Make ahead enchiladas question

I am having a bunch of people over for a little Cinco de Mayo party with a bunch of food. I'm trying to knock out some of the food tonight. I was going to make a tray or two of enchiladas so I could just throw them in the oven tomorrow but I was wondering how far I should go.

Should I make them and partially bake them? Will this cause the (corn) tortillas to get super soggy?
Should I only make the insides and roll them and keep the sauce and cheese for right before they go in the oven? Should I try freezing even though its only 24 hours?

Another related question, I am chopping a bunch of vegetables tonight to speed up the work tomorrow. I would assume carrots/celery/onions would all survive just fine in tupperware but what about potatos? Normally I would submerge them in water as I cut them but would it be a bad idea to keep them underwater for 24 hours?

Flank steal is going in a chili lime marinade tonight...and everything else will be done tomorrow.

Thanks

You can prep everything 24 hours out and assemble tomorrow. We do that often for enchiladas. As far as potatoes, you could certainly keep them in water. Personally I prefer to prep them as late as possible but again, your method will be OK for most preparations.

why woudl you put enchiladas in the oven to bake?

prepare them and keep them in the refridgerator in the casserole corningware overnite and then bake when ready to do so

Originally Posted by scarphe

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why woudl you put enchiladas in the oven to bake?

What food are you thinking of? Baking is traditional... the recipes we usually use are from Mexican recipes dating from the 1920's and both direct baking... and I'm not talking suiza per se.

Originally Posted by Cary Grant

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What food are you thinking of? Baking is traditional... the recipes we usually use are from Mexican recipes dating from the 1920's and both direct baking... and I'm not talking suiza per se.

not sure, most of recipes i have seen done the tortilla is simply fried, or heated depending upon ones preference.

Originally Posted by scarphe

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not sure, most of recipes i have seen done the tortilla is simply fried, or heated depending upon ones preference.

Yeah...fry/heat the tortillas (with corn, for the flavor) and then fill them, place in a baking pan, cover in sauce and cheese, and...bake?

the other dishes will call for corn tortillas to be fried and flour to be warmed but enchiladas almost certainly require time in an oven.

As for the potatos, maybe I will just do the rest of the veggies and save the potatos for tomorrow.

Menu will be something like this
Enchiladas (chicken and egg for the non-meat eater)
Make your own taco/fajita/burrito/whatever bar with
-real tacos meat (the kind of watery ground beef, potato, carrot, celery stuff that my half mexican friend makes)
-chili-lime flank steak
-chicken (might cut since enchiladas are already chicken)
-sauteed peppers and onions
-spanish rice
-beans
-toppings

I was going to bake some desserts but I have discovered a good (and *dirt* cheap) mexican bakery in chicago that doesn't require a trip down to pilsen (its at the sheridan redline stop if anyone's wondering). My spanish is bad so I am usually pretty surprised by whatever I buy, but last time I had a sack full of varied pastries and the total cost was $3.something

Originally Posted by otc

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Yeah...fry/heat the tortillas (with corn, for the flavor) and then fill them, place in a baking pan, cover in sauce and cheese, and...bake? the other dishes will call for corn tortillas to be fried and flour to be warmed but enchiladas almost certainly require time in an oven. As for the potatos, maybe I will just do the rest of the veggies and save the potatos for tomorrow. Menu will be something like this Enchiladas (chicken and egg for the non-meat eater) Make your own taco/fajita/burrito/whatever bar with -real tacos meat (the kind of watery ground beef, potato, carrot, celery stuff that my half mexican friend makes) -chili-lime flank steak -chicken (might cut since enchiladas are already chicken) -sauteed peppers and onions -spanish rice -beans -toppings I was going to bake some desserts but I have discovered a good (and *dirt* cheap) mexican bakery in chicago that doesn't require a trip down to pilsen (its at the sheridan redline stop if anyone's wondering). My spanish is bad so I am usually pretty surprised by whatever I buy, but last time I had a sack full of varied pastries and the total cost was $3.something
still nto sure form where the baking coming but i ould worry more abotu the sauce, will be it ancho, verde etc. not baked here

Originally Posted by scarphe

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still nto sure form where the baking coming but i ould worry more abotu the sauce, will be it ancho, verde etc.

not baked here

Yet, all of the recommended videos on the side seem to involve an oven or a covered pan. They didn't put cheese on the top so you don't really need the oven time to melt it (and the pile of melted cheese is half the fun).

My boy Rick Bayless puts them in a 350 oven until the cheese starts to brown. He also has come through with kind of an answer to my question. "Once out of the oven, the finished dish softens to near mush over a period of 15 to 20 minutes." --looks like my best option is just going to be to have everything ready but no baking and no sauce until almost serving time.

Prepare the filling but don't stuff them or fry the tortillas until you're almost ready to go. They'll get really soggy.

At least that's the best way to make tex mex a little less sloppy than it inherently is.

Originally Posted by why

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Prepare the filling but don't stuff them or fry the tortillas until you're almost ready to go. They'll get really soggy.

At least that's the best way to make tex mex a little less sloppy than it inherently is.
but wouldn't that be contrary to the aesthetic?

Originally Posted by foodguy

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but wouldn't that be contrary to the aesthetic?

Something like scrubbing hard water stains out of the toilet.

I'm not a great cook but I'm half mexi so I'll throw in some input.
The oven just helps everything melt up and mix together. But they are always baked.
The direction you're going looks fine. Even if they get soggy the chicken will give them some texture. I think Bayless has chatted with enough grandmas to know what he is talking about.

Maybe use three sauces green, white-sour cream,red. Lay them across each one to make 'em look like the Mexican flag. Lots of people do that. In New Mexico they use cream of chicken for the sauce and add hatch green chiles. Freaking good too.

Originally Posted by i10casual

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Maybe use three sauces green, white-sour cream,red. Lay them across each one to make 'em look like the Mexican flag. Lots of people do that. In New Mexico they use cream of chicken for the sauce and add hatch green chiles. Freaking good too.
hmmm, that may be a grandma recipe, that's not real new mexican, at least not as i've experienced it (lived there on and off since 1958). green chile new mexican is basically a flour/oil paste, onions, garlic, a little pork and chopped green chiles. red chile new mexican is onions, garlic, a little pork and red chile powder with water to thin. the combination of red and green sauces is called "christmas".

The two we prefer to make don't go over so well with company- both came from those old recipes I mentioned earlier. One is mostly filled with peanuts and hard boiled egg and the other relies heavily on radish.