**The Art of Making Delicious Tex-Mex Enchiladas**

For this recipe, we're starting with four jalapenos, which I'm gonna stem, cut in half, and seed. Two poblanos, same deal, and eight to 10 peeled tomatoes, staying in one piece. Oop, come on back, little guy. These are all headed onto a foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet, along with two cloves of garlic, and are headed under the broiler for anywhere from five to 15 minutes, depending on your broiler's strength. We just wanna catch a little light char on the vegetables.

We'll let those cool off a bit before adding to the jar of a blender, along with 10 to 12 cilantro stems folded up, however necessary. A generous pinch of kosher salt, a few twisted freshly ground black pepper, then blend on high speed for about a minute. Making good use of a blender stuffing stick if available. We want this sauce to be pourable, but still have a nice texture to it, so don't over blend.

Last but not least, we're gonna do a little vegetarian filling. Sauteing half an onion, that's sort of somewhere between sliced and chopped, slopped. Half a slopped onion for two to three minutes until beginning to soften and take on some color. Scooting things to the side and adding one small slopped zucchini. Letting that saute for another two to three minutes until it too is starting to take on some color. And I had one too many poblanos on that broiler tray, so I'm gonna add that too, skin removed and roughly slopped.

Ew, that didn't sound good. I'm gonna stop using that word now. We're then sauteing everything together for five to seven minutes until lightly caramelized. Last thing we gotta do before assembling and baking is toast our corn tortillas. Just dropping those directly over an open flame, until it's got some nice char and becomes appropriately flexible. Gonna need about 12 tortillas for an average-size casserole, or eight for a 10-inch cast iron pan.

To make sure they stay pliable, we're keeping them warm as we toast them in a clean dish towel. Now to assemble, we're first laying down a solid half cup of sauce, largely for stickage prevention. So we're gonna spread it out evenly on the bottom of the pan. Then the assembly line goes like this: First, the tortillas dipped in the sauce, thoroughly saturating it and covering every square inch, transferring to a designated rolling surface 'cause things are gonna get slopped.

Adding the filling, in this case with the salsa verde, I'm going with the shredded chicken. And rolling up tightly into a sort of savory cigar, placing that seam side down in the appropriate corner of your casserole. Rinse and repeat until the whole dang thing's full. Nestle the edge to edge with tortillas, top of additional salsa verde. Then comes the cheese, which, of course, we shredded ourselves. Six to eight ounces of Monterey Jack, pepper jack, or mild cheddar.

Then it's the exact same procedure with different parts for the beef enchiladas. Thoroughly coating each tortilla in classic enchilada sauce, stuffing to the rafters with beef wrapping tightly and arranging symmetrically. This time I'm gonna use a 10-inch cast iron pan. Extra sauce drizzled over top, and, of course, lots and lots of cheese.

I'm gonna go with both cheddar and Monterey Jack for this one. Last but not least, for the vegetarian version, I'm dipping first in the enchilada sauce, loading it up with our cooked vegetables, and a rope of Oaxaca cheese, wrapping up tightly, and same procedure. But for this one, I'm using both sauces in what I think will be a controversial, but delicious decision.

No matter how you choose to stuff and stack, these guys are headed into a 375-degree Fahrenheit oven, first being covered in foil. Then after 10 minutes, we're gonna remove the foil, bake for an additional five to 10 until bubbly and lightly brown. To garnish, I'm gonna crumble some farmer's cheese or Cotija over top. Hit it with a little bit of grated lime zest. Drizzle with crema available wherever crema is sold.

