Tuldys TexMex

 

 

ingredients:

• one package of 8 slices of American cheese (not singles)
• dozen corn tortillas
• medium onion
• Tuldys texmex enchilada sauce
• 3 tbsp butter or light flavored oil

Now you probably didn’t know this but real texmex enchiladas have American cheese in the middle. That’s right, American, not cheddar. If your local texmex restuarant uses cheddar, they don’t know what they’re doing. Robb Walsh, noted food historian and author of “The Texmex Cookbook”, a terrific history of the cuisine notes this fact. Originally restaurants used a product from “Land of Lakes” that was known for it’s melting ability. Unfortunately it’s not available for anything but commercial use. Walsh notes the closest you can come is velveeta. I kid you not. Now I’ve been known to use velveeta but I find that sliced American, (you know, grilled cheese American!) is easier to work with and produces similar results. With that said, you need one package of 8
slices of American cheese.How many times have you ordered enchiladas and got something wrapped in a flour tortilla? That’s a damn burrito! With sauce!Now I have nothing against a half pound burrito covered in sauce but enchiladas must be made with corn tortillas. Period. One package of a dozen corn tortillas.

Onion. I never order cheese enchiladas that I don’t order onions on top. That’s personal preference but then again, I don’t mind offending people. One medium onion.

Last but most important, one package Tuldys enchiladas sauce.
This is not up for debate. If you want authentic texmex enchiladas, there is no substitute. Remember I said I experimented with every enchilada sauce recipe I came across for twenty plus years? Believe me, I’ve come across a lot more enchilada sauce recipes than you because I have hundreds of cookbooks and food magazines dating back to the eighties. And I travel for a living and have clipped recipes from newspaper food sections all over the country for twenty five years. Trust me, I’ve seen them all. That’s why I know this is the best enchilada sauce you’ll ever taste. And to top our ‘chiladas off, about a cup of either shredded American, cheddar, or cheddar Jack. Now I just said American is the only cheese on the inside. You can use the others because it’s rare to find shredded American in a frig. Or you can leave it off entirely.

Let’s Get Started

I usually start by getting the sauce simmering. Add the dry mix to 4 cups water and whisk. Don’t think you’re going to improve the taste by using chicken broth instead of water because there’s chicken base in the sauce and your result will be too salty. Trust me on this, just add water. Now we’re making a GRAVY so we’ll need an oil to work with the flour in the sauce mix to make a roux. This will make our sauce smooth. I add butter. 3-4 tablespoons and bring to a boil, reduce and simmer. You don’t have to use butter. Feel free to use canola, vegetable, or even a light tasting olive oil will work. Just be sure to use enough to make a smooth sauce. Heck, sometimes I like a meaty sauce so I brown a half pound cheap hamburger and leave the fat in the pan, add more butter
and then add the water and mix. Face it, you’re not serving enchiladas to lose weight…make em taste good. Once the sauce thickens up, reduce to barely a simmer and we’ll continue putting together the enchiladas.

Now back a long time ago, enchiladas were made with day old tortillas. Nothing was wasted back in the day. We don’t have to use day old tortillas but we still have to make them pliable enough so they don’t crack and break when we fold them. Folks used to dip them in hot oil, which I did for years. Not anymore. Back in the day, they didn’t have PAM. We do now and you need to use it. Just spray one side of a tortilla with PAM (no need to drench it, a quick squirt will do) and toss it greasy side down on a plate. Spritz the other side. Continue to spray both sides of all tortillas. Place the plate in the microwave and zap for about a minute and a half. They’ll be hot when you remove them so separate them as well as you can so they’ll cool quicker.

Now to our cheese. Place the sliced American cheese on a cutting board. Cut 5 equal lines or 6 equal stacks of cheese. Here’s the easy part, now just peel off 3 or 4 layers and wrap them in the cooled tortilla. Place seam side down and cover with the sauce. Add chopped onion and shredded cheese if you desire and microwave or bake at 350 til everything is bubbly. Serve and get ready for the compliments.

In the following recipes you can substitute a mixture of cumin and chili powder in a one to one ratio for Tuldys all purpose seasoning. It obviously won’t be nearly as tasty but it’ll do. Or you may just leave it out.

ingredients:

• chicken (or spinach, mushrooms, shrimp, crab, cheese, or a combo)
• rotel tomatoes
• Tuldys all purpose seasoning
• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup flour
• 8 oz sour cream
• can of chicken broth

This recipe takes me back to high school. A friend and I would trek all the way across Austin for an order of these sour cream chicken enchiladas. A little dive of a restaurant named Vicashimos which has long disappeared had the absolute best in town…and nearly the only ones in town I recall. They used boiled chicken which didn’t have all that much flavor. But leave it to me to improve on near perfection. You can use the old standby, boneless, skinless, (characterless) breasts but I find thighs have much more flavor and they’re cheaper too. Which ever you choose, add about a half pound (or the smallest package you can buy) to a few cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer lightly til done…probably 15 minutes. Remove and let cool. After chicken cools, shred or chop and add to a bowl. *Shortcut! You can always use a rotisserie chicken from the deli. Just be sure to use some dark meat along with the white and I like to chop up the delicious skin and add it to the chicken!) Depending on how much chicken you have, I add about a half can of rotel tomatoes (drained) to a half pound chicken. And obviously a full can to a pound of chicken.

