Seafood Enchiladas

Recipe Contributed by Field Staff Writer C. Jodlowski.

Read Fishing in Key West to see the adventure and how the star of this recipe was harvested from nature.

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• 1 ½ lbs of firm seafood (fish, shrimp, crab, etc) in bite-sized chunks
• 1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 small onion diced
• 1 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
• Some kind of Mexican-style chili-based sauce such as taco, adobo, etc. – whatever your local store has available. How much you use depends on your tolerance for the spice in the one you have. Taste a little and you’ll add it accordingly.
• 3 T butter
• 3 T flour
• 2 cups of milk
• 1 cups of queso blanco or queso fresco, roughly or chopped
• 1 pkg of corn tortillas

For serving:

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• Sour cream
• Salsa Verde

Preparation of the filling:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat
2. Add the onion and stir for a few minutes until it just begins to get soft
3. Add the poblano pepper.
4. Cook, stirring until the onion and pepper are soft, then add the chopped shrimp.
5. When the shrimp start to turn pink, add the crab
6. Cook for a few more minutes then add the fish and the chili sauce.
7. When it’s all cooked through, toss in a handful of the cilantro and stir.
8. Give it a taste and add more sauce if you want it spicier.
9. Put a colander over a bowl and dump the fish mixture into the colander to strain. (Make sure to keep the liquid)

Preparation of the sauce:

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat
2. Stir in the flour, and keep stirring for about 5 minutes to make a light roux.
3. Little by little, whisk in the milk. As each batch of milk is absorbed, whisk in more until you have a thick, creamy sauce.
4. Once all the milk has been added, whisk in the liquid that drained out of the fish mixture. (Keep the fish mixture set aside).
5. Finally, whisk in half of the cheese until it’s as melted as it will get. It’s ok if it stays a little lumpy but get it as far as it will go.
6. Mix in 2 T of minced cilantro.

Preparation of the enchiladas:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat up the corn tortillas (they’ll crack and crumble if you don’t) You can do it in an oven (careful not to dry them out), over a gas burner or in the microwave. If, at any time, the tortillas start to crack as you’re rolling, reheat them.
3. Pour enough of the cheese sauce into a 9×13 baking dish to just cover the bottom.
4. Spoon enough filling onto the middle of a tortilla to make a about a 1” pile across the full width of the diameter.
5. Fold the side of tortilla closest to you over the filling
6. Tuck it under the filling and then roll it up.
7. Gently place the roll into one end of the pan, seam down, tucked against the side of the dish.
8. That’s one. Now do it again. And again. Over and over, tucking each tortilla and fish roll up against the last. Continue on until all of the enchiladas are snuggled in as tightly as they’ll fit without cramming them in too tightly.
9. When the pan is full, dump the remaining cheese sauce over the entire lot of them, being sure to cover the whole pan. Give it a couple gentle shakes to settle the sauce in then sprinkle the remaining half of the cheese over the entire pan.
10. Now into the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
11. When they come out, let them cool for 10 minutes before serving. Find the edge of a roll and work in toward the edge of the pan.
12. Garnish them with a little more cilantro, sour cream and salsa verde.

I served mine with Spanish rice and black beans and corn. Oh, and of course, margaritas.