3/11/08 Mission Accomplished

Mission Accomplished! (No, I’m not wearing a flight suit and standing on an aircraft carrier in San Diego bay) He actually thought they were good. “This is pretty f-ing good!” Jon wasn’t describing my fried rice or pasta with Italian sausage. He actually said that after tasting the turkey enchiladas I made the other night.

This all started months back. It was my first attempt at making enchiladas. I mean really, how hard can it be?!?! Well, apparently, and if you don’t know any better, kinda tough! 1 can enchilada sauce. Label was in Spanish, so I’m thinking it’s probably alright. Corn tortillas (American brand) from the grocery store, plus a pound of ground turkey. Okay, cook up the turkey (that will be the filling). Take 1 corn tortilla, add turkey filling, add some shredded cheese, roll it up, and ACK! Hull breach!!!! Red alert – losing life-support on the lower decks. The corn tortilla ripped in the middle as I rolled up the enchilada. Ummm… okay. Let’s try this again. Take 1 new corn tortilla, add turkey filling (not too much this time), add some shredded cheese, and roll it up, Agh! Why the hell is it ripping??!!!!??
“Peg, maybe you need to warm up the tortilla,” comments from my gentle husband.
“Okay, pop it in the microwave for 20 seconds.”
Now, take 1 (warm) corn tortilla, add turkey filling, add some cheese, gently roll it up, and DAMN IT. It’s like when Han Solo used the lightsaber to slice open the tauntaun on Hoth (minus the smell). Maybe I need to roll it against the grain of the tortilla. Okay, take 1 corn tortilla, turn it 90 degrees against the grain, add the filling/cheese, and roll – it – up – slowly. Eeeee, damn; ripped, but it’s just a little rip.
“Peg, maybe you need to warm up the tortilla and then roll it against the grain.” Again, from my gentle husband.
Now it’s turning into an experiment (let me get my lab notebook). After much trial and tribulation, the winner was a slightly warm tortilla rolled 45 degrees against the grain. I would say 10 out of 12 enchiladas were slashed tauntauns, but all of them were heavily bandaged in cheese and enchilada sauce. They tasted good, but not picture perfect.

Fast forward 6 months and I’m at it again. This time, FLOUR tortillas, Fresh Flour tortillas. Brown the ground turkey, throw in a jar of salsa, and some diced up green chiles (jalepenos if you have them), add in a can of corn if you want. Rolls right up. Finish with cheese and enchilada sauce. Perfectly presentable.

“This is pretty f-ing good!” (Do I detect a hint of surprise??)

So, until I hear back from Rick Bayless, it will have to be flour tortillas.

In the veggie box:
Strawberries (4 boxes)
Oranges
Broccoli crowns
Radishes
Spring salad mix
Green peppers
Carrots with top
Cabbage
Baby bok choy