When I first moved over here to the UK, the idea of ever being able to enjoy Tex Mex delights seemed to be but a distant dream. These types of ingredients were few and far between and very hard to come by. There are still some things which are really hard to find, but happily there are quite a few ingredients which are a lot easier to find. Yay.
I think we can owe a lot of credit for that to Tomasina Miers who won Master Chef in 2005 and whose main speciality has always been Mexican Cuisine! Greatly influenced by her frequent trips to Mexico, she is the co-owner of the Wahaca Chain of Restaurants.
This recipe I am sharing with you today is one which I first saw on the Betty Crocker site and have adapted to what is available here in the UK. It looked really delicious and really simple to make. I also was able to halve the recipe quite successfully for just we two Tex Mex food lovers.
It used fairly simple ingredients such as salsa and refried beans . . . also tinned green chilies, which are not so easy to find here, in fact I have never seen them. So what I do is roast fresh green jalapenos and then chop them up and use them.
Just wash them and roast them in a hot oven (225*C/425*F/ gas mark 7) until blistered, take them out, pop them into a plastic bag, let sweat, peel and chop up. You can discard the seeds if you want less heat.
I blitzed the beans, salsa, and peppers in my CookHouse Kitchen mini food processor. It works a charm. Dip flour tortillas in the result, fill with cheese, fold and fold again.
Placed into a baking dish, with the remaining sauce spooned over and additional cheese and baked, these are such a doddle to make and very quick as well. You can have them on the table in about half an hour tops, and that is stretching it!
Top with sour cream and your favorite taco/nacho/enchilada toppings to serve. I used sour cream, some salsa and a kind of fresh salsa that I made by chopping together fresh parsley, red onions, and green and black cured olives.
Normally I would have used spring onions, but I was lacking them, and I have to say what I did use was really, really delicious! YUMMY even!
*Enfrijoladas Bake*Serves 5Printable Recipe
What can I say . . . refried beans, green chilis, tortillas, salsa, cheese, delicious!
1 (435g) tin of refried beans (16 oz.)1 can (4.5oz) tin of chopped green chilies(I used 4 fresh jalapenos, roasted and chopped)240ml thick and chunky salsa, any strength (1 cup)240g 4-cheese blend (2 cups)1 package (6 inch) flour tortillas for soft tacos and fahitas
To serve (Just some suggestions):chopped spring onions or red onionsdairy sour creamchopped black olivesgrated cheesechopped coriandermore salsa
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a 13 by 9 inch baking dish. Set aside.
Put the beans, chilies, and salsa into a blender or food processor. Blitz until smooth. Pour into a pie tin. Take your tortillas one at a time and dip into the bean sauce to coat. (I leave it flat in the dish to do the following) Sprinkle 2 TBS of the cheese blend over half of the tortilla and fold over to a half moon, fold in half and then in half again. You should have a triangular shape. Place into the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. Spoon any remaining sauce over top along with any remaining cheese. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Serve hot with your favorite toppings!
I really hope you give these a go! They are simple and quick to make and I think your family will really love them. Mexican food is one of those things that doesn't really look overly appealing, but the flavours are really delicious. I used corn and wheat tortillas which is what I had and they worked beautifully. Provecheeto!!
