Monday, September 20, 2010

Enchiladas - What to do with a Gallon of Pulled Pork Leftovers - Day 6 - Made with a Cheese Sauce





Sure, I am using pulled pork, but this works great with fish (blackened Tilapia is amazing as an enchilada), fowl (file this for turkey leftovers), beef (Meatloaf makes a great filler for enchiladas) and obviously...

Pork!




Lots of layers of flavors in this one...


I use my tropical salsa recipe, with sweet pineapple...


I use a Spanish rice recipe, with peppers and onions and Cajun spices added to the rice.


And of course, the pulled pork has a hint of Raspberry Chipotle finishing sauce.


All topped off with a creamy cheese sauce.


Oh My indeed!


This is one of those... If you can make dish A and dish B, you can also make dish C.

So, to get to dish C (the Enchilada), we have to cover the salsa and Spanish rice first.  Better get started...



First the Tropical Salsa...




I give the recipe in "parts".  I always make a pretty big batch (1 cup per part), so I can have extra for dipping crackers!  I used about half to finish the enchiladas, so if you are making this recipe, 1/2 a cup per part is what you need.


1 part (either 1 cup, 2 cups, or 1 TBS) of diced Onion
1 part (either 1 cup, 2 cups, or 1 TBS) of diced Red Bell Pepper
1 part (either 1 cup, 2 cups, or 1 TBS) of diced Pineapple
2 part (either 2 cup, 4 cups, or 2 TBS) of diced Roma Tomatoes
A NOTE ABOUT DICING - try to dice everything the same size
1/2 part (either 1/2 cup, 1 cups, or 1/2 TBS) of minced Parsley
1/2 part (either 1/2 cup, 1 cups, or 1/2 TBS) of "not your Grandmother's HERBES de PROVENCE"
Juice of 1 lime

And if you like a runny salsa, more dip-able, take 1/4 part of additional tomatoes and run them through a mini chopper till they are liquefied.
Mix it all together, and you have fresh made salsa!



Next, the Spanish Rice...


1/2 cup of diced onion, 
1/2 cup of diced red bell pepper. 


Heat the mixture in  a little oil till you can see the onions start to become clear. Add a pinch of Cajun spices.  I used my "Big easy in a Jar" mix that I always have on hand.  Any of the better commercial spice mixes will work fine....

Add 2 cups of chicken broth to the pan and get the liquid boiling... Add 1 cup of rice and cook til the liquid is absorbed...



And viola... um, Ole!  You have Spanish Rice!





And now, the Creamy Cheese Sauce...


1 cup Heavy Cream
1 cup Whole Milk
1 cup White Cheddar Cheese
2 TBS "not your Grandmother's HERBES de PROVENCE"
1 cup Tropical Tomato Salsa (see above)

Heat the Cream and Milk, add the cheese and stir till well mixed and the cheese is melted. Add the Salsa and spices.

And presto... Creamy Cheese Sauce!



And finally...


To  make the enchilada, set up an assembly station...


line up the pulled pork, salsa, Spanish rice and the cheese sauce next to flour tortillas, next to a large baking dish...
  • Lay out a tortilla, add 1/2 cup of the pork, 1/4 cup each of the rice and salsa.
  • Roll up the tortilla and place in the pan
  • Repeat and make 8 tortillas, stuffed into the pan side to side
  • Pour all of the sauce over the tortillas... it will sink into the bottom of the pan, coating as it sinks.
  • Top the enchiladas with a cup of grated Cheddar Cheese and 1/4 cup of the Caribbean Tomato Salsa.
  • Bake in pre-heated oven, 350 degrees for 30 minutes.


It's just a leftover recipe... But among the best!
...

3 comments:

  1. Those quite possibly are the best looking homemade enchiladas that I've ever seen!

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  2. Oh my goodness, those look so rich and cheesy! Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dang, I'm behind on commenting!

    The cheese sauce and spanish rice rock this dish. I'm a big fan of enchiladas (except fish ones, yuck!).

    ReplyDelete