Well, it appears I was on the same frequency as
JCAP
and decided on an enchilada cook today. Some good friends had their first baby and we wanted to make a bunch of chow that can freeze and reheat easy as they adjust to life with a little crying, poop machine in their home. We had some great friends from Mexico years ago that did the same for us and it was a life saver! I smashed a few recipes together, needs a few tweaks, but came out pretty good.- About 5 pounds boneless beef chuck, I decided to do a garlic lime marinade the night before.
Marinade:
- 1/2 cup EVOO
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 tablespoons fresh lime zest
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cpepper
The next morning onto the pellet smoker at 225 with apple, I cold smoked for about an hour before heat with amazn -
Then a cup of coffee with my buddy 
After my coffee, I got to work on the Spicy red sauce, ingredients;- 2 sweet or yellow onions, finely chopped
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
- 1 Chipotle pepper chopped
- 1/4 cup dry red wine
Heated Beef tallow in pan, then put in the onion for about 4 min with dash of salt, followed by the japaneno for about a minute. Then dumped all the dry spices, mixing until fragrant. Finally the garlic for a minute followed by wine to deglaze and then the tomato sauce. Reduced heat and simmer. -
Once the simmer is going I waited for Chuck to hit 180 IT. -
I was planning on pulling the beef in the sauce, but pulled an audible and randomly heated up two CI and filled with the red sauce to finish cooking the meat while wet, the idea to pull in the sauce. -
I started probing at 200, but wasn’t having any luck. The acidic marinade may have done something to the meat, I began questioning at about 205 IT. No matter how many times I tell myself to wait for it, in the heat of the moment I sometimes break. The cook in the sauce made me question too. So, I pulled and did a thin chop and simmered in more sauce before building. -
Then built the enchiladas, heated tortillas in a pan with butter, then lots of meat, cheese, and sauce. Seam side down! -
Back into smoker heated up to 350
Lost track of time, but caught it before a burn job!
I made a smaller one for us to “test” and we were pretty happy, not off the charts, tears in our eyes happy. The meat is where I failed, but not to the point where I feel bad giving it to a sleepless friend and his wife while they figure out what it’s like to have a kid. Plate shot, great comfort food! -
Thank you for your time!
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