So for those of you who don't speak Spanish, what I said was "My favorite international food is Mexican. What is yours? My Spanish is limited. Enough is enough." Thank you Google translate for the help. I think I was able to do the title without any trouble. I may be wrong. For those who speak Spanish forgive me if I messed it up.
So...this is about my favorite food, Mexican. I was born in Tucson, Arizona and lived there for my first 7 years until my dad's job moved us to Los Angeles. I basically grew up in L.A. until moving to Chicago in 1996 with my job (there was also a 3 year absence when I moved to Northern Ireland with my wife after graduating from college). Both my parents are from Arizona and New Mexico, so Mexican food is in our blood. And most of my relatives still live in the Southwest U.S., so I hope I do them proud with this post.
Some of my fond memories of Mexican food also come from one of the best Mexican restaurants (in my opinion) in Southern California. It is called The Original Red Onion (for those in Southern California who have never been there, this is their site: http://www.originalredonion.com/). They cook Sonoran style Mexican food and their recipes are hacienda recipes that are over 100 years old. I remember going to the original restaurant on Century Blvd.in Inglewood, CA which is where I grew up. I don't remember how often we ate there, I just remember it was delicious. Over the years they had several restaurants throughout the South Bay area of L.A. and now the only location they have is in Palos Verdes (or "on the hill" as we used to say). My mouth waters when I think of their food. I miss it.
My wife Sharon never ate Mexican food when she grew up in Northern Ireland. They didn't have the ingredients; there were no restaurants; Taco Bell never made it there (if you want to call that Mexican food). She will also tell you that when I first ate British/Irish food I complained that it was pretty bland. All meat and potatoes and stuff. But then I was turned on to the Ulster Fry and it was game over. I'll do a post about that some other time. But getting back to Sharon...the first time she had Mexican food was when she came to visit me over the Christmas holidays in 1980. At first, she was a little apprehensive, but then she came around and now she loves it as much as I do. Good thing...that might've been a deal breaker. Well, no it wouldn't have been, but close.
One of her first dishes was our friend Judy's Shredded Beef Burritos and her Green Chile Rellenos. Yummy! But that is also for another time. Another dish we love isn't really "traditional" Mexican, but it is still really good. I call it Creamy Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Casserole. Again, that is for another time.
This post is about New Mexico Stacked Enchiladas which is what I grew up eating. As the name implies, they are stacked like pancakes rather than rolled up. Just as delicious but rooted in New Mexico. The most typical recipe is really just tortillas filled with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and Red Chile sauce. The one thing though that always, always, always tops the enchilada is a fried egg. I always make my enchiladas with seasoned ground beef, beans, onions, cheese and Red Chile sauce. Below is a picture of what it looks like.
They can look a bit messy, but they are sooooooo good. And I love cutting into the over-easy egg and letting the yolk mix with the rest of the food. I also like to top it with Avocado slices (you can use Guacamole too if you wish) and a little Cilantro. It is very filling. Here is the recipe.
I usually just top it with a canned enchilada sauce (I can visualize my rels cringing and crying). I never made my own Red Chile Sauce as I was a little intimidated about the process. But I went ahead and got beyond my fears and for the first time made it from scratch. I can tell you, I won't be buying the canned stuff again. Here is what the sauce looks like. It was an earthly, slightly hot (I have gringo mouths in my family...not me...the rest) sauce that had a very deep flavor. So good and really so easy.
And here is the recipe. It is a combined recipe from my cousin-in-law Dan and one my mom gave me. The picture does make it look like it is really thick, but it isn't. And if you want it runnier than how it turns out, you can always add more water. Here is the recipe for the Red Chile Sauce.
I guarantee that you'll love these recipes and I am pretty sure that this could become one of your favorite recipes. Give it a shot. If you don't want to try making the Red Chile sauce, just use your favorite canned brand. Let me know if you make it and what you think about it.
As always, tell your friends about my site. Please also share your recipes and stories with me and I'll post it on my site. This is not just about my family recipes (I mean it is but not exclusively). I would really love to make this a site where friends and family can share with each other their favorite foods and food memories. Subscribe to this site and you'll always get notified when a new post is available. Please leave comments at the bottom of the page.
So until my next post, I'll be in the kitchen.
