This was my first effort at cheese enchiladas.

Ingredients

• 28 oz. of Las Palmas red enchilada sauce
• 8 flour tortillas (roughly 8 inches in diameter
• 3/4 lb. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 3/4 lb. sour cream
• 1/4 lb. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Method

1. Pour enough enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish to cover the bottom.
2. Mix cheese and sour cream in a bowl.
3. Break up the cheese/sour cream mixture into eight portions. Wrap an eighth of the cheese/sour cream in a tortilla. Roll up. Place seam-side down in casserole dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
4. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the tortillas.
5. Pour the rest of the cheddar cheese over the top.
6. Put the casserole in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes.

2018-09-26

This turned out fine. I would serve it to guests.

A couple of thoughts:

• I used flour tortillas. I think corn would be tastier. (And would frying them be better?)
• The Las Palmas enchilada sauce is okay, but it's a bit more bitter than I would prefer... although I would still both make and eat and serve this to guests again.

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Second attempt

• 28 oz can of green enchilada sauce
• 12 white corn tortillas
• Monterey jack cheese

Yup, that's it. 350° in the oven for about 25 minutes (or until some of the cheese on top starts turning brown). This worked. Next time I would probably make a roue to thicken the enchilada sauce a bit more, but perfectly good without it. If this is all there is in the fridge to cook with, I'd definitely do it again, even without the roue.

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2018-10-10: I did this again using ricotta cheese and a medium spicy enchilada sauce. Y'know, that much ricotta doesn't have the texture or taste to be a repeater.

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2018-10-13: This time I decided to do a sort of Mexican lasagna. White corn tortillas. Ricotta. Fried ground beef. Marinara sauce. Not bad. I could do this cooking for the family.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 small cabbage, chopped
• 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes
• 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar or wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• dash nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Method

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and onion and cook, stirring, until ground beef is no longer pink and onion is tender. Add the garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute.

Add the chopped cabbage, tomatoes, tomato sauce, vinegar, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until cabbage is tender.

Yield: Serves 6 to 8. (Source)

Notes

• If your beef isn't lean, leave out the olive oil.
• Most of the heads of cabbage in my store are pretty big. I used only 1/2 a head both times, and it worked great.

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2013-05-22: This turned out pretty good. Definitely a repeater.

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2013-05-27: Made it again today. Really pleased. This will now be a regular dish because it is so easy. Next time around I might use half ground pork.

Somehow, though, I'd like to make it a bit more hearty and savory. Not quite sure what is missing. Could probably thinking the sauce with some corn starch. Some carrots and celery would probably make it more savory, but I'm not sure how that would work with the cinnamon, but it would probably be okay.

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2013-07-13: still in Russia. Made another variation on this. This time I didn't use cabbage, but rather a pound of sweet yellow peppers. (Would have preferred spicy ones.) Half ground pork, half ground beef. Skipped the cinammon and nutmeg. Instead used a tablespoon of ground chipotles.

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2014-05-14: spices this time

• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp ground red pepper
• 1 tsp ground black pepper

Good. For guests I would take it down to 1/4 or 1/2 tsp of red pepper.

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2014-11-29: spices this time

• 1/4 cup sweet hungarian paprika
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground red pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced

This was a good spice combo. I had added 1/2 cup of hot water to the recipe. Next time to make it thicker, avoid that. If it doesn't get thick enough, use tomato paste instead of tomato sauce. And if that doesn't work, maybe some corn starch to thicken it.

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2015-12-04: this time I used:

• 1 tbsp of ground chipotle
• 1 tsp of ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp of black pepper
• 1 tsp of salt

Good stuff.

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2016-10-02: This time I thought I would replace the tomatoes and tomato sauce with a can of green enchilada sauce, add four sliced raw jalapeños (seeded), added some cumin and I deleted the vinegar, salt, cinammon and nutmeg. In other words, I Mexicanized the dish. I like it. May repeat.