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Sunday, August 29, 2010

Enchiladas- Not Just Mexican Anymore

By Ricky Carles

With the hundreds of dishes available in the country right now, a good percentage of them have an origin that is outside America. An enchilada dish is one fine example. For a dish that started out as Spanish, it has gained a lot of acceptance in most cultures. It was an experimental idea, with some Mexican fishermen rolling corn tortillas around the small fish they used to catch. From then on it has traversed the overseas boundaries to be a common dish in the greater American and European regions as well.

As with any many other dishes, enchiladas have undergone a lot of change over the years, and there are many recipes to show for that. While chili was the first sauce used, different toppings have been used- from sour cream, to cheese and even lettuce. Enfrijoladas are enchiladas that take up a refried bean topping. The kinds of fillings used have also become diverse- from seafood, to beef, lamb, pork, chicken and turkey. You could also have bean fillings if youre vegan.

Making an enchilada is not a science. With ingredients in hand, you will hardly take an hour. A loved recipe is chicken enchilada, where the filling is boneless chicken (mostly breasts or thighs). It has three steps. The first is cooking the chicken. It doesnt have to cook completely, since there is a baking part involved. The second is the adding of ingredients. They could be onions, parsley, cheese, and so on, depending on your recipe. The last step is rolling them into the tortillas, covering them with sauce, and then baking in your preheated oven until they are done. This is not exactly a recipe to follow, since some details are missing, but it shows how uncomplicated the dish is.

If you like casserole, you could make your enchilada dish into one. But not many people go down this road since its just as good in its traditional ways. You might run into Tex-Mex recipes, which have gained popularity over the years. They take in Mexican recipes and prepare using American ingredients and the result is nothing short of mouthwatering.

You neednt be a culinary master to make enchiladas. Granted, you need to know your way around the kitchen, but generally speaking, making them will be easy to learn.

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