Tex - Mex Beef Enchiladas - ground beef filling with a chipotle sauce

 I have a serious love affair with Tex - Mex food and I especially love enchiladas. I rarely order them in restaurants, but love making them at home instead. I found these wonderful ground beef enchiladas at Everyday Food and couldn't wait to try them. My husband and I loved the smoky,spicy flavor the chipotle chili gave the sauce. It is spicy hot, but not a fire alarm hot, so it does cool down. And considering that we both don't do well with real spicy food, we had no trouble with these enchiladas. Loved them, will make again next week, in fact. Hope you'll give them a try!

Tex - Mex Beef Enchiladas

adapted from Everyday Food

Sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup flour

1 can (15 ounces) of low sodium chicken broth

1 cup of water

1/2 of a medium onion, minced, my addition

1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon dried cumin - my addition

1 small, canned, chipotle chili pepper in adobo sauce, minced- my chili was about 3-4 inches long

1 tablespoon adobo sauce

Beef Filling:

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 of medium onion

2 cloves minced garlic, my addition

1 teaspoon chili powder, my addition

1 teaspoon cumin

salt and pepper to taste

8 ounces freshly grated cheese, I used a Cheddar Jack cheese

1/2 cup cilantro

about 10 corn tortillas

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the onion in the 2 tablespoons of oil until softened. Stir in the flour and the chili powder, and whisk for about 1 minute while the flour cooks. Slowly pour in the broth and water, whisking as you pour. Add adobo sauce and minced chipotle pepper, the broth and water. Mix well; bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes. Remove from heat until needed.

2. In a skillet, brown the ground beef and minced onion together. When meat is no longer pink, stir in the garlic and stir about 1 minute. Drain off any fat. Season the meat with the chili powder, cumin and salt and pepper.

3. To assemble the enchiladas:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Pour about 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Warm the tortillas. I stacked the tortillas on foil, wrapped them up and placed in oven for about 10 minutes. They were ready to use then. Stir about 1/3 cup of sauce into the beef mixture. Place a rounded 1/4 cup of meat on each tortilla. Add about 1 tablespoon of shredded cheese, and roll up. Lay seam side down in the baking pan. Spread the remaing sauce over the enchiladas. Cover with the cheese. Turn oven up to 400 degrees F. and place enchiladas into the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes until cheese is melted and enchiladas are bubbly. Remove from oven and garnish with cilantro. I also added some diced green onion. So good -  enjoy!

Also check out my Chicken Enchiladas with Sour Cream Sauce
and my Shredded Beef Enchiladas.