Beef Enchiladas with Chipotle-Pasilla Chili Gravy

This is the best new recipe I've made in a very long time. I think the most recent thing that even comes close to rivaling it is the rabbit dish I made back in March ... not that I've been neglecting this or anything! Usually when I make recipe while tired, it's a disaster, but this one made me incredibly happy for lunch for four days straight this week. I imagine it would've been even better had I not been falling asleep while making it on Monday night! The only problem with this recipe is it does dirty too many dishes. It also requires a bit of time to soak the chiles and then do the assembly ... i.e. probably not a quick weeknight dinner plan unless you make the sauce ahead of time.

I stuck surprisingly close to the recipe on this one. I did substitute canned chipotle in adobo for the dried because I keep those on hand (I had a can once and then froze the leftovers individually after using 1 or 2). I also couldn't find allspice on hand, so I just omitted it. If you're in Montreal, the pasilla chiles can be found at the Latin American grocery store on St. Laurent near Marie-Anne. I almost substituted ancho and I'm sure those would work fine, it would just be slightly different. The original post suggests pasilla have more of a bittersweet flavour. Don't worry too much about completely deseeding the pasilla before soaking as it's easier to complete the task after they've been soaking (just make sure to remove the stem before hand!).

One year ago: Chocolate Orbit Cake with Blackberry-Cassis Sauce ... which if I remember correctly I was so happy with I mostly refused to share (with a few exceptions!)

Beef Enchiladas with Chipotle-Pasilla Chili Gravy (from Homesick Texan)

Ingredients
For the pasilla-chipotle chili gravy:
1 or 2 chipotle in adobo chiles
4 dried pasilla chiles, seeds and stems removed
1/4 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
3 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons lard or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
For the enchiladas:
450g ground beef
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced and divided
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of lard or vegetable oil
12 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (225g)

1. In a small, dry skillet heated on high, toast the pasilla chiles on each side for about 10 seconds or just until they start to puff. Fill the skillet with enough water to cover chiles. Leave the heat on until water begins to boil and then turn off the heat and let the chiles soak until soft, about 30 minutes.
2. Once hydrated, discard the soaking water and rinse the chiles. Place in a blender with chipotle chiles.
3. In a large skillet, heat up the vegetable oil and while occasionally stirring cook the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds.
4. Place cooked onion and garlic into the blender with the chiles, along with the cumin, oregano, and the broth. Blend until smooth.
5. In a pot, heat the 2 tablespoons of oil on low heat, whisking in the flour until well incorporated.
6. Pour in the blended sauce and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and black pepper to taste and adjust other seasonings as needed. 

7. Meanwhile, in a large skillet on medium heat (I use the same one that I used for the onions and garlic) add the ground beef, half of the diced onions and garlic. While stirring occasionally, cook the meat until browned, about 10 minutes. (If you like, you can drain the extra fat once the meet is browned.)
8. Stir the cumin into the meat and cook for 2 more minutes. Taste and add salt and black pepper to taste and adjust seasonings.
9. Stir into the meat 1/4 cup of the chili gravy.
10. To make the enchiladas, first preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a large baking dish.
11. In a small skillet (I used the chili soaking skillet), heat up the lard or oil on medium-low heat. One at a time, heat up the tortillas in the hot oil until soft and pliant.
12. Lay each tortilla on a plate or clean cooking surface and add about 2 tablespoons of beef and some of the cheese. Roll the tortilla and place in greased baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
13. Pour sauce over enchiladas and top with remaining grated cheese and diced onions. Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned and bubbling.