Sprinkle with Tuldys all purpose texmex seasoning, about a tbsp per half pound. This is an easy all purpose chicken filling for quesadillas, taquitos, or chicken tacos. Roll the filling in the prepared tortillas, (just like last time…see texmex enchiladas) place seam side down, and cover with the sauce.

The sauce. This is so easy and delicious. Melt ¼ cup butter.
Add ¼ cup flour and whisk til smooth. Cook on medium low heat for about a minute, stirring. Add a can of chicken broth, whisk until smooth and heat for another minute to raise the overall heat.
Remove from the heat and let sauce sit for about a minute. Whisk in 8 oz of sour cream. Yes you can use low fat but I wouldn’t use non fat. Bake for 10-15 minutes with cheese on top if you so desire, although it’s not necessary.

We used chicken but I’ve also made these with spinach, mushroom, spinach and mushroom, shrimp, crab, and a combination of shrimp and jack cheese, and crab and jack cheese.For spinach, microwave a 10 oz package of frozen spinach for 5 minutes. Place in a dish towel and squeeze out all of the moisture. Chop finely and stuff your tortillas.

For mushroom, saute fresh finely diced mushrooms (5-6 oz) in just a tad butter til wilted. Another variation is to place fresh mushrooms in a food processor and pulse til chopped fairly fine but still in pieces, albeit small pieces, and stuff tortillas. Or like I said, you can use both spinach and mushroom together…delicious.

For shrimp, I saute about a half pound shelled, chopped shrimp in butter and a tbsp Tuldys all purpose seasoning. Use shrimp alone or you can add jack cheese at a one to one ratio.

For crab, I just stuff the tortillas with crab, no seasoning.
Crab can also be used at a one to one ratio with jack cheese.

As you can see, this sauce will work with a bunch of different fillings, heck you could even just use jack cheese. Another variation is to add 2 tbsp of our fresh ancho chile powder to the finished sauce. Or if you like em spicy, a tbsp of our chipotle powder. Ancho cream…chipotle cream…yum!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb tomatillos
• onion
• jalapeno or 2
• fresh garlic
• 7 oz can of green chiles
• fresh cilantro
• 1 tbsp oregano
• tbsp of Tuldys all purpose seasoning
• can of chicken stock

This is your basic tomatillo sauce. A little spicy, a little tangy. Great for chicken, cheese, or veggie enchiladas. You’ll need a pound of tomatillos, a good size onion, ( I always use yellow onions) a jalapeno or two, (depending on how spicy you want your sauce) 2 cloves of garlic, a 7 oz can of green chiles, half a bunch of fresh cilantro, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tbsp Tuldys all purpose seasoning, and a can of chicken stock…

Remove husks from tomatillos. Slice onion into quarter inch thick rings. Place tomatillos, peppers, and onion on a cookie sheet along with 2 of the garlic cloves, and broil until just charred, turning as needed. Remove and place in a blender and add chiles, oregano, cilantro, the other 2 garlic cloves, and Tuldys all purpose seasoning and blend until smooth. Add to a large non reactive (read teflon coated) frying pan and add chicken broth. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and simmer until thickened a bit.

ingredients:

• 28 oz canned green chiles or 10-12 fresh Anaheim or Hatch green chiles
• onion
• garlic
• chicken broth
• Tuldys all purpose seasoning

If you’ve ever eaten enchiladas in New Mexico, you know you have to make a decision between “red” or “green” sauce. (actually I usually order “Christmas” and get both) And you never know which is going to be hotter on the tongue, it varies. I love the green sauce made with Hatch chile peppers, but it too can times be really scorching. In Austin, we can get long green chiles year round albeit they may not be Hatch green chiles. Sometimes we’re just able to get

Anaheim, which are milder. But, a great sauce can be made with the every day Anaheim. Or if you’re lazy like me most of the time, you can buy canned green chiles, although you’ll need about 28oz, so plan accordingly. Anyway, if you’re doing it right, place about 10-12 Anaheims under the broiler and char. Remove the charred skins and place in a blender or food processor. Add 1 small chopped onion, 2-3 cloves garlic, 2 tbsp oil, 2 tbsp flour, 1 can chicken broth, half cup water, 1 tbsp Tuldys all purpose seasoning, and a tsp of salt. Blend until smooth, place in a non reactive sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer until thickened. This is a super sauce that can be used with just about anything although once again, I like cheese enchiladas and with this sauce I use Jack cheese or a combination of Jack and mozzarella.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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