By The week after Thanksgiving. I started the Christmas tamale planning Monday, same as last year, same as every year. Order of operations: source the chiles this weekend, pick up the pork shoulder from the Peoria butcher next Friday, get the masa from the Mexican grocery the following Saturday, spend that Sunday making the batch. Six dozen minimum. More if I have time and strength.
Danny had a bad week. Not a crisis — the oxygen is managing it, the medication is managing it, Terry is managing it — but a week where every day was harder than the week before. He is fifty-two years old with the lungs of a seventy-five-year-old, which is what happens when you spend two weeks in a hospital bed with chemical burns to the lung tissue and then live with that damage for eighteen years. I think about the refinery often. I think about the settlement that was $47,000 for the rest of Danny's life, which is to say the rest of our family's life, which is to say the price they put on my father's lungs and called it resolved. I think about it in the way I think about things I cannot change: with a low, constant anger that I have learned to function around.
I called Danny every day this week. Some days he talked. Some days Terry held the phone to him and he said a few words and handed it back. I told him about the tamale planning. I told him what the pipeline crew had for lunch Tuesday, which was store-bought sandwiches from a gas station, which I described in enough detail that he made a sound that was almost a laugh. You give people what they can receive. This week he could receive the gas station sandwich story. I gave him that.
Kai asked me Thursday why Grandpa Danny breathes like that. I said his lungs were sick from something that happened when he was younger, before Kai was born. Kai asked if they would get better. I said no, but they were okay for now. Kai thought about this. He said: "I am glad he can still eat tamales." I said me too. He said: "Good." And went back to his trucks. Children accept hard things in the way that hard things actually are — factually, without drama, and then they go back to the trucks. I could learn something from that.
When you’re deep in tamale planning—sourcing chiles, scheduling the butcher run, mapping out the masa pickup—you still have to feed people on the nights in between. These cheese and onion enchiladas with chili gravy are what I make during those weeks: same dried chile flavor profile I’m already thinking about, same warmth, but forty-five minutes start to finish instead of a full Sunday production. Kai eats two. I eat three. And the batch of chili gravy reminds my hands what they’ll be doing with those chiles when the real day comes.
Tex-Mex Cheese and Onion Enchiladas with Chili Gravy
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- For the Chili Gravy:
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or lard
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons chili powder (preferably ancho-based)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- For the Enchiladas:
- 12 corn tortillas
- 3 cups shredded Colby Jack or cheddar cheese, divided
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil (for softening tortillas)
- Diced onion and fresh cilantro, for topping
Instructions
- