Can I Have the Recipe for That?

I love cooking, and perhaps just as much, I love reading about cooking. There's something about the creativity demonstrated in a particularly interesting dish, the rhythm and order in a well-written recipe, that leads me to fill my shelves with more cookbooks and recipe clippings than any one family should rightfully have.

Over the weekend, I whipped up a batch Angel's Enchiladas, an old family favorite. My mom got it from my grandma who got it from my uncle who got it....well, I'm going to let my Uncle Bill tell the story:

Mom was never the type of person to keep “secret recipes.” Over the years many of the recipes in this book have been written over and over to give to people who asked for them. She even used to take copies of a recipe to a dinner along with the dish she had prepared, knowing that she would have one or two requests for that particular recipe at the dinner. She also had no compunction about asking for someone else’s recipe for something she really liked. Probably the best-known “adopted recipe” in our family is Angel’s Enchiladas. When I was in high school in Andover, there was a small Mexican restaurant half a mile up the road from our house that I frequented. I often brought home food from there, and we all came to love the enchiladas. When Angel and Connie Cruz told me they were closing the restaurant and retiring, Mom insisted that I ask for his enchilada recipe – the rest is history in our family.

The book he refers to in his comments is a recipe book we put together of Grandma Osborne's best-loved and best-remembered family recipes. It was a tribute cookbook, full of stories and photos; a wonderful project for the family to work on after her passing.

As I bit into an enchilada last night, I thought about how food, family and friends - three of my absolute favorite things - are so intertwined. So, in celebration of that, here's our recipe for Angel's Enchiladas:

Angel's Enchiladas

• 2 lb ground beef
• 1 pkg taco seasoning mix
• 1 c. minced onions
• 5 c. diced potatoes
• Grated cheddar cheese
• 1 pkg (10) burrito-size flour tortillas
• Hot sauce

Brown ground beef and drain off excess fat. Add seasoning mix and about 1/3 c. water (fill seasoning envelope). Stir and simmer until meal is well seasoned and most of the liquid is gone. Boil diced potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain and add potatoes and raw onions to meat mixture.

Warm tortillas briefly in microwave, or on a hot skillet on the stove top.

Prepare squares of aluminum foil. Place one tortilla on a sheet of foil. Spoon the meat mixture across the center of the tortilla. Sprinkle with hot sauce, then with a generous amount of shredded cheese. Lifting both sides of the tortilla, fold one part over the other. Holding this in place, bring one corner of the foil over the enchilada and tuck underneath, fold over ends, then roll over remaining foil. Steam until hot and cheese melts, about 10-15 minutes after water boils. These can be made in advance and steamed when needed. (When microwave ovens became common, we wrapped the enchiladas in plastic wrap instead of foil. That way they can be heated in a microwave instead of being steamed.)

At this point, my family tradition is for individuals "doctor" the enchilada before eating. Add more salsa, add sour cream, add jalapenos (ok, my husband added that step!)...maybe top with ranchero sauce and a dusting of additional shredded cheddar.

This recipe makes plenty (we call them extras, not leftovers) and each serving is very filling. Extra servings can be stored in the freezer for reheating and eating later.