On Sunday morning we had a Mexican brunch with some friends of ours and made Turkey Enchiladas.  I was eager to put the leftover turkey into something Mexican, as my grandmother was in town from Mexico City and I always learn something new from her cooking.  She is a little worker bee and loves to be helpful around the house, especially in the kitchen.  My mom was in charge of the menu planning, and my grandmother was the executioner of the whole project, so I cannot take any credit for what went down.  I can only vouch for the beans, which I bought from Cayuga Pure Organics, and which I helped season.  A pretty lousy performance on my part, but sometimes it’s nice when Tita and mommy cook instead.

Enchiladas is a dish that uses up old tortillas and meat.  You basically fry the tortillas in oil to soften them, fill them with your meat of choice, roll them up, place in a baking dish, and pour the sauce over them.  You then top the dish with cheese and bake in the oven. The possibilities for Enchiladas are endless because you can use whatever meat, salsa, and cheese combination that tickles your fancy.   I am going to share with you the simple tomato sauce that we used, because it was a canned tomato sauce that was very easy to put together.  This is a great salsa for Winter when fresh tomatoes are not available.

Turkey Enchiladas

Tomato Salsa

2 28-ounce cans of diced tomatoes

1/4 cup diced white onion

1- 2 jalapeno chile peppers (depends on how spicy they are)

1 clove garlic

Oil

Cilantro (a few sprigs)

Salt and a pinch of sugar (if necessary)

Blend the canned tomatoes, onion, chile, and garlic in a blender until smooth.  Heat up a tablespoon or so of oil up in a large saucepan and add the contents of the blender.  Bring to a simmer, add the cilantro, and cook for about 20 minutes or so, until it is at the flavor and thickness you like.  Remove the cilantro sprigs before serving.  My grandmother adds a little bit of sugar if she thinks the salsa is too acidic.

Makes about 4 cups.

We used queso cotija as the topping, as well as thinly sliced onion for the garnish.

Buen Provecho!