And scatter with cilantro in big pick-offable pieces like these. If you're like me and you don't like cilantro, and there you have it - some absolutely lovely Tex-Mex enchiladas, positively brimming with flavor, and of course melted cheese. And depending on which sauce and filling you choose, either quite easy and quick, or a little challenging in taking the better part of the day. Either way, it's like an hour and a half for a day well spent.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- This episode issponsored by Better Help,an online therapy platform.There's nothing wrong with needing help.I've been open about mystruggles with depression,and anxiety, and bingingwith Babish would not exist,had I not started going to therapy.Therapy helped me learn howto take better care of myself,push out of my comfort zone,and seek out new creative endeavors,like making YouTube videos.Better Help's mission is tomake therapy more affordableand more accessible.And this is really important for me,because finding a therapist that you likeand can afford can be really hard,especially if you're onlylimited to options in your area.Better Help is a platformthat makes finding a therapist easierbecause it's online, it's remote.And when you fill out their questionnaire,you're matched with aprofessional therapistin as little as a few days.It's easy to sign up and getmatched with a therapist.There's a link in my description.It's betterhelp.com/babish.Clicking that link helpssupport this channel,but it also gets you10% off your first monthof Better Help, so you canconnect with a therapistand see if it helps you.So whether you'reworking through somethinglike depression, or anxiety,or you're just a person who'sgoing through something,and needs to talk to someone,I recommend startingtherapy to help you lookat life in a different way.Go to betterhelp.com/babishto get 10% off your first month.(upbeat music)Okay, so the core componentsof Tex-Mex style enchiladasare fillings, sauce,tortillas, and cheese.Let's start with the fillings.First up, a braised beef.I've got 1 1/2 poundsof boneless chuck roastthat I'm breaking up into one inch cubes.Generously seasoning with kosher salt,mixing thoroughly to combine,and letting sit at roomtemperature for about an hour.Then in a high walledsaute pan or braiser,we're sauteing one large,roughly chopped onionin two tablespoons of neutral oil.Once you got a little bit of color going,we're gonna add fourcrushed cloves of garlic,two bay leaves, and 11/2 teaspoons of oregano.Allow that to be merely kissed by the heatfor about 30 seconds.Then add enough beef stock tojust barely cover the onions.Then we're gonna sort ofnestle the beef on topmaking an effort to onlypartially submerge it in the stockbecause instead of searing the beef,we're gonna rely on theoven to bring the brownness.Oop, almost forgot teaspoonof black peppercorns.Bring things up to a simmer.And then once the guy's bubbling,he's headed into a preheated300 degree Fahrenheit ovenfor anywhere from two to four hours.Fetching every 45 minutesor so to shuffle the beefto make sure that it browns evenly.Then once the beef is very, very tender,we're gonna optionally coverand refrigerate overnight.This just makes the beef easier to shredand the fat easier to removefrom the cooking liquid.And there you have it,the filling for our beef enchiladas,which then brings us tothe question of sauce.Most often a cherry red enchilada sauce,or a classic salsa verde.To make the former, I'mstarting with two ouncesof guajillo chiles, oneounce of ancho chiles,one ounce of pasilla chiles,and two or three chiles de arbol,all of which I'm going tostem, seed, and roughly chop,before treating them to a little toastingin a dry saute pan.Three to four minutes overmedium heat or until fragrant.And then we're adding just enough waterto cover the chilies,along with half a whiteonion, roughly chopped,and three cloves ofgarlic peeled and smashed.Bring the water up to a bare simmer,kill the heat and cover,allowing to steep for 30 minutesbefore transferring intothe jar of a blender,along with one cup of the steeping water,which Kendall and Nico dared me to taste.So I did and gotta say it was pretty good.Not gonna replace mymorning coffee anytime soon.Anyway, we're adding that to the blenderand blending on highspeed for about one minuteuntil completely smooth.Go ahead and set that asidebecause believe it or not,we're not done yet.To finish the actual sauce,we're heating three tablespoonsof neutral flavored oilin a high walled sautepan until shimmering.At which point we're gonna addthree tablespoons of flour,whisking together to makea thick but whiskable roux,which we're gonna cookover medium high heatfor one to two minutesuntil it starts to turna lovely shade of golden brown.At which point we're gonnaadd one teaspoon of cuminand 3/4 of a teaspoon of oregano,allowing that to toast in thehot roux for about 30 seconds,and then slowly streamingin 3 1/2 cups of chickenor beef stock.Adding one little splash at a timeand whisking until completely combined.Once we got all thestock whisked in there,we're also gonna add our chili puree.Looks to have yieldedat about cup and a half,two cups worth.Now we're gonna bring this up to a simmerover medium high heat.Cranking the heat all the way down to low.And cooking, whisking