# Enchilada Challenge



## Arcana (Mar 9, 2006)

I have an enchilada challenge for all you great cooks out there I'm an American living in Bulgaria for the past 16 months and there are ingredients I can't get here. Corn tortillas are one of them. I can get tortilla chips though. So, what I would like to know is, how could I make a cheese enchilada casserole type dish using the chips instead of the torts and not have them come out crunchy or too dry. I want to use red sauce, cheddar cheese and the chips only and have it come out similar to regular cheese enchiladas. Any and all instructions will be appreciated especially amounts and how to layer.


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## Debbie (Mar 9, 2006)

I wonder if you could find the ingredients to make your own corn tortilla?  here is a site that tells you how to make them..


http://www.texascooking.com/features/may98corntortillas.htm


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## jpmcgrew (Mar 9, 2006)

I have made an enchilada casserole with tostada shells before which are like tortilla chips but bigger I think you would hafto use a fair amount of sauce, but it could work.


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## jkath (Mar 9, 2006)

Do you suppose that by letting the chips soak a bit in the sauce before assembling would help?

Here's what I'd do, were I to make an enchilada type casserole:
Soak the chips in red sauce.

Put a bit of sauce on the bottom of a pyrex baking dish.

Put one layer of the soaked chips, followed by some seasoned ground beef, chopped/sauteed onions, diced tomatoes, and sharp cheese.
Repeat
Top with more chips and then pour the remainder of the red sauce all over, till it's covered everything. End by topping the casserole with a sprinkling of sliced green onions and chopped black olives. Serve with a dollop of sour cream (I'd add avocado slices, but I'm guessing they're not present in your area!)


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## Hopz (Mar 9, 2006)

Can you get lard and masa flour? Man that's about all you need except salt and water....


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## auntdot (Mar 10, 2006)

Googled a bit, particularly using brand names like Doritos, and found a number.

The basic idea seems to be to crumble the chips by hand.

Which seems to make sense, at least to me.

Hope this helps.


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## Poppinfresh (Mar 10, 2006)

I'd have to say make your own as the others above me have said.   Milled blue corn should be available where you are...tortillas are cake to make.  Or else flour tortillas.  Everywhere has flour tortillas...heck, you can find those in Ethiopia, where dirt is a delicacy.

Can you substitute hard shells like that?  Yeah, you can...but they won't taste quite right.  The salt content in them is too different and even if you did "sog" them down to the point that they had the basic flexibility of a soft tortilla...they'd be soggy.


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## Arcana (Apr 9, 2006)

Sorry for the late reply. I was in another city having a baby and no internet. 

Debbie, there are several brands of corn flour here and I bought some and tried to make corn tortillas and they came out awful both in texture and taste. And they were so sticky to handle that it took forever and I used wax paper, plastic and everything else the recipes I was using called for. Now that I have a baby to care for, I'm thinking the tortilla chips would be easier if I can figure out how not to drown them in too much sauce or have them turn out like cardboard cause I didn't use enough lol. 

Hopz, what is masa flour? Is it corn flour? I'm not sure about lard. They have special stuff for deep fryers here but I'm not sure that is the same thing or not. 

Thanks auntdot, I probably will do that. 

Poppinfresh, it's rather amazing what you CAN'T find here. They are very traditional with their foods here. And although we have Kraft and Nestle companies here, I've never found tortillas. There are two mexican cafes I heard about that sell and even deliver flour torts but not corn. When I was in Russia, I was surprised that they had hard taco shells and flour torts but they didn't have soft corn. What surprises me more is that I lived in a small town of 4 million in China for a short time and they had Oreos. Not only the ones from Nabisco but an offbrand too. We don't have Nabisco or Oreos here 

Mostly for cheese enchilladas, I was wondering about how much sauce and how to layer with the tortilla chips I want to use. They are rather thin and get soaked in just a minute or two from the taco meat I've put on them so they aren't hard to soften and actually soften rather easily so I'm afraid of drowning them and having mush.


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## texasgirl (Apr 9, 2006)

Wow, you had a baby? Congratulations!!!


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## velochic (Apr 9, 2006)

I'm no Mexican food expert, but I've always thought that enchiladas could be made with flour tortillas.  That's how I've always made mine, but like I said, I'm no expert.  IN Germany, we're lucky that Mexican food is available in small amounts in the markets - not the millions of varieties like in the US, but enough to make do.

