beef enchiladas

Isabel Orozco-Moore’s beef enchiladas fill flour tortillas with seasoned lean ground beef and shredded Mexican-blend cheese. Red enchilada sauce coats the filling, baking dish and rolled tortillas, and more of the same cheese melts on top.

Olive oil heats in a large skillet. Supplied diced onion and stemmed, seeded, minced jalapeño cook for five minutes with occasional stirring. Ground beef, supplied minced garlic and kosher salt follow; a wooden spoon breaks the meat into smaller chunks as it browns.

If the beef has released much moisture and grease, the liquid is drained and discarded. A quarter-cup of the selected ready enchilada sauce is then stirred into the filling. The skillet comes off the heat, and tasting determines whether extra salt is needed. The eight flour tortillas warm on a plate in the microwave, with a halfway flip.

Another quarter-cup of the same sauce spreads over a nine-by-thirteen-inch baking dish. The filling and three-quarters of a cup of the cheese are divided among the tortillas, which roll tightly and sit seam-side down. The remaining one-and-a-quarter cups of sauce and cheese cover them before a twenty-minute bake.

The enchiladas are served immediately when the cheese has melted and become bubbly. Selected optional toppings are supplied diced onion, chopped cilantro, sour cream and shredded lettuce. Orozco-Moore describes this as a flexible dinner that her family makes on weeknights.