Enchiladas Part 1

Kitchen catastrophes seem to be my thing. It's like they're attracted to me. They started in my mom's kitchen when I learned not to put hot red liquids into a blender: the blender will explode and spaghetti sauce takes over. Kitchen catastrophes have continued to follow me, and have especially plagued me lately when 1. the fire alarm went off because my grill pan was smoking, 2. my kitchen aid mixer went out of control and spewed mashed potatoes everwhere (twice), and 3. most recently when I had multiple accidents with knives and can lids.

The night I made these enchiladas for Lisa and Andrew started out great. I planned ahead and made fresh salsa, had all of the ingredients for the enchiladas prepared and ready, and even had everything we needed for margaritas sitting out on the counter. As I prepared to assemble the enchiladas, tragedy occured - the knuckle of my middle finger grazed against the tin can lid of pickled jalapenos I just opened. Ouch! I left the kitchen, ran my finger under running water in the bathroom, and put pressure to stop the bleeding. Yuck! Not an appetizing story for a food blog... 2 minutes later, Lisa and Andrew arrived and luckily Lisa saved the day by helping me assemble the enchiladas! It was fun, and nothing was lost - except pictures of how to do it.

So here is the recipe for beef enchiladas, part 1, pre-finger injury. Part 2 will have to come another day when I can make these babies again. Trust me, they are delicious. I will be nice and describe to you how to assemble them without pictures, that way you can make them before the day comes that I am able to make them again. (Which will hopefully be soon!)

You need:

• 3 pressed garlic cloves
• 3 T chili powder
• 1 t. cumin
• 1 t. sugar
• salt
• 1 1/4 lb. top blade steaks, trimmed
• 1 T. olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1/2 c. water
• 2 c. shredded colby jack cheese
• 1/3 c. chopped cilantro
• 1/4 c. chopped pickled jalapenos
• 12 corn tortillas

Start out by getting the spices together in a bowl: the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and sugar.

Then, get the meat ready:

Trim the meat by cutting out the center strip of fat from the middle of each steak.

Get some olive oil heating up over medium-high heat in a large pot,

and place the steak strips into the oil,

getting them browned, but not cooked all the way through.

Once they are browned on both sides, put them on a plate.

Then, get your onions chopped up,

and sautee them in the same pot.

Add the spices, and stir.

Next, add tomato sauce,

water,

bring to a boil,

add the meat back to the pot, turn heat to low,

cover with a lid and let simmer for about 1 1/2 hours.

Now, follow the instructions in Enchiladas Part II (Coming soon!) to assemble the enchiladas!