I certainly understand not being able to get American products abroad, but there are ALWAYS ways to improvise... even it it's baking off pita chips in place of dorito-type chips or making crepes for flour tortillas.  I guess part of it is embracing that it's different - one of the first things an American expat told me was to just leave the US behind and do what you can with what you have.  I hope I'm making sense - as usual I'm up in the middle of the night and am half asleep.


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## Yakuta (Apr 9, 2006)

I am with Velochic.  I may also be a minority but I prefer enchiladas made with flour tortillas and not corn.  I find the texture of the corn tortillas a bit dry and tough for my taste.  I dont like to fry much so lightly frying the corn tortillas to soften it (per the original recipe) is also something I don't like to do and that is the reason soft flour ones work well for me.  I would think no matter where you go you can definitely find all purpose flour, salt and some oil or shortening.  

I guess you know the rest of the steps once you have the flour tortillas made.  I am not sure if you get cumin and corrainder seeds there.  If you can get some fresh cumin, corrainder and other spices it will come out great.


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## jpmcgrew (Apr 9, 2006)

Rather than frying the corn tortills to soften we just dredge the tortills in the sauce and go from there .Works really well.l


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## ~emz~ (Apr 9, 2006)

I've always made me enchiladas with flour tortias too! It tastes really good and you could just be able to subsitute the corn tortias for the flour oes. good luck!


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## Claire (Apr 10, 2006)

I've made corn tortillas using the flour you buy for polenta (schkanze, etc) but it does fall apart easily. Otherwise I'd just use the wheat, which is what I use anyway.  The corn flour for Schkanze does make a great tamale pie.  I like the attitude of using what is available and just learn to enjoy things that taste different. I've lived a lot of places in my life. Believe it or not, when I first moved here I couldn't get any sort of yellow corn tortillas or chips, only white (what I refer to a "grits chips"). Now I have a Mexican grocer. I find that corn requires more sauce that regular flour tortillas. 

Velochic, I once took a vacation to Slovenia, right after the iron curtain fell, for a couple of weeks. When my American freinds found out that it was very normal for me to go to a grocery store and pick up cheese, bread, etc for lunch. "How did you do the conversions from metric to English in your head!?" I'd laugh: I don't do math. Why do converstions? We simply looked for something, anything that weighed a kilo or half kilo, eyeballed it, and went for it at the deli counters. Shopping in the grocery stores was a great deal of fun.


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## Arcana (Apr 12, 2006)

Thanks for all the replies everyone My mom liked her cheese enchilladas with flour tortillas but to me that sounds really icky lol. I just love the taste of corn though, so not sure if flour would satisfy me anyway. I actually make great flour tortillas that I started making for the first time in my life after moving here. When I started living in other countries, I really never thought food would be an issue but it sure is. I'm just one of those people who hates change for the most part and I get very attached to things the way I like them. I'm also an ultra picky eater. We actually get Doritos here in small bags so I have about 3 different tortilla chips to choose from.


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## BreezyCooking (Apr 12, 2006)

I always make my enchiladas with flour tortillas, & you can probably make those by hand where you are.


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## velochic (Apr 13, 2006)

Arcana said:
			
		

> When I started living in other countries, I really never thought food would be an issue but it sure is... I'm also an ultra picky eater.



All I can say is that you'll be a richer person (on the inside) to just jump in with both feet and live in the culture, including the food.  I've spent the last 15 years experiencing "foreign" (to the US) cultures and foods and I've yet to find one that isn't beautiful in some way.  I believe that I'm a better person for it.  Best of luck to you.  And best of luck finding those corn tortillas.


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## BreezyCooking (Apr 13, 2006)

Well, regardless of how you "soak" them, you're not going to be able to make corn tortillas out of crushed Doritos.  The most you could do would be to make a layered casserole sort of thing.


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## velochic (Apr 13, 2006)

Claire said:
			
		

> Shopping in the grocery stores was a great deal of fun.



I have made it a point to go into a grocery of every country I've been to, even for a visit.  You're right - it is, indeed fun.  And it really shows the soul the of the country.  I think a grocery is more informational than anything about a country, except perhaps dining in someone's home - and even that is only a sample of one.


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## BreezyCooking (Apr 13, 2006)

I would imagine that, even being a picky eater, the original poster just has a taste for Mexican food.

