ENCHILADAS, QUICHE TWO PERFECT ENTREES FOR A PARTY

                                                                                        
Take four or five big, wrinkly dried chiles, they are reddish black, completely sun-dried, avail in bags, a dozen for 2$. Open them up, take out the seeds and put them in envelope to start in spring garden in full sun. Soak the chile pods in water for an hour.Or put them in boiled, pure, spring water that's still hot! Now, when they soften up, throw them through a grinder blender with the liquid, strain off the skin which is useless. It's like all pepper skin, indigestible.

You now have a brownish red thick sauce. Saute some onions and garlic in oil, maybe a black pepper corm some cumin seeds or powder ; add the red, wet sauce, salt, simmer a minute. Now cool it down. (Or buy a good enchilada sauce in a can, not cheap by the way)

MEXICANS heat pan w. oil and drop tortillas in for a sec to soften them in that hot oil. And they use lard, not oil! I often just flame-heat the tortillas to make them soft. (That method is more "fall apart" for the finished enchilada.) EITHER WAY, FILL THEM, roll them or fold them, stack in pyrex dish, add more sauce on top, olives, green onions. After baking throw cilantro on top.

NOW THEY NEED A FILLING : So decide, MEAT and cilantro, onion? Or almond meal, tofuburger? Or cheese or chicken w. cilantro? Depends on your taste. Can be burger or steak, or leftovers. Most of the soft, cooked yellow SQUASHes COMBINE beautifully wi. cheese and almonds!

TOFU BURGER STUFFING for ENCHILADA- Chopped almonds, bell pepper, crumbled tofu, celery, celery seed powder, thyme, bread crumbs,  onion, mushrooms a little grated jack cheese. It will melt into a lump while enchilada cooks.  Bake 20 min at 350.VARIATION would be

ENCHILADAS VERDES made with tomatillo. Called ENCHILADAS SUIZAS in Mexico. (Swiss )

Boil tomatillos, jalapenos (eviscerated) 5 min. SAUTEE onions, garlic. Mash the boiled tomatillos with a masher, drop into sauteeing onions. Add lots of chopped cilantro, salt. GREEN SAUCE results, delicious with roast pork. But we can fill enchiladas wi. Cheese, chicken, or por, or beef. In this case, in addition to cheese all over the top before you bake it, LOTS OF SOUR CREAM!

 QUICHE- First, the CRUST- Whole grain flour,salt, the amt for one crust. Eyeball it. Cut a half stick of butter into it, pelletize the butter with fingertips, so you have pea sized pellets in the flour. Add ice water or milk, keeping dough very dry and crumbly. NEVER let it get too wet or you get hard dough. Roll and line a pyrex pie dish.

 FILLING- 4 eggs, a cup of milk or half and half, a cup of grated cheese is the custard part. You can add either or all, onion, sauteed first, BACON, HAM, sauteed PEPPERS, hot or mild, sauteed eggplant, herbs like cilantro, parsley, tomato sauce. Bake 325 an hour.