Easy Homemade Beef Enchiladas with Homemade Enchilada Sauce

These Beef Enchiladas Look, Smell, and Taste Wonderful.

This day I am devoting to cooking a bit and planning menus for the rest of the week as I am going to start the drudgery of getting all of our tax stuff together in the morning.  I expect our CPA will fall over if I get this done as I plan because we always wind up filing an extension because I find this to be such a chore.  Since we own a small business it is a bushel basket or so of paper if you are lucky!!

I went to town this morning to buy gas and stop and pick up the few things I needed.  Then of course I vacuumed.... seems like that is an everyday chore.  (No mishaps, if anyone is wondering!)

I picked up a pound of shrimp for Pesto and Shrimp one night, Enchiladas ought to be good for 2 nights and carry out will work for another.  (Brian stops and gets chicken about once a week at the Buehler's Buy Low grocery on his way home as they make it fresh and it's very good.)

This beautiful dish of enchiladas can be baked and served now,  refrigerated and baked later,  or freezer wrapped and frozen for later baking.  It will keep about 3 months in the freezer.

First I make my sauce either out of my home canned tomato sauce or store purchased sauce.  I freeze what I don't need for another time.  Today I am using my home canned sauce. www.thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com/2012/08/canning-basic-tomato-sauce.html

Ingredients for Enchilada Sauce:

1-2 T. olive oil
1 diced onion or about 1/4 C. dried onion flakes
4-5 cloves fresh garlic peeled and diced
6-7 T. chili powder
2 T. ground cumin
1 quart canned tomato sauce (4 C.)
2 C. chicken stock
1 t. kosher salt add more to taste
1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper add more to taste

Mix all of the above ingredients together in a medium saucepan and heat to boiling over medium high heat.  Stir well to combine the ingredients then reduce to simmer.  Simmer over low heat at least 20 minutes and a bit longer is fine too. Yield 5 C. sauce.

Ingredients for Easy Beef Enchiladas:

2 T. olive oil or melted butter
2 T. flour
5 C. enchilada sauce
1 C. chicken or beef stock
salt and pepper to taste

1 pound lean ground beef
1 diced onion
salt and pepper to taste

vegetable oil to fry the tortillas
12-14 corn tortillas
2-4 ounce cans of diced green chilies
1 bunch of green onions sliced with the tops
2 small cans of sliced black olives or 1 regular can of black olives and slice them
3-4 C. grated cheese  (Cheddar or Monetary Jack and Cheddar blended or part Pepper Jack)

Whisk the fat and flour together in a saucepan over medium heat.  Let it bubble for a minute or so and pour in the red sauce.  Keep stirring and add the stock, taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.   Reduce the heat to the lowest simmer and leave it to get delicious while you cook up the beef!

Throw the onions and beef together into a heavy skillet. ( I love cast iron for this. ) Turn the fire up to medium high and brown it together.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  If there is fat to drain please drain it off now.  Turn the heat off and leave this for now.

Next we need to heat up the tortillas by giving them a quick dunk in hot oil.  It is not accurate to say we are going to fry them as we do not want to crisp them.  We only want to warm them up a bit and make them pliable.  Heat about 1/4" of vegetable oil over medium heat.  Add the tortillas one at a time and leave maybe 5-10 seconds and then turn.  Leave another 5-10 seconds and remove from the hot oil to a stack of paper towels to drain.  Fry them one at a time until they are all softened and draining. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter a 9 x 13" baking dish and set it aside for now.

Spread about 1/2 C. sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.  One at a time dip each tortilla into the sauce.

Lay the sauced tortilla into a dinner plate.  In the center of the tortilla place a tablespoon full of the meat, a teaspoon of the green chilies,  a sprinkling of green onions, a sprinkling of sliced black olives, and top off with a big handful of the shredded cheese.  Roll up the tortilla with all of these fillings inside and lay seam side down in the prepared baking dish.

Prepare the rest of the tortillas in the same way placing them snugly next to each other until the pan is filled.

Pour the remaining sauce atop the casserole and sprinkle with the remaining ingredients.  Cheese first then anything else you may have left like chilies and green onions and olives.  Looks yummy doesn't it!!

Bake for 25-30 minutes until bubbling and heated throughout.  Let it sit a few minutes before serving.  Yield 8 servings.

This casserole can be made ahead, covered and kept in the refrigerator until time to bake.  It also freezes well for up to 3 months.  Increase the baking time to about 1 hour and keep covered with foil for the first 45 minutes of baking.  Check the center to be sure it has heated through.  The edges should be bubbling and the cheese melted and bubbling.