Firey Chipotle Beef and Bacon Enchiladas [Zack]

Happy July 4^th! 

I have a weird tradition with my friends that we cook Mexican food to celebrate holidays.  This recipe is what Pete, Lauren, and I are preparing tonight to celebrate July 4^th remotely.  If you’re tired of the traditional burger, give these spicy enchiladas a shot!

Overall, Belgium has really great food and I don't miss too many meals from the US. There are two main things that I do occasionally crave, a freshly-ground cheeseburger and good Mexican food. When  I fancy one of the two, my only option is to cook it myself.

This enchilada recipe is not meant to be a traditional recipe. This is my interpretation of what Enchiladas are to me. The bacon and the chipotle peppers add a smokey and spicy kick to the rolls that really make these special.

Process:

Here is a picture of the ingredients you will need.  I included the "less spicy" amount of chipotle peppers, but feel free to make it as spicy as you can handle!

Dice one whole onion. You are going to use half of it for the chopped beef and bacon, and the other half for the smoky salsa.

Hand-chop your beef and bacon until it is in roughly 1/8 inch cubes. The meat doesn't have to be exactly uniform (that's part of what makes this fun) and make sure you don't over-chop it into a mush.  

Place it in a bowl and add 1tsp cumin, 1tsp onion powder, ½ of the diced onion, 1tsp hot sauce, a pinch of salt, and an optional chopped chipotle pepper.

Let this sit for a while until you are ready to cook it (if it's going to sit longer than 30 mins, put it back in the fridge).

Start 2 saute pans over medium heat. Slice your 2 onions and 2 peppers into moons. Toss them into a sauté pan over medium heat with 1T of olive oil and cook for about 8 minutes until they soften and caramelize a bit.

 
In the second sauté pan, cook your beef mixture through - this should take about 8 minutes as well. Put both the veggies and the beef aside and continue working on the rest.

For your tomato salsa to top the enchiladas, grab a sauce pot and place it over medium heat. Put the remaining ½ of your diced onion in the pot with 1tsp of olive oil. Dice your 2 tomatoes and 2 chipotle peppers, and add them to the sauce pot. Add 1.5 T of hot sauce as well. Let it simmer for 10 minutes. You can also add 1T of sriracha for an additional kick!

Once that is reduced, you have all of your ingredients ready to get rollin. Start your oven preheating at 400F / 200C.

Place a tortilla shell on a flat surface and add the beef mixture in a line down the center. Add the sauted onions and peppers on top, 1tsp of the tomato salsa, and a splash of sriracha if you are feelin cray cray (you know if it's Pete and me cooking, it's going to happen).

Roll everything up into a tube and place it in a large baking dish. Once you have filled the dish with the rolls, brush them with 1T of olive oil and bake them for about 5 minutes. You want the top crispy, but not dark brown.

Take the dish back out of the oven, cover the tops with the tomato salsa, and then cover everything with a nice layer of cheese. Bake until the cheese melts and everything is cooked through.  Top with some cilantro and serve!

Ingredients (serves 4):
1.1lbs of beef (.5kg) either ground, or a whole piece to be chopped later
1/4lb bacon (100g)
6 tortilla shells
2 T olive oil
5 canned chipotle peppers in adobo (less spicy =3)
2T sriracha (optional)
2.5T of hot sauce
1 tsp cumin
1/2 cup Emmental or another melty cheese
3 medium onions, sliced into moons
2 colorful peppers, sliced into moons
2 medium tomatoes

1 small handful of cilantro

Creativity options:

• Make a green salsa to add to the filling (jalapenos, onion, garlic, cilantro)
• Go greek and use ground lamb and top with a creamy feta sauce
• Use pulled pork and make a green salsa for the top
• Go all-veg and use something like eggplant (aubergine)

Song:  Hugh Coltman - On my hands