Thursday nights in our household are generally not very interesting foodwise. It’s usually a case of finishing off whatever veg is leftover before the arrival of the new veg box on friday, (yipee!), which often results in a soup of sorts. However, last night the fridge was empty apart from a lonely courgette and some cheese so i had to be a little more creative and come up with a cunning culinary plan. Luckily, the cupboards were a little more inspiring and i decided to make some corn tortillas thinking at least we’d be able to wrap the courgette in something!
Tortillas are really easy to make and are ready in about 20 mins…or at least they would be if i didn’t have to puppy train Marley who seems to have a sixth sense for wanting to relieve herself at the most crucial points of cooking! Needless to say, the first tortilla did not turn out well and slightly resembled a biscuit! Perhaps it’s like cooking the first pancake or the angels share of whisky…that’s just the way it is. Marley loved it though and i’m beginning to wonder if that was intended all along…border collies are very clever!!
After that, things progressed quite well and i soon had a whole pile of useable tortillas and only a minor problem of what to fill them with. Determination to use up the courgette led me to making a Bulgar Wheat, Courgette and Tomato Filling.
Motivated by the encouraging signs of the tortillas and filling i raced on with enthusiasm to find a way to bring the whole dish together- ENCHILADAS! Or at least as near to enchiladas as i could get with limited ingredients! I got on with making a cheese sauce which meant that i’d completed the thursday night task of emptying the fridge. Phew!
Then it was just a case of assembling the whole thing and bunging it in the oven. By this time the dog was fast asleep. Sod’s law!
Et voila!
Ooops! Once again we have enough food to feed an army. I have serious problems being able to cook for just two people and i think this stems from working in a mexican takeaway years ago and having to make guacamole for 500 people. My mum asked me to make some for her and phoned me from the supermarket to ask how many avocados i needed. Bad words were said when i requested 50! Oh well, at least we’ll always have leftovers.
Tortillas (makes 8 tortillas and a few Marley snacks!)
Adapted from Paul Bloxham recipe on Great Food Live.
350g plain flour
100g corn flour
2tsp salt
4tsp baking powder
2 tbsp rice bran oil (i ran out of olive)
250ml warm water
- Mix together all the dry ingredients
- Slowly add the oil and combine
- Add enough warm water to make a soft dough
- Turn out onto a floured board and knead for 5mins, then divide the dough into equal portions and roll each out as thinly as possible
- Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Put each tortilla in separately and dry fry until brown on one side, then turn over. Should only take 1-2mins on each side
- Remove from the pan and cover with a damp tea towel until ready to use so they don’t harden
Next time i think i would add something to the dough to liven it up a little, e.g. chillis, caraway seeds etc.
Bulgar Wheat, Courgette and Tomato Filling (makes enough to fill 8 tortillas)
Glug of oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 chilli
1 courgette, grated
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
200ml red wine
50g bulgar wheat
pinch of sugar
handful of coriander
- Gently heat the oil in a pan and add the garlic, chilli and courgette for a few minutes
- When soft, add the chopped tomatoes, red wine, bulgar wheat and sugar. Bring to the boil and leave to simmer covered for 20 mins. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
- Season to taste
Cheese Sauce
50g butter
1-2tbsp cornflour (or just enough to thicken the sauce)
250ml natural yoghurt
100g cheese
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
good grating of nutmeg
- Melt the butter in a pan. Add the cornflour and stir. I think it’s easier to use a small whisk as this avoids any lumps. Slowly combine the yoghurt. Add the mustard, grated cheese and nutmeg.
- Season to taste
I think this may last all weekend!
