Last week, I had the opportunity to cook my Grandma’s homemade enchiladas. My grandma actually got this recipe from her dear friend Penny and chose to pass it down to me. I have enjoyed making this recipe many times with my grandma and decided that now would be a great time to share this recipe and spread some cheer. These enchiladas combine a traditional green sauce with pepper jack and cheddar cheese for an authentic Mexican dinner. Here is a list of the ingredients I used and how I cooked this wonderful dish.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup- I used Campbells Soup but you can use whatever brand your local grocery store has
• 1 3.5 oz can of Ortega diced green chiles
• 1 large yellow onion- diced
• 2 gloves garlic- minced
• 2-3 cups of chicken broth
• 1 bag of frozen spinach– pureed
• 2 tablespoons flour
• about 10-20 small taco size soft tortillas- more or less depending on how many enchiladas you want to make. I used about 12 tortillas for this batch of enchiladas.
• 3-4 tablespoons of canola oil
• 1 block of cheddar cheese and 1 block of pepper jack cheese
• salt– to taste
• sour cream— for serving on top of the enchiladas

Making The Green Enchilada Sauce:

• Take out a blender and put the onion, garlic, chiles and both cans of cream of mushroom soup into it. Proceed to puree all of these ingredients until they are well combined and resemble a thick liquid.
• Take out a large soup pot (or any normal larger size pot you have) and pour the pureed ingredients from the blender into it. Add the chicken broth to the same pot and proceed to bring to a boil.

• While you are waiting for the sauce to boil, puree your frozen spinach in the same blender that you used before. I had to heat my spinach in the microwave for a few seconds as it was too frozen to be pureed.
• Once the sauce is boiling, add your pureed spinach and a couple pinches of salt. Stir the sauce to combine the ingredients and then lower the heat to medium-low. Let the sauce simmer for 10-15 minutes.
• If after 10-15 minutes has passed the sauce is not thick enough for your liking, proceed to add the 2 tablespoons of flour and a couple spoon fulls of cold water. After adding the thickeners, let boil for a few more minutes to combine.
• Once you are satisfied with the thickness of the sauce, turn off the heat and let sit until you need it for the enchiladas.

Forming The Enchiladas:

• Heat your oven to 350˚ Fahrenheit
• Using a cutting-board, cut about 3/4 of each block of cheese into thin strips. Set those strips aside and proceed to grate the remaining cheese using a grater.

• Heat up a small pan over medium high heat with  3-4 tablespoons of canola oil. While the oil is heating, prepare a plate with a paper towel on top. Once the oil hot,  add one of your tortillas and let cook for 1 minute. Flip the tortilla using tongs and let cook for another 30 seconds. After 30 seconds has passed, pull the tortilla out of the pan and place on to the plate with the paper towel to let drip. Proceed to repeat this process for the remaining tortillas.

• Once all of the tortillas are cooked, take out a deep bottomed baking dish. Proceed to pour a bit of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of that pan ( I usually pour enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan completely).
• After pouring the sauce into the bottom of the pan, it is time to start forming the enchiladas. take one of your tortillas off of the plate and add one slice of each type of cheese to the middle of it. Roll the tortilla and place it seam-side down into the pan. Repeat this process for all remaining tortillas. If you run out of room in your first pan, create another pan by following the instructions in the previous step.

• Once all the enchiladas have been formed and put into the tray, proceed to pour the remaining sauce over the top– put enough sauce to cover the tortillas completely. After pouring the sauce, sprinkle the grated cheese over the top.

• Put the enchiladas into the hot oven and let cook for 15 minutes or until the cheese inside has melted.
• Take the pan out of the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Serve immediately with refried beans, sour cream and Spanish rice. Enjoy!

Ingredients For The Side Of Spanish Rice:

(Recipe for the rice is from allrecipes.com)

• 1 1/2 cups white rice
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup pace chunky salsa
• 1/2 diced onion
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Cooking The Spanish Rice:

• Heat up a deep bottomed pan with a lid over medium heat. Proceed to add the olive oil and diced onion. Let the onions cook for a few minutes until they are fragrant and cooked down a bit.
•  Add the white rice and let cook for a few minutes with the onions. I cooked it for about 1 to 2 minutes but it may require more or less time depending on how high your heat is. The key to this step is to let the rice brown but not burn.

• Once the rice has been cooking for a few minutes, add the chicken broth and pace salsa. After adding the liquids, turn down the heat to low, put the lid on the pan  and let the rice cook for 20 minutes or until the liquid has absorbed completely.

• Serve the rice hot with the enchiladas.

Overall:

Many people shy away from making homemade enchiladas because they think that it requires a lot of work or that there are too many ingredients. While that is true of some enchiladas, I have found that Penny’s recipe for enchiladas is very easy and does not require many ingredients. Furthermore, if you are looking for flavorful and authentic Mexican food that doesn’t require all day cooking, then this is the recipe for you. I highly recommend making these enchiladas as the green sauce is very flavorful and when combined with the cheese and tortillas, it makes a great combination. I would like to thank my grandma for teaching me how to cook this dish and sharing the recipe with me. I would also like to thank Penny for coming up with this great recipe and sharing it with others. I hope everyone is doing well during this uncertain time and is staying safe. And hopefully, if you have some time, you can make these delicious homemade enchiladas. I can promise you that you will not be disappointed.