Rediculously proud of myself

Why, you ask?

Well, because I made dinner last night.

So what, you ask?

Well, the thing is, I don’t cook. That’s why I married John.

No, I’m kidding, I married him because he can reach higher than the first shelf of the cupboards.

Anyways, I made dinner last night. I do tons of baking, mostly as stress therapy, but I rarely cook. There’s just something about it that I prefer to leave to others. And up to this point, other than a couple random ocassions, my dinner preps had been mainly pasta, burritos, quiche (really, that’s baking right there), soup, and other simple things.

But last night, I made enchiladas. Totally from scratch. And I mostly made up the recipe. Okay, okay, I’ll admit I used a sauce recipe that’s been in my family for awhile. But it totally came together and was awesome.

And you know what? It turned out extremely well, and I managed the whole thing without screwing up at all. Thus, I really am rediculously pleased with myself. Maybe cooking’s a whole lot more like baking than I thought.

*****

Enchiladas:
Sauce recipe from my great-aunt, the rest I made up from scratch based on a variety of recipes out there in random cookbooks

Sauce:
1/2C oil
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 small cans tomato paste
3C water
1tsp each oregano, salt, cayenne pepper
4tsp chili powder
2tsp vinegar
2tsp sugar

Fillings:
4C mexican blend shredded cheese
2C monterey jack shredded cheese
2 small cans green chilies
1 large can sliced black olives or 2 small cans diced black olives
2C sour cream
3C mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, chopped

Also:
tortillas, corn or flour
3tbsp butter

1. Heat the oil for the sauce, and add the onions, garlic and tomato paste. Simmer 3 minutes. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occassionally. May need more salt/pepper/cayenne pepper to taste.

2. Saute the mushrooms and onions for the fillings in the butter for about 15 minutes, then set aside to cool.

3. Mix the shredded cheeses, green chilies, black olives, and sour cream.

Optional: Slightly fry tortillas in hot oil to make them crisper. I don’t think this is necessary, but it’s how my mom does it.

4. When the sauce is done and has cooled a bit (beware burned fingers), dip a tortilla (both sides) in it to thoroughly coat, fill with the mushroom/onion mix, then the cheese mix. Roll and place in glass baking dish (helpful to put a little sauce on the bottom of the dish). When the dish is full, pour extra sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle some extra cheese on top.

5. Bake at 350°F for about 25 minutes.

Serve with refried beans, sour cream, and diced tomatos and lettuce.

This makes about 10-12 enchiladas, depending on how full you fill the tortillas.