Enchilada heaven ...

... is such a happy place to be in. Warm, crispy-edged tortillas filled with all sorts of goodies, drizzled with pungent sauces, topped with cheese ... I could just pack up my bags and move there!

Atleast that's how I felt after experimenting with a couple of enchilada recipes from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. This book truly seems to have something for everyone - fresh, inviting salads, comforting soups, delicious stews and gratins, many a stir-fry ... the list goes on.

This is a recipe from yestermonth, I originally attempted to post it on June 5th, didn't quite happen. I tried to finish writing it on the 11th ... hmm, another failed attempt! And no, I don't really remember all my incomplete posts, just peeked into my drafts folder :)

So, here we are ... and I'm truly hoping I can remember how I reworked this recipe! The original recipe called for a variety of mushrooms and some squash. We were pretty low on mushrooms and loathe to head towards the store, so it was just time to improvise. Besides, we had a couple of acorn squashes waiting to be used up, can't quite go wrong with those! We finally settled on
a medley of lightly caramelized onions, mushrooms, diced acorn squash, crumbled home-made paneer and a slew of herbs from the garden. The paneer was actually more like chenna and not the usually firm kind, I chose to let it stay crumbled with a wee bit of extra moisture instead of forming a firm slab. Worked out perfect for this recipe.

The herbs that we threw into these enchiladas really kicked up the flavours - mildly sweet cinnamon basil, bergamot-scented orange mint, pungent chives, fennel - a whole bunch of goodness!

The metaphoric icing on the cake was the tomatillo sauce. We dithered a bit between a smoky adobo chilli sauce and a fresher green sauce, but finally settled on using a bunch of tomatillos that had been sitting in the fridge.

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Squash'n'Paneer Enchiladas
With some sauteed mushrooms and caramelized onions to keep everyone happy!

Servings: 8-10

1 packet of whole grain tortillas (medium sized)
1 acorn squash - peeled and diced
1/2 red onion - chopped (not too fine)
3 cloves of garlic - minced
1.5 cups of crumbled paneer
1/2 cup of chopped crimini mushrooms
8-10 leaves of cinnamon basil
6-7 leaves of orange mint
a handful of chives leaves - chopped
4-5 sprigs of fennel leaves - chopped
a handful of italian parsley - chopped
1 T olive oil
1 t brown sugar
1 T cayenne pepper powder

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Heat the oil in a wok and saute the onions till they start to get translucent.
Throw in the brown sugar and saute a bit more (4-5 minutes) till the onions are caramelized.
Add the squash and mushrooms and saute for about 3-4 minutes.
Add a few tablespoons of water and simmer covered for another 2-3 minutes till the squash is partially cooked.
Take off the stove before adding the paneer bits along with the herbs, cayenne powder and salt.

Take a dollop of this veggie mixture and roll it in a tortilla. Make sure that you roll it really tight and fold the edges in if needed.
Place this in a greased baking tray.
Roll and fill the rest of the tortillas and stack them alongside one another in the baking tray.

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Tomatillo-Cilantro Sauce

Servings: 2 cups

5-6 chubby tomatillos - husks removed and quartered
1/2 vidalia onion - chopped
1 cup cilantro leaves
1 t grated lime zest
1 jalapeno pepper - chopped

Bring a couple of cups of water to boil in a saucepan.
Add the onions, tomatillo and jalapeno to the saucepan.
Simmer for 10-15 minutes, until you basically kill the bright green colour of the tomatillos.
Transfer the vegetables to a food processor or blender, add the cilantro and puree.
Stir in the lime zest and season with salt.

Pour the sauce over the rolled enchiladas.
Sprinkle any remaining veggie filling over the enchiladas.
Set the baking pan in the oven for about 8-10 minutes.

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NOTE:
Watch out! It is hot! Don't scald your tongue trying to gobble up the enchiladas! :)

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Opinion?

Fabulous. Truly. I think I dreamed of attending Deborah Madison's cooking classes the night I made these! Yummy squash'n'paneer filling, delicate herb flavours, tangy-spicy tomatillo sauce, what more could one ask for?

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Similar recipes here and beyond

* Spicy Nutty Enchiladas
* Bean-Chilli Enchiladas @ One Hot Stove
* Paneer and Mushroom Enchiladas @ Sunita's World

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Off this goes to Andrea for her awesome Grow Your Own event - every herb that went into this recipe came from my garden. W00t!

