Most Americans think of enchiladas as a main dish, but in authentic Mexican and Southwestern cooking, they are frequently accompaniments for meat, a one-step means of adding the complementary tastes of corn, cheese, and chile to beef and pork plates. For a grill-party shortcut, we mix the hearty flavors in a casserole instead of individually rolled tortillas.
SERVES 6 TO 8
RED CHILE SAUCE
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Oil a shallow 8-by-14-inch baking dish.
Prepare the sauce, first warming the oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook an additional minute. Stir in the chile and then the water, a cup at a time. Add the oregano and salt and bring the sauce just to a boil. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. When ready, the sauce should coat a spoon thickly but still drop off of it easily. (The sauce can be prepared several days ahead and kept covered and refrigerated. Reheat it before proceeding.)
Heat ½ to 1 inch of oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until the oil ripples. With tongs, dunk a tortilla in the oil long enough for it to go limp, a matter of seconds. Don't let the tortilla turn crisp. Drain the tortilla on paper towels, and repeat with the remaining tortillas.
Pour about ¼ cup of sauce evenly in the bottom of the baking dish. Arrange 6 tortillas over the sauce, overlapping them if necessary. Spoon one-third of the remaining sauce over the tortillas, covering them entirely. Scatter one-third of the onion and cheese over the sauce. Repeat with two more layers of tortillas, sauce, onion, and cheese. Once assembled, the casserole can be left at room temperature for up to 30 minutes before baking. Bake the enchiladas for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cheese is melted throughout and a little bubbly on top.
Cut the casserole into individual portions and serve hot.
TECHNIQUE TIP: The red chile called for here is the pure, ripe, dried, and ground pod (minus stems and seeds), not commercial chili powder, which is a blend of chile and other seasonings. While spicy, the New Mexican chile is well short of incendiary, offering robust flavor to balance its piquancy. If you can get the incomparable and relatively scarce Chimayó red chile, from a northern New Mexican village of the same name, snap it up.