Cheese Enchiladas With Mole Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• For the chicken: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. On a baking sheet, sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and drizzle with the olive oil. Bake until cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool, then shred into small bite-sized pieces.
• For the mole: Reconstitute the dried chiles by soaking them in 1 1/2 cups hot water for 15 minutes. Then drain and set aside. Toast the corn tortillas in a dry skillet until dry, crisp and golden. Tear into pieces and set aside. In the same skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, season with a little salt and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Transfer the onion and garlic mixture to a blender with the chiles, tortillas, peanut butter and oregano. Pour the chicken stock over and blend until very smooth. Then transfer the sauce to a medium saute pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Stir in the chocolate. Season the mole with salt and pepper. Reserve 1 cup of mole for garnishing the enchiladas, the rest will be used for dipping the tortillas.
• To assemble the enchiladas: Fill a medium saute pan half way with oil over high heat. When the oil is hot, dip 1 tortilla at a time and fry just until soft and heated through, a few seconds. Lift out, let the excess oil drip off and then dip the fried tortilla directly into the warm mole (which should be right next to the pan for easy dipping) and transfer to a plate. Working quickly, put 1/3 cup of the shredded chicken in the center, being careful not to over fill. Roll the tortilla like a cigar to enclose the filling and place in a serving dish seam- side down. Continue to fill all of the tortillas and place them side-by- side. Pour the reserved mole over the top. (This recipe can be tightly wrapped and frozen for 3 weeks at this stage. To reheat: Preheat oven to 350degrees F, unwrap and bake until sauce is bubbly and enchiladas are heated through, about 20 to 25 minutes.) To serve, drizzle with a little sour cream and sprinkle with queso.

Steps:

• Melt 2 tablespoons lard in a stockpot. Stir in 1/2 onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, poblano peppers, and Anaheim peppers; cook and stir until onions are soft, 5 to 8 minutes. Add chicken thighs and 4 cups chicken broth, cover, and simmer until reduced, about 40 minutes.
• Heat 2 cups chicken broth in a saucepan until it begins to simmer, about 5 minutes. Pour broth into a blender.
• Toast guajillo chiles and ancho chiles in a dry skillet on medium-high heat until hot and aromatic, 3 to 4 minutes. Place toasted chiles and tortilla strips in the blender with the hot broth. Press them down so they are fully submerged and soak until softened, about 10 minutes. Blend the chile and tortilla mixture until smooth.
• Cook tomatoes and tomatillos in a dry skillet on medium-high heat until soft and blackened, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
• Melt 2 tablespoons lard in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in 1/2 sliced onion, 5 garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons cumin seeds; cook and stir until onions are soft and golden, 5 to 8 minutes. Add onion mixture to the blender with the chile mixture and blend until smooth.
• Pour chile puree into a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 2 cups chicken broth, salt, sugar, and chocolate. Bring mixture to a simmer; cook and stir until chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes.
• Toast tortillas in a dry skillet over medium heat until golden and soft, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Fill each tortilla with 1/3 cup chicken mixture. Roll and place seam side down on a plate. Continue with remaining tortillas, 3 per plate. Top each trio of tortillas with 1/3 cup mole sauce, 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, and 1 to 2 tablespoons queso fresco.

Steps:

• For the braised lamb: Combine the lamb, tomato juice, Dijon, salt, garlic, lime juice, vinegar, cumin, pepper, coriander, avocado leaves, oregano, thyme, shallots, jalapeno and enough water to cover in a large pot. Simmer on low heat, uncovered, for 3 hours.
• Remove meat and let cool, reserving liquid. Shred meat, removing as much fat and cartilage as possible.
• For the pickled shallots: Cover shallots in a bowl with water.
• Combine vinegars, cumin, garlic, oregano, salt, beet and chile in a saucepot and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and strain the liquid into the bowl with the shallots. Add the beet. Refrigerate until cooled, 4 to 6 hours. Strain the liquid and discard the beet.
• For the Oaxacan red chile-chocolate mole: Char tomatoes on a grill or over an open flame until blackened and splitting.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Heat oil in a large pot, then add corn, garlic, celery, carrot, poblano, onion and jalapeno and saute until soft.
• Spread pumpkin seeds, pecans, sesame seeds and corn and flour tortillas on a baking sheet and bake until browned, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Blend tomatoes, blend with toasted nuts and seeds. Add to the pot, then add the tomato juice, tomatillos, ancho chile powder, raisins, chipotle chile powder, guajillo chile powder, cumin, salt, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, chocolate discs, bananas, bay leaves and 1 1/2 gallons water. Simmer on low heat, stirring frequently, for 2 hours.
• Puree in a blender until smooth.
• For the tinga spice: Mix paprika, salt, granulated sugar, cumin, pepper, brown sugar, chile powders, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano and cayenne together in a bowl. Transfer to an airtight container.
• For the enmoladas: Place crushed peanuts in a large skillet and heat and toss until they begin to release their oils; add some tinga spice and toss to coat. Turn off heat and set aside.
• Put several inches of oil into a Dutch oven and heat up until hot. Dip enchilada shells into the oil with tongs until pliable, 5 to 8 seconds. Place on a large rimmed plate. Place 2 ounces warmed shredded lamb (including any jus) on each shell. Using your fingers, roll each shell. Ladle Oaxacan mole sauce over entire plate-enmoladas are about the sauce!
• Garnish the enchiladas with Cotija, spiced crushed peanuts and 2 ounces pickled shallots. (Save remaining meat, shallots, mole and tinga for another use.)

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine all sauce ingredients in 2-quart saucepan.
• Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a full boil. Cool slightly.
• Place mixture in 5-cup blender container or food processor bowl fitted with metal blade.
• Cover; blend 1 minute or until smooth.
• Set aside.
• Melt butter in 10-inch skillet until sizzling; add onion.
• Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened.
• Stir in 1/2 cup mole sauce, shredded pork and red pepper; mix well.
• Divide pork mixture evenly among tortillas; roll up tortillas.
• Place into greased 13x9-inch baking dish, seam-side down.
• Pour remaining sauce over tortillas; sprinkle with cheese.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Steps:

• break the stems off the chiles and remove the seeds. rinse the chiles.
• toast the chiles until fragrant in a large, heavy skillet, turning them frequently. transfer the chiles to a large saucepan and cover with water.
• simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes, till softened.
• while the chiles simmer, toast and roast the other ingredients. toast the sesame seeds over medium heat in the skillet. watch them carefully as they begin to release their fragrance, browning lightly and dancing in the pan. don't let them burn. spoon seeds into a blender.
• toast the anise and cumin seeds in the skillet until fragrant and add them to the blender.
• pour 1 T of the oil into the warm skillet and str in the nuts.
• saute until lightly colored and fragrant. Transfer nuts to the blender.
• wipe out the skillet and increase the heat to medium high. scatter the garlic cloves in teh skillet, turning the cloves occasionally so that they soften and darken on all sides, which takes a few minutes.
• remove all garlic from the skillet and set it aside until cool enough to handle.
• add the tomatoes to the skillet, turning occasionally as they soften and darken. the skins will split a bit during the process.
• remove the tomatoes and set them aside till cool enough to handle.
• remove the skins from the garlic and tomatoes and add both to the blender.
• pour about 1 cup of the stock into the blender. puree the mixture 2 minutes.
• the sauce will become smooth but a little grainy.
• pour the sauce into a large bowl.
• drain the chiles lightly from their cooking liquid, reserving 1 cup of the liquid. place the chiles and about 1/2 cup of the reserved liquid in the blender and puree. Pour the chiles in the bowl with the tomato sauce.
• Add one more cup of stock to the blender with the remaining sauce ingredients and puree for 2 minutes. this mixture too will become smooth but a little grainy. pour it into the bowl and stir together.
• wipe out any tomato residue from the skillet and add the remaining oil. warm the oil over medium heat. spoon in the sauce and fry it for about 10 minutes, stirring up from the bottom constantly.
• mix in the remaining stock and reserved chile cooking liquid, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes (the sauce can be made ahead and refriegerated for 1 or 2 days or frozen for several months. rewarm before proceeding).
• reserve half of the sauce for another batch of enchiladas or for another use.
• add the turkey to the remaining sauce and simmer together for 15 minutes.
• heat 1 inch of oil in a small skillet till the oil ripples. with tongs, dunk a tortilla in oil long enough for it to go limp, a matter of seconds. don't let the tortilla turn crisp. repeat with remaining tortillas and drain them.
• heat oven to 350. grease a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.
• dip a tortilla into the sauce. top it with about 1/3 cup of turkey drained from the sauce with a slotted spoon, and a couple of teaspoons each of onion and cheese. roll up the tortillas snug but not tight. transfer the enchilada to the baking dish.
• repeat with the rest of the tortillas and filling. top the enchiladas with any remaining onion and pour the remaining sauce evenly over them. scatter the rest of the cheese over the sauce.
• bake for 15-18 minutes till the enchiladas are heated through and the sauce is bubbly.
• serve immediately, with spoonfuls of crema drizzled over and a scattering of cilantro and sesame seeds.