I'm 100% Czech, & Bulgarian food, like German food, is very similar, & the ingredients are really no different than ingredients found in any American supermarket.  Even the pickiest of eaters, I'm sure, can easily shop & cook in Bulgaria without having to learn new techniques or ingredients, etc., etc.


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## velochic (Apr 14, 2006)

BreezyCooking said:
			
		

> I would imagine that, even being a picky eater, the original poster just has a taste for Mexican food.
> 
> I'm 100% Czech, & Bulgarian food, like German food, is very similar, & the ingredients are really no different than ingredients found in any American supermarket. Even the pickiest of eaters, I'm sure, can easily shop & cook in Bulgaria without having to learn new techniques or ingredients, etc., etc.


I agree and disagree. I agree that the OP probably just has a taste for Mexican food. I can't help him there except to say... improvise, improvise, improvise.

I disagree about not learning new techniques or ingredients.


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## BreezyCooking (Apr 14, 2006)

As someone who LOVES to cook all sorts of different cuisines & is always picking up new items to try at the ethnic markets we have around here, I DO agree with you about learning new techniques &/or ingredients - IF this interests the person.

Just like a sport, if someone isn't really interested in cooking or certain types of cuisines, then at least they're better off being somewhere like Bulgaria rather than some backwater in Thailand - lol!!


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## letscook (Apr 14, 2006)

If you can get corn meal i have a good one . for making your own.  My mom makes for me every year for my birthday. I could eat the whole pan only if my stomach would let me and i didn't plan on moving for the day.
I will get the recipe from her and post it later today.


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## Arcana (Apr 14, 2006)

BreezyCooking: Don't take offense to what I'm going to say but unless you've lived in the USA or Bulgaria, there is no way to know what is in either place. I can assure you that Bulgarians are very traditional about their food and they don't have all of the things available in the USA. They are not as food adventurous as many other cultures. As far as some "backwater" in Thailand (lol) I lived in a sort of "backwater" in China and it's true that the food there and the USA is like night and day including spices and ingredients. I couldn't even identify the spices they use or the precooked foods they sold in their grocery stores. As far as embracing the culture, I have done that as much as I can but that doesn't stop me from missing some very basic foods and recipes that I've loved all my life. As far as Mexican food, I only like a few dishes and I probably shouldn't even call them Mexican as they are more Americanized that true Mexican dishes. 
Also, I don't want to make tortilla chips into tortillas. I want to make a casserole type dish and was just hoping someone had a good recipe for it. I'm a terrible cook if I don't have a recipe with exact amounts or measurements. I can alter things a bit but I need a definite guide. 
Oh, and for the record, I'm a "She" lol.


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## BreezyCooking (Apr 14, 2006)

No offense taken at all.  I think you may have misunderstood what I was trying to say.  Either that or you're confusing me with another poster.  I am not the poster who automatically thought you didn't want to embrace the local culture - but you weren't really clear on that in your original post.

I do live & was born & raised in the U.S., but with all Czech relatives on both sides of the family who brought family recipes over from Europe, just know that the "basic" ingredients are the same.  And I did say that perhaps you were just missing some Mexican food, not that you didn't want to embrace the local culture.

Now you have me confused as to what I said that makes you think I was accusing your adventurous spirit - lol!!!


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## letscook (Apr 14, 2006)

Here is the recipe my mom makes. 
This may look like alot of work but they really arn't
I think I'll give my mother a call and drop a hint maybe my brithday will come early.
hope you like them.

Cheese Enchiladas

Step One: Tortillas
1 cup of four (after it has been sifted)
1/2 cup corn meal
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 1/2 cups cold water
combine the above in a bowl. beat until smooth. spoon onto a hot grill or frying pan and spread with a spoon to make a pancake. turn over when edges begin to look dry but not brown and flip and do the same to the other side. remove and cool. Best not to stack when cooling
Step two: Filling
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup minced onion
1/2 tsp salt
mix well and set aside
Step Three: Sauce
2 tbl minced onion
2 tbl oil
1 tbl flour
1 can (1lb-4 0z) tomatoes drained and save juice
1 clove garlic minced
2 tsp chili powder (if you want it hotter add more)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp tabsaco sauce (or you own favorite hot sauce)
brown onion in oil stir in flour and stir in rest of ingredients, add 1/2 cup of the reserved tomato juice to make it a medium thickness let simmer until thicken and let cool to the touch.
Step 4: Assembly
One at a time, dip tortilla into sauce and then place a large spoonfull of the filling on each and roll up and arrange into baking dish. pour remaining sauce of all the enchildas and sprinkle with remaining filling or if there is no remaining filling grated shrp cheese.
place in 375 degree oven heat throughly approx 20 min.


