Holiday Floor Enchiladas with American Mole

I am not native here. Displaced, uprooted, inclement. Barriers compound and snowball, making the ideals of ‘thriving’ – a distant oasis. Hurdle after hurdle. I run and jump. I trip. Abraded wounds crust into scabs that morph into scars of past impediments; forever reminders of events overcome. But faltering still, I see another stumbling block, mocking me. “Run faster, jump higher.” My legs are worn and weary. My heart beats fast, but thready distal pulses threaten. All the muscles are forced to work and undertake an unbearable load. It is unsustainable for long. A crash IS inevitable.

I crave asylum. My tired eyes scan the horizon. How I long until I catch my breath? Feel the suns warmth on my face? Cry and feel better afterwards? But I can’t. It doesn’t come. I search, desperately. Still running, but mostly just running ragged. Impervious plot twists and pot holes litter the slippery road ahead.

And then…something catches my attention. A glimmer in the periphery. A smoggy, unfiltered semblance of a shape. Impossible possibilities perplex my naive mind. I’m confused, without clarity. Dehydrated. I try to make it out, but it doesn’t make sense.

A palm tree in Arizona.

Displaced. Replanted. Forlorn and forgone, misunderstood. We are alike. We are not native here. Haphazardly, seeking a way to thrive. It’s in this ground, I too plant new roots.

Going forward. Setting aside sorrow. Appreciating the grief.

This holiday, we forego the turkey, the classic yams and glazy, jammy hams. We cook in our jammies and eat on the floor. Displaced in a celebratory picnic, we feast.

Feeds 6; Takes 1.5hrs

Ingredients and Method for American Mole

• 1 red bell pepper, deseeded & chopped into quarters
• 1/2 yellow or orange bell pepper, deseeded and chopped in half
• 1 small spanish onion, quartered
• 1 poblano pepper, deseeded and quartered
• 3-4 carrots, washed
• 1 large handful sweet tomatoes (about 12-15)
• 1 tomatillo, washed with outer husk removed, halved
• 1 head garlic, horizontally halved (see photo)
• 3 tbsp avocado oil
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 limes cut in half and juiced over veggies, then placed on pan
• 1/2 cup full fat Greek yogurt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 jalapeño (optional)

Preheat oven to 400F.

Toss the first 8 ingredients in avocado oil and place in 1 layer on a parchment lined sheet tray.

Add the lime juice and salt.

Roast for 35-40 min until golden and the tomatoes are bursting. Remove and allow to cool. Squeeze the roasted lime juice over veggies again and then discard rinds.

Squeeze out about 6 cloves of the garlic and once cooled add the rest of the veggies to a blender. Blend until smooth. *If mixture is too thick, add a few glugs of water or chicken stock.

Taste and add Greek yogurt. Blend again. If you did not use jalapeño, add a little black pepper or the cayenne to give a hint of spice. Taste and adjust salt.

Ingredients and Method for Enchiladas

• 1 lb ground beef 80/20
• 1/2 lb ground pork
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp ground garlic
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika
• 2 sprigs fresh oregano, minced
• 1/2 small sweet or spanish onion, diced
• 1 can mushrooms (4oz), juice tossed
• 2 glugs good olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 3 cups freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup freshly shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8 (8-10in) tortillas, warmed
• Sauce from above
• Radish, cilantro leaves, limes for garnish

In a large sauté pan, sweat onion over medium heat with olive oil and salt until translucent ~ 5 min. Add beef and pork and allow the bottom to brown (you know, don’t mix it around too much so you get a good crust at first).

Season with cinnamon, cumin, chili powder, garlic, paprika, oregano, pepper and more salt.

After about 4-5 min, mix and add mushrooms. Cook for another few minutes until the meat is just browned through. Taste and adjust salt.

Line a sheet tray with parchment and add about a cup of the sauce you made. Shmear it out nicely so all the enchiladas are sitting on some of it.

You are making 8 enchiladas so you will need 8 portions of the cheese and 8 portions of meat mixture. Assemble one warm tortilla with some cheddar and then meat. Roll the enchilada tightly and place seam side down on the sauce. Do the same with the remaining, tightly lining them up next to eachother.

Top with more sauce and mozzarella cheese right down the center.

Bake for 20 min at 375F. Garnish with radish, cilantro and lime.

While the holidays are what you make them (classic, traditional, purist or modernist, revivalist, nouveau) I am here to help!

Classics:

• The Best Thanksgiving Stuffing (with Chestnuts, Pancetta and Celery Sofrito)
• Not Aunt Cathy’s Green Bean Casserole
• Beautiful Brussels and Butter Beans
• Mummy’s Mummosa (With Prosecco, Thyme and Cherry)

New World:

• Truffle Mac & Cheese with Roasted Garlic and Mascarpone
• Cranberry Old Fashioned
• Christmas Risotto with Beet Juice and Artichokes