Mom's Tex-Mex Enchiladas

Mom is back and she cooks up a storm in my latest recipe video.

She describes her Tex-Mex Enchiladas as: "A recipe with just  three ingredients: a can of beef chili, cheese, and corn tortillas." So you can rustle up this tasty meal at a moment's notice -  quick and easy.

What makes these Tex-Mex Enchiladas is a can of Wolf Brand Chili, beef, and no beans. This canned meat sauce is Texas-style. Hey, it's just canned chili, so use any local purveyors you have on hand. You can even substitute it with vegetarian chili. I've used veggie chili before and it's quite tasty.

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Mom uses about a pound of cheddar cheese, but go ahead and use good old-fashioned American Cheese if that's what you got.

One of the tricks for Mom's Enchiladas is to heat the corn tortillas for one minute to soften, them so they don't crack and spit when loaded with cheese and rolled shut. Pssst, don't tell anyone, but I learned to roll a doobie watching Mom make enchiladas.

She also oil sprays the baking dish so the Enchiladas crisp on the bottom, just a little. Okay to use any oil you have in the cupboard.

Once you've assembled the Enchiladas they are ready for a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes of baking - that's it!

Of course, any recipe evolves, so now she adds a few spices for extra flavor: chili,  cumin, garlic, and onion powder, plus salt and pepper. For this version, I'm keeping it simple. Mom didn't use extra spices for this recipe when we were kids. If you want to add extra flavors, go ahead and add a teaspoon of each extra spice.

This is a recipe from my childhood and teen years, made and served by my Mom in the 1960s and early 1970s. And, as most moms were apt to do, any high school friends hanging around the house (often up to no good,) were fed Mom's Tex-Mex Enchiladas.

One of my high school buddies was Marvin, and he still is my friend. We recently got together again when I visited Mom in Gonzales, Louisiana. And I remembered how he loved her Enchiladas more than any of my other friends. So I thought it apropos to have him over to film Mom's Tex-Mex Enchiladas recipe with me.

During the shoot, he mentioned that one bite brought on a flashback from our high school dazes. Well, that's all I needed to make that flashback happen - and as a sign of true friendship, Marvin agreed to reenact hanging out like we were teenagers, again -- listening to rock 'n' roll and sneaking a smoke in my bedroom. Oh boy, wait 'til Mom busts the Doobie Brothers!

Be sure to watch the video to the flashback ending where it's Wayne's World meets Beavis and Butt-head!

Our flashback high school hijinx happened in the last 2 minutes of this recipe video. So be sure to watch my latest video all the way to the end!

So kick back and join Mom, Marvin, and me in a recipe/flashback video that will leave you craving Mom's Tex-Mex Enchiladas. Go ahead and make it for yourself sometime - it's one of Mom's oldies but goodies!

Tex-Mex Enchiladas - VIDEO

Play it here, video runs 8 minutes 57 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Ingredients (about 10 enchiladas)

• 15-ounce can of chili - use any chili with beef (no beans)  you like. Okay to substitute with a vegetarian chili. Hey, use chili with beans if you like - it's all good.
• 1 pound cheddar cheese - okay to use any favorite cheese on sale, even American Cheese. Cheese can be grated or thin sliced.
• 11 corn tortillas - Mom had enough room in her baking dish for 11 filled tortillas.
• 3/4 can water - about 1 1/2 cups water added to chili sauce.
• 2 tablespoons oil - to coat tortillas and bottom of baking dish. Mom used oil spray, but okay to use favorite veggie oil.

Extra spices - optional

• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon onion and garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste - I find canned chili has enough salt for me.

Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a frying pan over medium heat.

First, heat up a can of chili and water. Mom likes Wolf Brand Chili, but it's okay to use any favorite that you like.

Add the chili to a pot, along with 3/4 can of water - or about 1 1/2 cups water.

Next, Mom likes to add extra spices. But it's okay to leave these out, as she did not use them 45 years ago when I was a kid.