Enchiladas, por favor?

When the yen for mexican flavors descends upon me, there is little I can do to resist it :) Besides, why even try? Especially when I have all the makings for something as awesome as enchiladas!

I still remember my first enchilada experience - Azteca - not exactly top of the line mexican food! And I still remember being shocked at the sizes of the platters of food they bring out - not plates, but platters, giant platters of seemingly never-ending mounds of cheese and tortillas and lettuce and beans and cheese and ... Oyy! But I'm super glad that didn't swear me off real mexican chow - it would've been quite tragic if that had happened!

In case you didn't get it already, I'm not a fan of big wonks of cheesy overbaked tortillas :) But I do love the ones that have fun stuffings and spicy sauces drizzled all over. Mmm ... that's what I wanted to make - flavorful, spicy, nutritious enchiladas. Didi Emmons' Vegetarian Planet had this really interesting recipe for veggie enchiladas with a spicy nutty red sauce - it sounded almost perfect, but not quite - the recipe called for a carrot+onion+tofu+beans stuffing - that sounded a little on the heavy side, so I chose to skip the tofu (I didn't have any anyway! :)) and add a bunch of baby spinach instead. And use a mix of black and pinto beans instead of just the black beans. The only variation I made in the sauce was to use a mixture of nuts instead of just almonds - I have to say that turned out to be a killer idea :)

Spicy Nutty Enchiladas

(This makes for many many servings)

Stuffing
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12 Red chile tortillas (from Whole Foods - they come in bags of 6)
5 carrots - grated
1 medium red onion
1/2 shallot
3-4 handfuls of baby spinach leaves
1 can black beans
1/2 can pinto beans
1 t allspice powder
1 T olive oil
salt
a few dashes of habanero sauce

Mince the onion and shallot to a coarse paste.
Heat the oil in a work and saute the onion mixture till it starts to brown.
Add the carrots and cook for about 5 minutes.
Toss in the spinach and cook uncovered till the spinach starts to wilt - takes about 2 minutes.
Add the spices and salt along with the black and pinto beans and stir for about 2-3 minutes.
Finally season with as much habanero sauce as your palate can handle :)
Take this stuffing off the stove and let it cool while the sauce gets made.

Oh, turn on the oven - we need it at 350 F for our enchiladas.

Sauce
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4 medium roma tomatoes
1/2 vidalia onion
4 cloves garlic
1 T freshly ground spices (mix of coriander, cumin, cinnamon, dried arbol chile)
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup sherry
3 T red wine vinegar
salt

Grind the tomatoes, onions and garlic into a fine paste.
Cook this tomato paste in a saucepan along with the spices and salt for about 10-12 minutes - the tomatoes should taste totally cooked and the flavors should start blending in.
Roast the almonds and cashews for 1-2 minutes in a pan over medium heat and grind them into a fine paste.
Sitr in the nuts paste into the tomato sauce - this can be a bit tedious since the nuts tend to clump and we really want it to blend smoothly into the tomato sauce. Often, it helps to turn the heat down to simmer and keep stirring with a wooden spoon till the sauce gets smooth again.
Now toss in the vinegar and sherry and stir for 2-3 minutes.


Assembling those yummy enchiladas
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This is the really fun part. I *love* rolling those enchiladas :)

Garnish:
a handful of chopped parsley
1/3 cup grated mahon cheese

Take a scoop of the stuffing and place it in a tortilla along the center.
Roll the tortilla tightly and place it in a baking dish - I'll remember to take a series of pictures of the rolling process the next time I make enchiladas. The rolled tortilla reminds me a lot of veggie frankies that we used to get in des - especially at Hot Breads in Chennai :)
Repeat this fun rolling action with the rest of the tortillas.
Now drizzle the nutty red sauce over the tortillas and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.
Sprinkle the cheese all over the sauce and let it sit in the oven for 1-2 minutes till the cheese is melted all over.
Garnish with some chopped parsley.

Eat! :)

What was our verdict?
Drool-worthy! Seriously! Flavorful, spicy, nutritious enchiladas! :)


Wine
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This was another meal with a successful wine pairing. We opened a bottle of Waterbrook Melange from 2002 - not a super big wine, but ripe and fruity and tasted great with the mexican spices. It had just the right amount of tannins and a decent finish. The best part is that it is inexpensive - $16 a bottle, me thinks!