Cinco De Mayo: Enchilada Stack
Happy Cinco De Mayo! It doesn't take any urging to get me to eat Mexican recipes. It's one of my favorite cuisines. And on the fifth of May in California, we have marvelous parades and festivals, with delicious food, to celebrate the defeat of the French by Mexican troops in 1862. For the whole story, read this account. I decided to make this simple recipe, which has all the same ingredients as enchiladas. But instead of rolling the tortillas, you stack them. I used the smaller sized 6 inch tortillas, but the larger ones work fine too. The store had beautiful blue corn and regular corn tortillas, perfect for a colorful stack.
This is a recipe that you can fix to suit your own taste. Use chicken, beef, pork or make it vegetarian by substituting beans or sauteed vegetables for the meat.
Enchilada Stack
(Adapted from a recipe in Sunset magazine, which I lost. So, I made up the recipe best as I could)
Note: You can use any type of meat you want, or make it vegetarian. Use beans or sauteed squash and onions in place of the meat.
around 16 corn tortillas, the smaller 6" size is best, but the bigger ones are OK. I used alternating blue and white corn tortillas in each stack.
1 bottle salsa of your choice
1-2 Tablespoons chipolte peppers in adobo sauce
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup pine nuts
about 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
about 2 cups shredded jack cheese
oil
radishes and cabbage sliced very thin for garnish
cilantro leaves for garnish
Make the sauce
Heat the salsa over medium heat, then add the chipoltes and mix well. Add the raisins and pine nuts, cook for 10 minutes over low heat. Set aside.
Heat enough oil in a skillet, over medium high heat,to soften the tortillas--about 1/3 cup. Cook each tortilla on both sides until they are lightly crisp around the edges, drain on paper towels as you finish them. Make each stack on a baking sheet by layering 4 tortillas, with chicken sauce and cheese between each layer. End with a tortilla and drizzle sauce on top, with some cheese. Bake the tortillas in a 350 degree oven, for about 10-15 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the stack is heated through. Serve garnished with the cabbage, radishes, and cilantro.
Serves 4 -6 people, depending on whether each person eats a whole stack or splits it.
Now that's a party you've got here! We don't here much about Cinco de Mayo up here but I hope that will change soon!
Posted by: Peter | May 05, 2008 at 02:11 AM
happy cinco de mayo! I belive I saw an enchilada stack on your blog last year and craved it. I've never made this dish or eaten it but your pictures make me want to try my hand at them.
Are raisins typical in this dish?
Posted by: LiberalFoodie | May 05, 2008 at 05:49 AM
raisins!? pine nuts?! how interesting and delicious! my personal preference: cilantro out the wazoo, not just as a garnish. :)
Posted by: grace | May 05, 2008 at 07:00 AM
I'm off to lunch now, Sher - too bad I won't find anything delicious like this over here!
Posted by: Patricia Scarpin | May 05, 2008 at 08:24 AM
This makes me very excited for the Cinco de Mayo party my family is having tonight! I'm the same as you, though - I don't usually need a reason to eat Mexican food because I love it so much!
Posted by: Deborah | May 05, 2008 at 09:40 AM
Beautiful presentation! I love the radishes on top -- reminds me of The Night of the Radishes in Oaxaca -- oh so Mexican a celebration.
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Posted by: RESEARCH "EK KHOJ" | May 06, 2008 at 02:54 AM
mmmmmmmm Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Posted by: LINA | May 06, 2008 at 01:50 PM
Interesting addition of raisins and pine nuts. I might have to leave out the raisins, but otherwise this looks like something my family would enjoy very much!
Posted by: RecipeGirl | May 06, 2008 at 03:41 PM
Please I need a Mexican fix. I'm always surprised that I like raisins in a savory dish like this and the golden raisins are the only ones I'll use. This is beautiful.
Posted by: MyKitchenInHalfCups | May 06, 2008 at 09:29 PM
That looks really good. Now I am craving texmex flavours!
Posted by: Kevin | May 07, 2008 at 01:48 AM
Looks great! Nice pic as well.
Posted by: Chef Erik | May 07, 2008 at 05:22 PM
Good Holy God. I'm flying to Davis tonight. And when I get there, I'm lookin' for your house.
Posted by: John | May 08, 2008 at 01:39 PM
OH God, yes!!!!!
Posted by: Glenna | May 08, 2008 at 07:05 PM
OK, I'm hungry now -- and I just ate! What a wonderful way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, and pretty easy-peasy, as well.
Posted by: Lisa | May 11, 2008 at 09:59 AM