Black Bean Bathed Enchiladas (with Chorizo and Fresh Cheese)

Rick Bayless is one of my faves! I pretty much ALWAYS crave Mexican food and because of the lack of awesome Mexican in Toronto I tend to turn to Rick for some good eats.

It had been a while since I’d last made Mexican food (I think I forgot to post my last endeavour) and I had a stack of tortillas at the back of my fridge that needed consuming.  I skimmed through my cookbooks and didn’t find anything enticing so I decided to check out Rick Bayless’ website.  I saw the recipe for these enchiladas and fell in love!

The thing about Bayless is that his food is “authentic”.  Nothing I ever make really turns out the way I’ve had them in restaurants.  The enchiladas for example.  They aren’t a mass of stuffed tortillas smothered in sauce and cheese and baked.  Instead the tortillas are dipped in sauce and topped with more sauce, chorizo, cheese and onions.  So yummy!

It actually sounds like there are a lot of steps but they are all fairly easy.  With some planning ahead this could be a great weeknight meal for sure.

Enjoy!

Black Bean Bathed Enchiladas (with Chorizo and Fresh Cheese)

Ingredients

1 cup (about 6 ounces) dry black beans, rinsed
2 avocado leaves OR 1/2 rib of fresh fennel, roughly chopped
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) chorizo sausage, casing removed
1 medium white onion, sliced
Salt, about 1/2 teaspoon
12 corn tortillas (plus a few extra, in case some break)
About 3/4 cup Serrano-Tomatillo Salsa (optional)
3/4 cup (about 3 ounces) crumbled Mexican queso fresco, dry goat cheese or salted farmer’s cheese
3 tablespoons roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Making black bean sauce

Place the beans in a medium-size (2- to 3-quart) saucepan, cover with 3 cups water, remove any beans that float and heat slowly to a simmer.

If using avocado leaves, toast them for a few seconds per side (they’ll become aromatic and lightly brown) over a medium gas flame or heated griddle. Add the avocado leaves (or fennel), 1/4 cup of the chorizo and 1/2 of the onion to the beans, partially cover and simmer over medium to medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the beans are fully tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. If you see the beans peeking up through the liquid, add water to cover them by 1/2 inch.

Coarsely puree the beans in batches in a food processor or loosely covered blender. Return to the pot and add enough water to thin to the consistency of a medium cream soup. Taste and season with salt.

The tortillas and chorizo

Set up a steamer (a vegetable steamer in a large saucepan filled with 1/2 inch of water works well); heat to a boil. Wrap the tortillas in a heavy kitchen towel, lay in the steamer and cover with a tight lid. Boil 1 minute, turn off the heat and let stand without opening the steamer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small (7- to 8-inch) skillet, cook the remaining 1 cup of chorizo over medium-low heat until done, about 10 minutes, breaking up any clumps as it cooks. Drain off the rendered fat, cover the skillet and keep warm over very low heat.

Finishing the enfrijoladas

Turn the oven on to the lowest setting and warm a serving platter in it. Pour out 1 1/2 cups of the warm bean sauce onto a deep plate. One by one, dip both sides of the warm tortillas into the sauce, fold into quarters and transfer to the warm serving platter, laying the tortillas in 2 rows, slightly overlapping.  Keep warm in the oven.

Scrape any bean sauce remaining on the plate back into the pot. (If the sauce has thickened, add a little water to get it back to the original consistency.) Quickly bring it to a simmer, spoon it over the folded tortillas (there should be a considerable amount of sauce), strew with the warm chorizo, splash with the optional salsa, then sprinkle on the crumbled cheese, chopped parsley and the remaining sliced onion.  Serve your delicious enfrijoladas without hesitation–they don’t take well to delays.

Advance Preparation: The black beans can be prepared through Step 1 several days ahead; the chorizo can be cooked, too.  Store separately in the refrigerator, covered. Reheat the sauce slowly in a covered pan, thinning if necessary. Warm the chorizo before heating the tortillas and finishing the dish.

Shortcuts: Though the flavor and color won’t be as nice, the beans could be replaced with 2 drained 15-ounce cans of black beans.