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## velochic (Apr 14, 2006)

I thought that I felt my ears burning.   

I read through the whole thread. I'm the one that said embrace your culture. Perhaps some here think I implied that you're not willing to do that, but it was just a statement, not a judgement, and it was based on my own experience. You have to work with tools you're given. I lived in Russia, too, so I know what you are going through. It's just that in living abroad these past 15 years, I've learned that you have to work with what you can find. Which is what you are doing and what your questions are based upon. I'll try to actually be helpful in this post. <tee hee> I've never made this dish, so I don't even know if this is good advice, but...

To keep the chips from getting too soggy, I'd keep them whole. Pass each chip through the red sauce very quickly before layering in the casserole. Use very little of the red sauce (letscook gave you a great recipe for that) in the actual finished dish. You can always add it at the end and it will help keep the chips crisp/tender. The cheese will add moisture too, don't forget. Make sure all the chips are covered, otherwise they'll dry out. You want to use cheddar, right? I'm making an assumption here, but from my own living abroad, I'd guess that this is a very aged cheddar... it might have less moisture. Be prepared that it will separate when melted. If you have small dishes, I'd experiment with the amount of sauce and cheese to find the right moisture combination.

Alternately, you could make a nice fondue with mexican ingredients and use the chips as dippers.


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## Quizzie (Apr 14, 2006)

Hello Arcana, IF I  may, I AM OF hispanic Origin and I am sorry that you can not find what you need to make your dish. But, I have to agree with BreezyCooking, If you can not find Corn tortilla ingrediants.." that is not a problem"! I would take your tortilla chips or Dorrito's whatever you have. Put  some of your red sauce on the bottom of your baking dish, then place chips atop of that layer with cheese (lots) more sauce, more chips, cheese, sauce And so on. Make sure the top layer is of chips with remainder of sauce.
 Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes on 350' Until your chips have softened with the cheese and the sauce. When it is almost done, add xtra cheese on the cool down.      
 RED SAUCE   Chili powder, salt, pepper 1
can tomato sauce and 1 cube of chicken boullion per however many cups of sauce you intend on making (1 cube per 1 cup of water) I f you use 2 cubes then it will be 2 cups of water. 
 Make your 3 tblsp oil to 2 tblsp flour.(like gravy) Boil 1-2 cups water depends on amount of cubes you want to use, and how much sauce you want. ( to layer this dish you might make it more) in another sauce pan boil water,cubes and add tomato sauce(amount of tamoto sauce cans you use depends on how much sauce you make) .
 add chili powder to your flour and oil mixture about 2 tblspoons depends on how dark and rich you want your sauce. Salt and pepper a little of dry cummin--if it is available,stir your gravy sauce, add  bouillion water(with toamto sauce)and stir, This will bring a heavy boil, lower flame and simmer until you get the flavor and consitancy you are trying to achieve. Which is a rich dark red  tomato gravy for your enchilada casserole.  I really feel that you can still get the great taste of the Traditional U S A enchiladas this way.. GOOD LUCK


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## jpmcgrew (Apr 14, 2006)

Arcana!My next door neighbor is from Bulgaria and tries to go once a year to Bulgaria if you like I will send with her a mexican food care package.No problem here in New Mexico to get a bunch of light weight items to send with her.Or I will mail you some stuff.PM me if you are interested I love doing things like that.


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## jpmcgrew (Apr 14, 2006)

I just had an idea instead of being stuck on the enchilada thing what about doing some thing else instead that would be easier to do like burritos same fillings same sauce but using flour tortillas or a chli stew that you can scoop up with dorito chips or frito pie.The possibilities are endless.


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## Dove (Apr 14, 2006)

Arcana,
I use a pkg of Dorito chips or what ever kind I have on hand..break them up in a large bowl.sometimes I just open the bag and crush them through the bag with my hands and then pour them into the bowl..stir a large cut up onion and 1 pound of grated cheese. Pour two cans of enchilada sauce on top..stir well. 
Add more cheese on top if you want to save some out for this. 
350* about 25 minutes.


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## Claire (Apr 15, 2006)

Arcana, I'm reading over the posts in this, and since you say you're looking for a casserole-type-dish, I'm wondering if corn meal is available to you (I'm having a hard time determining what posts came inwhen.  Yes, I know they are dated,but still, there are so many).  In Slovenia they eat a dish called Schkanze (I'm spelling it the way mil pronounced it) made with corn meal.  Much like we call polenta here. Since I don't use it very often, having a bag of corn meal flour sits on the pantry shelf for too long if I don't use it for something.  So I made it into corn tortillas (which it wasn't made for, it wsn't the traditional maize that you use for that), but it was the biggest suceess in tamale pies.  It was the kind of flour that Italians and eastern europeans use for their traditional corn meal "mush" dishes.  Since lard is getting more and more difficult to get around here, I used a dab of bacon fat in with the water.  Then I layered the "dough" with ground meat (sauteed with onions, peppers, cumin, cayenne, etc), chili-style beans, cheese.  Almost like a lasanga, just with layers of the polenta type mix in between instead of pasta.  I put a little baking soda in the polenta, which made it puff a little.  No, it definitely wasn't enchiladas.  But I was surprised (probably because I'm not a corn meal fan myself) how my husband and friends loved it.  And it was not done with the traditional masa for Mexican tamales and tortillas, but the corn flour meant for schkanze and polenta.


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## Arcana (Apr 22, 2006)

Well, I'm glad I didn't offend anyone and I'm sorry if I misquoted anyone. Thanks for the help Velochic, Letscook and Quizzie. I think between the 3 of you, I'll be able to make something pretty darn good. 

Jpmcgrew, I've been wrestling with the idea of having someone from the usa mail me some things but it's so expensive and I figure if I'm going to bother with it at all, it's something I'd want to do regularly or else just accept that I can't have the things I like. I appreciate the offer but I wouldn't want your friend to go to any trouble and getting some things just one time would be like a tease lol. Although, I might keep you in mind for a few things that I wouldn't have to buy that often. Things like regular chili powder and cornstarch. All the chili powder here is hotter than Hades!!!


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## jpmcgrew (Apr 22, 2006)

No problem Arcana chili powder doesn't weigh much at all so it's easy to send.JP


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## jpmcgrew (Apr 24, 2006)

Arcana,Look what I just found.Quite by accident since I was messing around on internet.I actually have a subscription to this magazine it's a great magazine.So check it out they have a corn tortilla recipe but it uses masa harina I still dont know what the difference is from masa as to plain corn meal.But I love a challenge so we shall see what I come up anyway you might like this site.JP
http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking/fd/features/package/0,14343,1185161,00.html


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## jpmcgrew (Apr 24, 2006)

Found description.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masa


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## mandoman (Aug 17, 2006)

*corn tortillas*



			
				Debbie said:
			
		

> I wonder if you could find the ingredients to make your own corn tortilla? here is a site that tells you how to make them..
> 
> 
> http://www.texascooking.com/features/may98corntortillas.htm


 

I tried these homemade tortillas, and fresh really is better!! Try making chips from your homemade tortillas!!! Super nachos!


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## Arcana (Aug 20, 2006)

mandoman said:
			
		

> I tried these homemade tortillas, and fresh really is better!! Try making chips from your homemade tortillas!!! Super nachos!




LOL mandoman, I don't want CHIPS!!! I want beautiful, soft corn tortillas to make enchiladas with but, thanks anyway


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## Dina (Sep 8, 2006)

Wow!  I missed this challenge and I think I would have had a good shot at it. Better luck next time.


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## mandoman (Sep 8, 2006)

They make great enchaladas also. Helps to get a cheap tortilla press also. Experiment a little,...the gain is worth it!!!!


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## Arcana (Sep 9, 2006)

Dina, this wasn't a contest or anything like that. I just used the word "challenge" because I felt I had a difficult request lol. Feel free to throw in your two cents

Mandoman, I have already tried corn torts here and apparently the corn meal isn't right so they came out awful. We have tons of bags of corn meal, it's popular in Romania so they have it here in Bulgaria too but none of it is Masa Harina which apparently I need to make good torts. 

I'd also like to add that although I appreciate everyone's input, I really only wanted to know if corn chips would soften in the hot oven with the sauce on top of it and all that. I really hate cooking and don't want to have to make corn torts. I tried it once hoping it would be easy and it isn't. It's bad enough that I have to make flour tortillas cause the only one's available here are darn expensive. I have a baby and really don't have time for all this even if I did enjoy making everything by scratch lol.


