Enchiladas: Reloaded

Due to the long weekend we took Friday Night Mexican on the road.

Playing the game from the visitor dugout has its challenges, but nothing that we couldn't overcome. We did bring the cast iron and the tortilla press along. Everything else was completely foreign.  Except for the meal. We revisited enchiladas this week but through the pages of Rick's Mexican Everyday:  Tomatillo-Sauced Enchiladas with Spinach and Mushrooms. The link here goes to the recipe hosted at Martha Stewart's site and even has a video of her and Rick knocking out the first half of the instructions.

Enchiladas - No assembly required

For some reason I felt like enchiladas this week.  Since we've been making our own tortillas, everything that we've eaten has been a vertical build on a horizontal substrate. Sometimes it's just easier to eat something if it's in a nice little parcel.  It also means that our guests don't have to go through the trouble of assembling their own dinner.

And so we dive headlong into Enchiladas Verdes!

Almost "Almost Oaxacan"

Look at all that fresh produce! It sure looks better in the shopping cart than a bunch of neon packaged whats-it that claims to be food.  I'll skip the self-righteous editorializing and recommend that you read Michael Pollan's In Defence of Food.  It's pretty much required reading for anyone who eats.

This week's recipe is another out of Fiesta at Rick's, "Almost Oaxacan" Grilled Tostadas with Chorizo, Tangy Guacamole, and Fresh Cheese.  In addition we also made Chunky Fresh Tomato Salsa (p. 144), Smoky Chipotle Salsa with Pan-Roasted Tomatillos (p. 149) and Pineapple (or Other Fruit) Skillet Upside-Down Cake (p. 301) from Mexican Everyday.

Flanking Maneuver

So thanks to this blog, the details of our weekly Mexican adventures have become legendary in our local circle of friends and family.  The statistics page on Blogspot tells me that we've also received visitors from Germany, the UK, and Singapore.  So welcome to all of our new readers! Make sure you subscribe, follow the RSS feed, leave a comment or at the very least, pass us along to a friend.

All of the attention means we can't stay stagnant; we've got to keep upping our game.  So we went back to Fiesta at Rick's for this week's Crispy Flank Steak Shreds with Golden Onions and Red Chile Salsa.

Mole Amarillo Explosion!

Enough stupid substitutions! It was time to make something properly for once, even if it meant trekking all the way across town to get one ingredient.  And there you have them: Guajillo Chiles.  Because we were looking for dried ones, there was some hope that they would be found in the international aisle of our local grocery store.  The only thing we found were more varieties of Herdez salsa.  Although one particular specialty store has Guajillos advertised on their website, they had none.  However, a tiny store right across the street has a virtually unlimited supply.  May we present: Good Price Grocery Store!