Enchilada

Last Sunday, I woke up wanting to cook lasagne.. But a few key ingredients were missing and I was soo lazy to go to the market.. Inspiration struck, so I changed plan.. I did Mexican fusion food instead.. Enchilada.. Mexicans love their chillies.. So do us Malaysians.. Mexicans have Habanero, Ancho Chillies, Chipotle, Jalapeno, just to name a few.. Malaysians love their bird's eye chillies or cili api.. small but fiesty.. yum!

But this dish I made wasn't exactly fire-y hot.. I mean, not everyone can take a lot of heat.. So, I went a bit mild, using whatever I have in the kitchen.. So, here's my fusion recipe, with some pics.. Enjoy..

For the beef, I basically combined the recipes and techniques from this blog, plus '30 Minutes Meal' cooking show that I watched over Food Network Asia on Astro just recently (The name of the chef is Rachel something if not mistaken).. Anyway, I ended up cooking it this way..

The Minced Beef:

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
1 kilo minced beef
1 1/2 green onion (or bawang bombay)
Smoked Paprika
Serbuk jintan putih (OK tipu... sebab malas nak tumbuk/blend, taruk je dalam keadaan asal.. konon it'll give some bite.. haha)
Serbuk ketumbar
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Salt


*The amount of spices is based on pure instinct.. You know, a dash of this, a dash of that.. So, trust your instinct, use your nose, your eyes, your tongue untuk merasa makanan yang anda masak..

1. Heat oil, pour in minced meat.. 
2. Fry on medium heat.. Add in onions and the spices..
3. Stir just occasionally.. Bukannya masak rendang, nak kena kacau selalu.. 
4. When it looks brown and delicious.. Add in some salt..
5. Do the taste test... Grab a spoon and makan..
6. Kalau sedap, then it's done.. Kalau tawar, tambah garam.. Kalau kurang pedas, tambah paprika.. Kalau terover masin / pedas.. Hurm, pasrah je la kot.. hehe..

Note 1: What I would do differently is perhaps tumis bawang sampai agak2 layu then add in cili blender.. Tumis sampai wangi.. Then add in minced beef.. hehe.. Kalau dah tekak Melayu tu kan.. Mesti nak cili dulu, kini dan selamanya.. Hehe...
Note 2: If you like, you may add diced bell peppers as well.. Baru ada feel mexican sikit..

While waiting for the beef to brown a bit, you may prepare the sauce..


The Enchilada Sauce:

You could try to find the sauce in supermarket like Cold Storage, Jaya Supermarket etc, but it's really not that hard to make.. I followed this recipe loosely, using whatever I have in the kitchen.. So, my take on the recipe is something like below:

1/4 cup (or maybe less) vegetable oil - I used corn oil
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp of flour (tepung gandum biasa je)
2 tbsp of chilli powder
1 can tomato soup
1 cup of hot water
1 chicken cube
Cayenne Pepper - ground
Smoked Paprika - ground
Garlic Powder
Salt to taste
Optional:
A dash of Hot sauce / Tobasco sauce
1 tbsp of tomato sauce

1. Heat oil and butter.. Whisk in flour and chilli powder until they are beautifully incorporated..
2. Add in tomato soup, hot water and chicken cube.. 
3. Add in the remaining spices..
4. I added tobasco sauce cuz I had some in the pantry.. If you don't have it, feel free to omit.. I even added in 1 tbsp of tomato sauce, just because I feel like it.. Heheh..

Now, the assembly.. You'll need:

Baking Dish
Cooked Minced Beef
Enchilada Sauce
Tortilla Bread - Beli yang brand Mission tu je.. most supermarkets sell them.. I used plain ones, but you can use garlic ke, apa ke, ikut suka
Cheese - I used mozarella and easy melt cheddar
Veges - I used sliced tomato and carrots cut into match sticks.. You may use zucchinis, bell peppers..

1. First of, preheat oven to 180C.
2. Then, take your baking dish and ladle in your sauce until the bottom is fully covered like the picture above.
3. Take a piece of tortilla.. Put about 2 - 3 tbsp full of cooked minced beef in the middle.. Scatter some veges, pour in a 1/4 ladle of the sauce, and scatter some cheese.. See picture above for reference. 
4. Roll. You can leave the ends open or tuck them nicely inside before rolling. As for me, I find it a lot easier leaving the ends open. 
5. Place seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the rest of the tortilla..
6. Once you're done, and the rolled tortillas have lined up snugly in your baking dish, pour in your remaining sauce.. Scatter cheese all over.. See picture below for example.
7. Bake for about 30 minutes.. 
8. Eat with a side of salad or sour cream.. Yummy..

Sorry, no picture of my baked enchilada. Well, it's basically just like the last picture, but with cheese melting all over. :) In a glance, the recipe seemed long and difficult.. But trust me, it's really not that hard.. You can even make it beforehand, and just pop it in the oven an hour before guests arrive.. Happy cooking dearies!

Toodles!