Ahead: Although it's best to roll and bake the enchiladas right before serving, the beef filling and the sauce can be prepared through step 2 and refrigerated in separate containers for up to 2 days.

TRIMMING BLADE STEAKS

After testing various beef cuts, we found that blade steaks (which are cut from the chuck) had enough marbling to produce silky, flavorful shredded beef for our enchiladas. The only trick is to cut away the center strip of gristle, which is very easy to do because the strip is in plain sight in the middle of each steak. Simply halve each steak lengthwise and then slice away the gristle, as shown here.