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## mandoman (Sep 9, 2006)

Arcana said:
			
		

> Dina, this wasn't a contest or anything like that. I just used the word "challenge" because I felt I had a difficult request lol. Feel free to throw in your two cents
> 
> Mandoman, I have already tried corn torts here and apparently the corn meal isn't right so they came out awful. We have tons of bags of corn meal, it's popular in Romania so they have it here in Bulgaria too but none of it is Masa Harina which apparently I need to make good torts.
> 
> I'd also like to add that although I appreciate everyone's input, I really only wanted to know if corn chips would soften in the hot oven with the sauce on top of it and all that. I really hate cooking and don't want to have to make corn torts. I tried it once hoping it would be easy and it isn't. It's bad enough that I have to make flour tortillas cause the only one's available here are darn expensive. I have a baby and really don't have time for all this even if I did enjoy making everything by scratch lol.


 
Sorry, I kind of take for granted the availability of good supplies for texmex cooking. I think the only difference in the mix and reg corn meal is the grind. The mix is ground extreemly fine like flour, otherwise there should be no need for extra additives or ingredients. As far as the chips softening, I don't think baking in a conventional oven will hurt them provided you use a chunky salsa without being too watery or thin. Whatever you do, don't microwave chips, if you want them to stay crisp.
   Hint--If you want to use bag tortilla chips, and make them tast to their very best, drop them in hot oil for just a few minutes, and will revive the flavor of the chip.


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## Dina (Sep 9, 2006)

We really don't need contests between us here at DC.  Everyone is a great cook in their very own way.  I would have contributed a recipe or two on enchiladas; I just missed this thread since I wasn't online.  Maybe next time.


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## Arcana (Sep 10, 2006)

Mandoman, I totally took for granted the lack of alot of ingredients when I left the USA. I briefly lived in China and was shocked and mortified that they don't eat cheese!!!! Kraft was trying to open a factory there to ease them into it but I don't know if that ever happened. I love and LIVE for cheese and all they had was some sliced cheese that I had to buy from a fast food place. I was told if that in Beijing, they had a store that had all sorts of ethnic foods but I wasn't in Beijing and never got to go investigate whether or not it was true. 

And by the way, I don't want the chips to stay crunchy lol. I want them to soften and become like a tortilla and I'm not sure if that's possible and if so, how much sauce to add. I wouldn't want to drown them in sauce and not be able to taste the corn at all, that's the reason I love corn torts in the first place lol.

Mandoman, offtopic question....do you play the mandolin? I absolutely adore that instrument (although not in a country music venue but in medievel stuff) and thought about learning how to play one myself


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## expatgirl (Sep 10, 2006)

velochic said:
			
		

> I have made it a point to go into a grocery of every country I've been to, even for a visit.  You're right - it is, indeed fun.  And it really shows the soul the of the country.  I think a grocery is more informational than anything about a country, except perhaps dining in someone's home - and even that is only a sample of one.



I totally agree with you, velochic----there were things that I saw in Egypt and India that were fantastic and nowhere else in this world would you see them---even in Houston there are things that I see in local Mexican groceries that you won't find anywhere else.  Asian groceries are also an amazement which we also have in Houston.  I'll never forget the time that I turned around from bewilderment and walked straight into a beef carcass hanging upside down in a Cairo supermarket--bam right in the face!


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## Harborwitch (Sep 12, 2006)

Arcana - I know these are the same as enchiladas but you can make "chilaquiles" using your chips, or stale dry corn tortillas. (lots of recipes on the internet if you google chilaquiles". I've done this for a hurry up in a fix dinner; put some of your sauce in the bottom of the baking dish, layer the chips and any other ingredients you'd like to use (meat, onions, olives, cheese, etc.) with the chips. When all your layers are in pour in a good amount of your chile sauce (you'll want it quite soupy because the chips will absorb the sauce) top with more cheese and bake. Serve them with sour cream and garnish with diced onion & black olives.

My mind is now toying with polenta - thin layers of soft creamy polenta alternating with layers of cheese and sauce -or whatever else you wanted to use. May have to try that some night. Yummm.


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## Seven S (Sep 12, 2006)

Try a mexican dish called CHILAQUILES which is made with tortilla chips


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## Harborwitch (Sep 12, 2006)

Seven - great minds are running in the same circles.  My husband was keen on the chilaquiles.  I liked them though.


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