occasionallyfor anywhere from five to 15 minutesuntil the sauce comfortablycoats the back of a spoon.So that's sauce number oneand filling number one.Let's move on to chicken.I've got two large chicken breasts herethat I'm gonna butterfly,that is cut them acrossthe center of the breastand open them up like a book.Then over in a wide high walled saute pan,I'm bringing about five cupsof water, four garlic cloves,two bay leaves, atablespoon of peppercorns,and half a roughly choppedonion up to a simmer.Once riotously bubbling,we're gonna remove the lid,kill the heat, and let it standuntil it's reached about200 degrees Fahrenheit.Now, we're gonna dropin our chicken breastsand let them steep in the hotwater for about 15 minutes,until their thickest pointregisters 160 Fahrenheit.I know this looks kind of gross,but it's sort of like a cheater sous vide.The breasts are being slow poached,which means they're gonnaretain more moistureand end up less stringy once cooked.Once they're up to temp,we're gonna let themcool the room temperatureor fridge overnight before shredding.Now onto the sauce, inthis case a salsa verde.I've got two jalapenosthat I'm gonna stem,cut in half, and seed.Two poblanos, same dealand eight to 10 peeledtomatillo staying in one piece.Oop, come on back, little guy.These are all headed onto afoil-lined, rimmed baking sheet,along with two cloves of garlic,and are headed under the broilerfor anywhere from five to 15 minutes,depending on your broiler's strength.We just wanna catch a littlelight char on the vegetables.Go ahead and let those cool off a bitbefore adding to the jar of a blender,along with 10 to 12cilantro stems folded up,however necessary.A generous pinch of kosher salt,a few twisted freshly ground black pepper,then blend on high speedfor about a minute.Making good use of a blenderstuffing stick if available.We want this sauce to be pourable,but still have a nice texture to it,so don't over blend.Last but not least,we're gonna do a littlevegetarian filling.Sauteing half an onion,that's sort of somewherebetween sliced and chopped, slopped.Half a slopped onionfor two to three minutesuntil beginning to softenand take on some color.Scooting things to the sideand adding one small slopped zucchini.Letting that saute foranother two to three minutesuntil it too is startingto take on some color.And I had one too manypoblanos on that broiler tray,so I'm gonna add that too,skin removed and roughly slopped.Ew, that didn't sound good.I'm gonna stop using that word now.We're then sauteing everything togetherfor five to seven minutesuntil lightly caramelized.Last thing we gotta do before assemblingand baking is toast our corn tortillas.Just dropping thosedirectly over an open flame,until it's got some nice charand becomes appropriately flexible.Gonna need about 12 tortillasfor an average-size casserole,or eight for a 10-inch cast iron pan.To make sure they stay pliable,we're keeping them warm as we toast themin a clean dish towel.Now to assemble, we're first laying downa solid half cup of sauce,largely for stickage prevention.So we're gonna spread it out evenlyon the bottom of the pan.Then the assembly line goes like this.First, the tortillas dipped in the sauce,thoroughly saturating it andcovering every square inch,transferring to adesignated rolling surface'cause things are gonna get slopped.Adding the filling, in thiscase with the salsa verde,I'm going with the shredded chicken.And rolling up tightly intoa sort of savory cigar,placing that seam side downin the appropriate cornerof your casserole.Rinse and repeat until thewhole dang thing's full.Nestle the edge to edge with tortillas,top of additional salsa verde.Then comes the cheese, which, of course,we shredded ourselves.Six to eight ounces ofMonterey Jack, pepper jack,or mild cheddar.Then it's the exact sameprocedure with different partsfor the beef enchiladas.Thoroughly coating each tortillain classic enchilada sauce,stuffing to the rafterswith beef wrapping tightlyand arranging symmetrically.This time I'm gonna usea 10-inch cast iron pan.Extra sauce drizzled over top,and, of course, lots and lots of cheese.I'm gonna go with both cheddarand Monterey Jack for this one.Last but not least, forthe vegetarian version,I'm dipping first in the enchilada sauce,loading it up with our cooked vegetables,and a rope of Oaxacacheese, wrapping up tightly,and same procedure.But for this one, I'm using both saucesin what I think will be a controversial,but delicious decision.No matter how you choseto stuff and stack,these guys are headed into a375 degree Fahrenheit oven,first being covered in foil.Then after 10 minutes,we're gonna remove the foil,bake for an additional five to 10until bubbly and lightly brown.To garnish, I'm gonnacrumble some farmer's cheeseor Cotija over top.Hit it with a littlebit of grated lime zest.Drizzle with crema availablewherever crema is sold.And scatter with cilantroin big pick offable pieceslike these.If you're like me andyou don't like cilantro.And there you have itsome absolutely lovelyTex-Mex enchiladas, positivelybrimming with flavor,and of course melted cheese.And depending on which sauceand filling you choose,either quite easy and quick,or a little challenging in takingthe better part of the day.Either way, it's like an hour and a halfor a day well spent.(gentle music)\n"