Carnitas Enchiladas

I didn’t take photos of every single stage of cooking, but you’ll get the general idea. I didn’t borrow this recipe from anyone, I developed it on my own. On the fly yesterday as I thought about what I wanted, flavor wise, from this dish.

Here’s what you’ll need for the enchiladas:

6 roasted jalapeño peppers, seeded and sliced (roasted pepper instructions to follow)

1 can of rotel tomatoes and green chilis

1 cup of diced onion

1 tablespoon each of garlic salt, fresh crushed black peppercorns, and cumin

1 lb of sliced pork tenderloin (think sliced like a pork chop)

1 1/2 cups of cheese- I used 1 cup of pepper jack and 1/2 cup of mild cheddar

6 10in flour tortillas. Corn would be better but I didn’t have any yesterday.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup of tequila

4 oz cream cheese

In a heavy skillet over medium high heat (I would be lost without my Lodge Cast Iron skillet) pour two tablespoons of olive oil. Add your pork tenderloin. You want to sear it quickly, to lock in the juice and tenderness. While one side is cooking sprinkle the meat with the cumin, garlic salt and fresh crushed peppers. Turn the meat after about 1 minute and repeat the seasoning process. Add the onion. You want to let the onion get brown and yummy and cook quickly as you don’t want them to fall to pieces. Dead onion is never good. Remove the pork from the skillet and julienne them. They will still be pink in the center. If they’re not, you overcooked them. Continue to watch your onion and stir as necessary. When your pan is good and hot and your onions are getting brown, add your 1/4 cup of tequila to de-glaze the pan. The smell of this is just glorious. Let that cook for a couple to three minutes as you’ll want the alcohol to burn off. Then add your pork back to the pan. Throw in your can of rotel tomatoes and cover this bad boy for about 8-10 minutes. And you’ll probably want to turn the heat down so that the juices of all this goodness just simmer together and get happy in there. Then add your roasted jalapeño peppers. Oh, and pre-heat your oven to 375.

It should look a little something like this:

You can even see the steam coming off the pan in this photo. I rock. Now add your 4 oz of cream cheese to the pan. Remove all of this from the pan. Now you’re ready to assemble your enchiladas. Put 1/6 of the mixture per tortilla, and add 1/6 of the cheese. I mean, how else should I explain it? Obviously we’re only making six enchiladas! (If you need a tortilla wrapping tutorial you’re in the wrong place. You don’t have to close the ends if you’re making enchiladas). Just wrap them up tight, place them in an un-greased 9×13 glass pan. Or any other pan of a similar size. But make sure it’s deep enough that you can pour in the sauce we’re about to make. How yummy does that look? It gets better. I promise.

When all six of your enchiladas are made, place them in the oven for about 9 minutes. while they cook, we’ll whip up the sauce.

What you’ll need:
1/4 cup tequila
1/4 cup cream
12 oz (1 and 1/2 cups) of sour cream
1/2 to 1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 to 1 1/2 cup chicken broth
2 oz cream cheese
4 oz grated cheese (monterry jack, cheddar, asiago, etc).
In your same heavy pan you used to make your enchiladas, and you don’t have to wash it folks-just use it- you get extra flavor that way. Add your tequila over high heat and let it cook for a couple to three minutes to cook the off the alcohol. Add your cream. Add the sour cream. Stir until it’s smooth. Add the cumin, and the sugar, and the cream cheese. Now add as much or as little broth as you desire to get the taste just right. You want the sauce to be sweet- not overly salty.

Take your lovely enchiladas out of the oven and pour 2/3 of the sauce over them.

Then add the cheese. If you desire to make it look super pretty, you can chop up some fresh parsley and cilantro to place on top too. I don’t have fresh, so I use the dried kind. Place it back in the oven until the cheese on top is all melty and wonderful. I think melty isn’t a word. But I don’t really care.