FAUX ENCHILADAS

     I had a bottle of Enchilada Sauce. It was standing among other sauces and mocking me: "What're you gonna do, make Mexican food? You wouldn't dare! You don't know how! 

Quesadillas

Wraps

     W-e-e-e-e-l-l, what that thing didn't know is that, I don't take intimidation lying down! I've been making Quesadillas (tortillas stuffed with meat, veges and cheese. You can put anything you want in it. I mean, Park once made it with elbow noodles! Brrr!), wraps of different kinds and burritos for many years. I love working with tortillas and - most of all - eating them! But I never attempted to make enchiladas. 

Burritos.

Real enchiladas!

     I couldn't just let the challenge go unanswered! My children have been finicky eaters lately, and I wanted to make something into which they would love to sink their teeth!
     I know, I was not even familiar with the recipe and had only flour tortillas instead of the corn ones that are traditionally used in the making of that dish. I didn't care! 
     I fried diced zucchini, onion and spinach. Set it aside. Fried ground beef (with salt, pepper, garlic and ground ginger) and drained it of oil. Combined veges and meat mixtures, let it cool. 

     In a mean while, Hanah and Sonny, captivated by the project, went to the store to buy cheese that I didn't have. Upon their arrival, I added cheese to the meat mixture, laid tortillas in a row and stuffed them. I don't like the stuffing to fall out of the wraps when I eat them, so I tucked both ends of the tortillas in, unlike the usual way, when the enchiladas have open ends. I put some sauce on the bottom of a pretty, white, oval, enameled pan and fitted my wraps close in it. It took just the amount of one bottle of sauce to cover six enchiladas. Then I spread cheese evenly on top of them. The oven was pre-heated to 380`F. I put the pan in for about 13 minutes. By the end of that time, cheese and sauce melted together, covering the wraps in delectable gooey-ness. I guess, I could've kept it in the oven a bit longer - for 16-18 minutes all together - but whatever it was that I made was already good and savory. The taste was a little different from real Mexican enchiladas, and I won't pretend that I didn't notice it, but my Russian style, faux enchiladas were big, plump and delicious imitations of the Mexican ones. U-r-r-r-r-r-ah-ah! I mean,                                                     Ole!