Red Chile Pork Enchiladas

The Bon Appetit magazine this month was on point. There were so many delicious recipes that really focused on the flavors of the season.

This was one of them – what I love about it is that it really explains the technique of how to make good, authentic enchiladas. You fry the tortillas for just a few seconds before you coat them in the sauce. It’s delicious and really made a difference with the texture of the meal.

Another awesome part is that you can assemble the enchiladas ahead of time and freeze them or throw them in the fridge.

A really great time they gave in the magazine was to look for tortillas that had condensation in the packaging. This was an indication of the freshest of the good ole guys.

Instead of making the sauce, you could always substitute a red enchilada sauce. My favorite is this one. You can usually find it in any grocery store. The big take away of this recipe is the way you fry the tortillas before assembly.
Red Chile Pork Enchiladas

Red Chile Pork Enchiladas
Red Sauce and Filling
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
14 dried guajillo chiles, seeds removed
4 dried ancho chiles, seeds removed
3 dried morita chiles (or chipotle chiles in adobo sauce)
4 cups chicken stock
8 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon crushed Mexican or Italian oregano
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt), fat trimmed
Kosher salt
2 bay leaves
Assembly
1 cup vegetable oil
8 6-inch white corn tortillas
10 ounces queso fresco, crumbled, plus more for serving
Sauce And Filling
Toast coriander seeds in a small skillet over medium heat, swirling pan often and adding cumin seeds during the last 30 seconds of cooking, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Let cool, then finely grind in spice mill or with mortar and pestle.
Bring guajillo, ancho, and morita chiles and stock to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cover, remove from heat, and let sit 45 minutes to let chiles soften.
Transfer chile mixture to a blender and add toasted spices, garlic, tomato paste, and oregano and purée until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Preheat oven to 250°. Heat oil in a medium heavy pot over medium-high. Season pork with salt and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, 10–12 minutes. Pour off excess oil and add chile purée and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, cover, and transfer to oven.
Braise pork until meat is very tender and shreds easily, 1 ½–2 hours; season with salt.
Skim excess fat from chile sauce; discard bay leaves. Transfer pork to a large bowl. Let cool slightly, then shred with 2 forks. Mix ½ cup chile sauce into pork; season with salt. Set remaining sauce aside.
Do Ahead: Pork can be braised 3 days ahead. Let cool in chile sauce (do not shred); cover and chill.
Assembly
Preheat oven to 425°. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high until it bubbles immediately when edge of tortilla touches the surface. Working one at a time, fry tortillas until just starting to brown and crisp, about 10 seconds per side (they should still be somewhat pliable). Transfer to paper towels to drain.
Dip both sides of each tortilla in chile sauce just to coat, then transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Spread 1 cup sauce down the length of a 13×9″ baking dish. Spoon ¼ cup pork mixture across the center of a tortilla and fold one side over filling, then continue to roll up tortilla. Place seam side down in prepared baking dish. Repeat with more sauce and remaining tortillas (enchiladas should be nestled right up against each other in pan).
If freezing, stop at this point and cover with two layers of heavy-duty foil. Before cooking, thaw overnight in fridge and continue with process.

Top with cheese and remaining sauce. Bake until sauce is bubbling and cheese is beginning to brown, 15–20 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes.

Adapted from Bon Appetit

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