where do I find decent Mexican food around here?

It's a little bit lumpy from the onions but yes you could process it.   You can also buy jars of Discovery enchilada sauce at the supermarket which are smooth. I am not keen on them myself, they seem to be quite vinegary, but could be something to try out.

That's what they are calling the cilantro around here. Good stuff.

You can adjust the acidity of tomatoes tinned or fresh by adding a pinch of sugar to recipes.

For mexican I often used dark chocolate too.  It's great in chili and in spag bol as well.  You never taste it, it just makes the sauce less acidic. 

For Mexican I also use chili chocolate from South Devon Chili Farm.

http://www.southdevonchillifarm.co.uk/ 

I'd love the enchiliada sauce recipe MeShell.  I made some once form real chilis, but it did not come out too well.  Here I just use Discovery's but with a few tweeks.

Also Britwife I meant to ask... what do you do to your charro beans?

Also Britwife I meant to ask... what do you do to your charro beans?

Because I'm vegetarian I've adapted a recipe I have which used bacon.  Chop half a medium onion and fry in a saucepan, add a large clove of garlic, crushed.  Chuck in a can of drained pinto beans and about 1/3 a bottle of Mexican lager (our local corner shop sells Corona and Sol!).  Simmer til the liquid is reduced then add a can of chopped tomatoes and a handful of chopped jalepenos. Again simmer til liquid reduces and then add a couple of tablespoons on soft dark brown sugar. Cook on a very low heat for a further 10 mins or so until the sugar is well absorbed.  The orignal recipe says it tastes better the nest day and it's true! The flavour does improve overnight.

Tip for making your own enchiladas here. Remember to run your tortilla thru hot oil before putting the ingredients in and rolling them up. They turn out much better that way. Bit hot to handle but they bake better.

Discovery does nice sauces. Old El Paso's sauces aren't too bad. Remember, just because it says Burrito or Fajita doesn't mean you can't use it for enchiladas. If you are making sour cream enchiladas, use cream fraiche instead of soured cream as cream fraiche is meant to be cooked.

Easy enchilada sauce:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Heat oil in large 2-quart saucepan; stir in flour and chili powder; cook for 1 minute.
Add remaining ingredients bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Makes 3 cups sauce.

4-16 oz can peeled plum tomatoes, drained
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 onion, coarsely chopped
2-4 tablespoon ground red chili  (I used 1 tbl and it was hot enuf for me) season accordingly to your heat index
1 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water

In a food processor or blender, combine the tomatoes, garlic, and onion. Process until smooth.

Pour and scrap the mixture into a heavy saucepan
Add the remaining ingred. and stir to blend
Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally
Boil 2-3 minutes
Reduce the heat, cover and simmer 15 min.

Dilute with 1/2-1 cup water as necessary to obtain pouring consistency and simmer 5 minutes longer
taste for seasoning
if a hotter sacuse is desired add more cayenne rather than more ground chili


Hope you like this. It is one of my fav's. Just be careful of the chili and how much you put in it...!!

running them thru hot oil works ok if they are the proper corn tortillas..but the corn one's they have here are still like flour tortillas.......not enuf cornmeal in them...........I use to do this with mine in the States...it is a good idea....

I always dip mine fully into the hot enchilada sauce, making sure they are completely coated, that makes them easy to roll as well.

It keeps the edges from burning when they are baking, too, and makes them stay/go soft rather than crunchy. You'll notice the frozen enchiladas here or the ones you can get in the deli section of your supermarket will go brown or burn around the edges and get crisp, because they don't coat the tortillas.

Damn you all for making me want to make enchiladas.

ok, but I'm really craving a taquito!! Anyone have a recipe for those?? I've not had one in so long, basically it's just shredded beef wrapped in a corn tortilla and fried, right? Man, I used to love the boxes of frozen ones we got back home!

Lots of Mexican recipes here!

http://mexican.allrecipes.com/

If I have to suffer, you all have to suffer. I love to make enchiladas. These were particularly tasty. I usually do mine with shredded chicken, onions, cheese, sour cream, spring onions and black olives.

Ooh food porn i love it!

I'm licking the monitor.... 

Last night I made a pizza with salami, roquefort, kalamata olives and bacon.

It was greasy and delicious.