It was just another busy day at the Magnolia Cafe office. Noses to the grindstone, except when someone would walk in with a plate of fragrant hot food from the cafe next door. Ahhh! THEN, suddenly the phone rang:
ATTENTION: "Customer of ours now lives in Manhattan. Is pregnant. Must have Cream Cheese Artichoke Enchiladas. Could we freeze-dry them and send them on up?"
No joke. This dame was for real -- and serious!
We don't know much about freeze drying and don't have a 'to go' menu for NASA. So we'll send you a recipe. We've given it our best effort, so here it goes:
Dear Melanie in Manhattan,
We’re happy to help you with your Cream Cheese Artichoke Enchiladas dilemna. The solution is a bit complex but you seem motivated!
The filling:
Artichoke hearts and cream cheese (softened)
The Lemon Sour Cream Sauce: this is easy, ratio-wise
In a double boiler so it won’t burn, heat ½ water and ½ sour cream. While it’s heating, make a roux (Heat butter til it’s nutty brown and quickly stir in white flour and cook and stir until it’s pasty) and slowly stir the roux into the hot water/sour cream mixture until it thickens up a little. If the mixture is not as hot as the double boiler allows, it might not thicken the roux.
The Verde Sauce: this is harder on ratios because we make big batches of the sauces and I’m not sure of the portions for a home size but you can divide it up. Maybe you would prefer to buy off the shelf verde sauce at the store. If so, just heat it up.
In food processor:
5 bunches cilantro, washed and stemmed
20 serranos, stemmed
1 and ½ cup garlic cloves
8 medium onions
Puree til smooth. Pour into bowl.
In food processor, puree 3 #10 cans tomatillos. Pour into the bowl.
Add spices:
1/3 cup cumin
¼ cup oregano
¼ Tablespoon honey
a little salt
Whisk thoroughly.
Wet both sides of the corn tortillas and heat them in a very hot fry pan. Remove and roll the filling into them . Top with the two sauces and serve with Spanish rice and black beans. Top the black beans with shredded cheddar and/or white jack cheese and one ring of onion.
Hope this helps and good luck with your Manhattan phase.
Yours,
Kent
P.S.-- It takes a LOT of people and heavy equipment to cook like we do. It's ALWAYS EASIER to come join us to eat at the Magnolia Cafe. We're professionals. We can handle it.
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