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Guatemalan Enchiladas

This post is also available in / Esta entrada también está disponible en ESPAÑOL (SPANISH)

You’ve probably heard of enchiladas before, but you might be thinking about a rolled tortilla filled with chicken, or beef, topped with melted cheese and sauce, which is more of a Mexican enchilada. These enchiladas, our Guatemalan enchiladas, are made by topping a fried tortilla (called a Tostada) with lettuce, pickled beet and vegetable mix, ground beef and tomato sauce…and the last touch, a sprinkling of dried Guatemalan cheese (Queso Seco).

Guatemalan Enchiladas

Historically, this dish dates back to the 18th Century. Enchiladas do require some work, so it’s not a dish you regularly have at home. Thankfully, back at home we get to enjoy it pretty much every two months. this is one of the few ways that dad won’t get tired of eating his veggies. Thankfully, at my parent’s home we have Chila, who comes to help us with the kitchen, and is an expert when it comes to local food. So here you have it, Guatemalan Enchiladas!

Source: Hotel Panamerican, Guatemala

Kitty

Guatemalan Enchiladas

A Foodies’ Original Recipe

Ingredients:
5 carrots
4 beets
2 lbs ground beef
2 chayotes (güisquil)
2 celery stalks
2 red bell peppers
1 head of garlic (adjust to your taste)
1 lb of green beans
3 bay leaves (dried)
½ cabbage
½ lb onions
10 tostadas
20 oz olive oil
10 oz  white vinegar
10 lettuce leaves
10 tomatoes
3 hard boiled eggs, sliced
¼ cup dried Guatemalan Cheese (Queso Seco)
salt and pepper
chopped cilantro

Procedure:

  • Some of the steps need to be made a day ahead, once these ingredients are ready you can start assembling the Enchilada.  Those ingredients are the filling, the onion escabeche, vegetable mix and tomato sauce.  The recipe calls for 1 head of garlic, which you will use in the filling recipe, in the vegetable mix recipe and the tomato sauce recipe. Feel free to adjust the garlic amount to your own personal taste.

Filling:

  1. Chop one of the red bell peppers, with half of the green beans, half of the carrots, half of the chayotes, half of the garlic head (or your adjusted amount of garlic), and half of the cabbage. No onions, beets, celery or tomatoes here.
  2. Add a bit of oil to a large hot pan, and brown your beef.
  3. Season with salt and pepper and add all the chopped vegetables.
  4. Let it cook until all the liquid has evaporated.

Onion “Escabeche”

  1. Cut onions into quarters, and then slice and separate the pieces.
  2. Mix olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Add onion rings and let them sit for at least 24 hrs in a covered jar.

Vegetable Mix:

  1. Julienne or chop the rest of the vegetables you had left over. You’ll use the remaining carrots, chayotes, garlic (to taste), and cabbage this time you’ll include the beets.
  2. Cook them in boiling water, with the 2 bay leaves, except for the beets.  Those are cooked in a separate pot.  Don’t over cook them, it should only take a few minutes.
  3. Mix the vegetables, and let them cool.
  4. Refrigerate and mix with the onion escabeche.
  5. Let this mixture rest for at least half a day.

Tomato Sauce:

  1. Cook the tomatoes, celery stalks and remaining red bell pepper and garlic (to taste).
  2. Pure in the blender, return to the pot and season with salt and pepper to taste

Assembly:

  1. Take a tostada, cover with a lettuce leaf.
  2. Top the lettuce with the vegetable and escabeche mix.
  3. Top this with the beef filling.
  4. Next, top with tomato sauce.
  5. Decorate with a few sliced hard boiled egg, sprinkle with dried cheese, and chopped cilantro.

Have you made this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture with the hashtag #thefoodieskitchen!

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Guatemalan Enchiladas

Guatemalan Enchiladas

Guatemalan Enchiladas

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This post is also available in / Esta entrada también está disponible en ESPAÑOL (SPANISH)

Comments (14)

  • Diana

    February 26, 2013 at 10:22 pm

    hola!!!!! soy guatemalteca y estoy tan emocionada de haber encontrado este blog, yo también tengo un blog pero en el no encontraran recetas tan ricas como estas, así que me quedare por acá viendo que receta puedo preparar para mi cena de mañana, vienen unos amigos así que su blog ha venido como de milagro…
    Las encontré en el foro del blog de Lauren Conrad, que gustazo me da haberlas encontrado, en serio, el diseño de su blog es estupendo, me encanta! acá les dejo el link del mio para que me den su opinión también… http://www.petitgraphie.blogspot.com
    Incluso podríamos seguirnos mutuamente en redes sociales para apoyarnos y estar al tanto de las actualizaciones de nuestros blogs…
    abrazos

  • Kitty

    February 26, 2013 at 11:09 pm

    ¡Gracias por escribirnos! Nos encanta que nos hayas encontrado. En Guatemala hay tantas cosas lindas y deliciosas que compartir con el mundo que por eso hicimos el blog! ¿A cuántos amigos esperas? Así te podemos sugerir algo rápido y sin complicaciones que puedas preparar. Ya vimos tu Pasta Pesto… ¡Se mira delicioso!
    ————————————–
    Thank you so much for taking the time to write your comment. We loved that you found us! In Guatemala there are so many beautiful and delicious things that we need to share them with the world, and that’s why we created this blog! We just looked at your recipe for Pasta Pesto… Looks delicious!

  • Vanessa

    November 10, 2013 at 3:17 pm

    Why 20 oz of olive oil? Was this a typo?

  • Kitty

    November 10, 2013 at 3:29 pm

    Hi Vanessa! No, it’s correct! It’s about 2.5 cups of olive oil. These are a quite lot of vegetables to pickle!

  • Vanessa Centeno

    June 4, 2014 at 12:55 pm

    Hi, so I should mix the 10 oz vinegar and 20 oz oil together with the onion, then once ready add the vegetables ?

  • Kitty

    June 4, 2014 at 12:58 pm

    Hi Vanessa!
    Yes, you need to mix the vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper, then add the onions. Let it sit for 24 hours covered and then add the vegetables.

  • Vanessa Centeno

    June 4, 2014 at 2:54 pm

    Thank you so much

  • mayli

    September 3, 2014 at 7:12 pm

    Que Rico que ayuda gracias ya se me estaba olvidando

  • Kitty

    September 3, 2014 at 7:13 pm

    Nos alegra que hayas encontrado la receta útil! Esperamos que te salgan deliciosas!

  • Iz

    November 26, 2014 at 12:33 am

    How many enchiladas does this recipe make?

  • Kitty

    November 26, 2014 at 9:59 am

    Hi Lz!

    This recipe makes about 8-10 enchiladas. The amount will vary depending on the vegetable sizes and how much vegetable and escabeche mix you place on each tostada.

    Kitty

  • Ani

    November 26, 2014 at 7:20 pm

    Hay diferentes recetas de enchiladas. Sobre todo de la carne. Yo uso carne para cocer como bolobique o caña y se pica finamente. La carne de una vez se prepara con la salsa de tomate.

  • Kitty

    November 26, 2014 at 7:23 pm

    Exactamente Ani. Gracias por la sugerencia. Esta es una receta que la pueden usar de guía para preparlas según prefieran. ¡Ésta es la receta que usamos en mi casa! :)

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