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Extra seasonings (optional) include half a teaspoon each of cumin, chili, garlic and onion powders.

Stir and simmer chili sauce for about 5 minutes or so, to thicken just a little bit.

As chili simmers, heat up corn tortillas in the frying pan. You can spray the corn tortillas with oil spray or add oil to the frying pan. Heat tortillas for about 30 seconds on each side or one minute total. You could microwave tortillas to soften.

All you are doing is softening the corn tortillas so they are pliable and easy to roll when filled with cheese.

Oil spray, or coat the bottom of a baking dish. This will help crisp up the enchiladas just a little so they don't fall apart. This is a mushy entree anyway, but so tasty.

As tortillas are cool enough to handle, fill each tortilla with grated or thin-sliced cheese. Mom uses about 2 tablespoons of cheese for each rolled enchilada. Of course, you can load them up with as much cheese as you like.

Place each cheese-filled corn tortilla in the baking dish, side-by-side. Mom managed to fill the baking dish with about 11 rolled enchiladas. Do leave half an inch clear at the top of the dish, as chili will bubble and may overflow. Okay to put a cookie sheet underneath the baking dish just in case.

Add heated beef chili over the top of filled enchiladas. Finally top rolled enchiladas with plenty of cheese.

Add baking dish with enchiladas to a 350-degree oven and bake for 30 minutes, until cheese is melted and chili sauce bubbling hot.

Serve right out of the oven after Mom's Tex-Mex Enchiladas cool down for a couple of minutes.

Saltillo Enchilada Dinner - Deal of the Day

Bigger is not always better, and my latest Deal of the Day is proof is in the pudding. Weighing in at one pound and 3 ounces, Saltillo Enchilada Dinner is one hot mess of a gut busting Mexican-style entree.

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I guess I got my money's worth for 99.99 cents (okay one dollar) from my local 99c only Store, but I ended up paying the price of a sour taste and a bit of queasiness upon finishing the defrosted meal -- and an hour later I had a belching attack.

Now, first off this meal ticked me off visually. Since I've worked in the advertising field a bit, a pet peeve of mine is when the cover art or photo is way different than the unwrapped real meal. Just compare the box above to the plate below.

The cover shows 4 individual enchiladas side-by-side, but what I got were two stacks of sauce-covered tortillas - one side had Cheese Enchiladas and the other was Beef Enchiladas. It was like eating an enchilada lasagna, which would be fine if that was what I thought I was purchasing.

The good news is the Cheese Enchiladas in Chile Con Quesos were okay, kinda like eating enchiladas covered in queso (Tex-Mex cheese) from a can - a guilty pleasure at best. The cooked corn tortillas had a little texture but the taste is typical Mexican fast food bland.

The biggest ripoff were the Beef Enchiladas. For 2 enchiladas, there might have been a tablespoon of meat, total. And who knows what kind of meat it was? They put the meat under the first layer of tortilla, then it was mostly tortilla from then on - probably 4 layers worth, with a tiny bit of enchilada sauce smeared in.

The red enchilada sauce was fiery and chile intense. That's okay with me, but may be too much for sensitive palates.

As for the sides of beans and rice, they were okay. The rice was sauced with tomato like Mexican Rice should be, and still a little firm after microwaving. The pinto beans had some texture too - not refried and mush like most cheap Mexican frozen meals.

There was an extra slot for salsa too. It was a spicy mix of chile sauce. It went well with the beans and rice. I added most of the salsa to the beef enchiladas, as they were the most dry.

The ingredients list is extra-long, even for regular frozen fare. Man, I needed a cleanse after this meal.

It's a big meal, but in this case not a good deal. So on the 99 Cent Chef's Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, I give  Saltillo Enchilada Dinner by El Charrito a 3.

I reviewed Cheese Enchiladas in Chile Con Queso for a buck a few years ago. Check it out by clicking here to see my Cheap$kate Dining review.