Stacked Enchiladas

(by Stephanie Raffelock)

This is how my mother taught me to make the dish. I’ve altered it slightly to reflect my lifestyle, like using avocado oil to fry the tortillas instead of lard, and green onions instead of yellow ones.

A note, to prevent potential confusion:

You will need scallions for both the enchilada portion of the recipe as well as the sauce.

Only pour half of the sauce into the beef mixture and reserve the other half.

For the sauce:

6 dried ancho chilies, seeds and stems removed

2 canned chipotle chilies, reserving the juice

3 chopped green onions

1 t. ground cumin

1/2 t. oregano

1/4 t. allspice

2 c. beef broth

1 T. all-purpose flour

pinch of salt and pepper, to taste

1 lb. ground beef

15 oz. can black beans

2 - 4 T. avocado oil

12 corn tortillas

3 c. grated cheddar cheese

1 c. chopped romaine lettuce

1/2 c. chopped green onions

Roast the ancho chilies in a skillet over high heat, about 10 seconds on each side.

Fill the skillet with enough water to just cover the chilies.

When the water begins to boil, turn off the heat and let the chilies soak until softened, about 30 minutes.

Discard soaking water and rinse the chilies.

In a blender, puree ancho chilies, canned chipotle chilies with juice, green onion, cumin, oregano, allspice, and beef broth.

The sauce should be smooth and thick. Set aside.

In a skillet on medium, cook ground beef until crumbly, and drain the fat.

Add half of the prepared sauce to the meat. (Reserve the other half)

Heat black beans and set aside.

Heat avocado oil in hot skillet, and crisp each tortilla on both sides, draining on a paper towel, with a paper towel between each cooked tortilla.

Make an assembly line of the beef mixture, black beans, cheese, romaine, scallions, and sauce.

Layer 1 tortilla, ground beef mixture, and a hand full of cheese.

Add another tortilla, lettuce, and black beans.

Top with one more tortilla and a spoonful of beef mixture.

Drizzle sauce over the stack, and garnish with and a sprinkling of cheese and green onions.

Repeat to serve 4.

(Read The Poetry of Food, the story that accompanies this recipe.)