Enfrijoladas

A thin bean sauce, tortillas dipped and folded in four rather than rolled, and on the plate within seconds — nothing is baked.

Not vegetarian — contains cheese whose rennet the source does not name.

Ingredients

the sauce

• 400 g black beans, cooked, with 300 ml of their liquid
• 1 dried chipotle chilli
• 2 cloves garlic
• ¼ small white onion
• a sprig of epazote, or a pinch of dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon oil
• milk or stock, to thin

to assemble

• 12 corn tortillas, as on their own page
• 150 g crumbly white cheese
• ½ small white onion, finely chopped
• a handful of coriander, chopped
• soured cream, to serve

Method

1. THE SAUCE IS THINNED TO POURING CREAM AND THE TORTILLA IS FOLDED IN FOUR, NOT ROLLED, AND EATEN AT ONCE. All three of those are one idea: this dish gives the tortilla no protection and instead gives it no time. There is no frying in oil first and no baking at all. A sauce as thick as a mole would need a sealed tortilla to survive it; at the consistency of pouring cream it coats and runs off rather than soaking in. A fold into quarters takes a second where a roll takes five and leaves far less surface in contact. And the plate goes to the table immediately -- five minutes standing and it is bean soup with a tortilla in it.
2. THE BEANS ARE BLENDED WITH THEIR OWN LIQUID AND THEN FRIED. The black cooking liquor is thick with starch and is the body of the sauce; made up with water instead it is grey and watery. Blended smooth and then poured into hot oil and cooked eight minutes, it goes glossy and darkens almost to black.
3. THE EPAZOTE GOES IN WHOLE AND COMES OUT. One sprig, in the pan while the sauce cooks, lifted out before serving. Blended in, its flavour takes over the whole dish; infused, it sits behind the beans where it belongs. Dried oregano stands in at a pinch and is a different thing, which is worth saying rather than pretending otherwise.
4. THE CONSISTENCY IS CORRECTED AT THE LAST MINUTE AND ALWAYS DOWNWARD. Bean sauce thickens as it sits, and it thickens fast. Whatever it was when the pan came off the heat, it will be stiffer by the time the tortillas are warm, so a splash of milk or stock goes in right before the first tortilla is dipped, and again halfway through.
5. THE TORTILLAS ARE WARMED DRY AND KEPT IN A CLOTH. Cold from the fridge they crack along the fold and the filling pushes out of the break. Twenty seconds a side on a dry griddle and then into a folded towel, and they fold without complaint.
6. The chipotle soaked in hot water 15 minutes, then drained.
7. The beans, their 300 ml of liquid, the drained chipotle, garlic, onion and salt blended completely smooth.
8. The oil heated in a wide pan, the blended beans poured in, and the epazote sprig dropped in WHOLE.
9. Cooked 8 MINUTES over a medium heat, stirred, until glossy and very dark. The epazote LIFTED OUT and discarded.
10. THINNED with milk or stock to the consistency of POURING CREAM. It must run off a spoon, not sit on it.
11. The tortillas warmed 20 seconds a side on a dry griddle and kept in a folded cloth.
12. Working one at a time: a warm tortilla laid in the sauce, turned to coat both sides, and lifted out.
13. FOLDED IN HALF and then in HALF AGAIN into a quarter, and laid on the plate. Never rolled.
14. Three per plate, more sauce spooned over, then the cheese, onion and coriander.
15. To the table IMMEDIATELY, with soured cream. This dish does not wait and must not be baked.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes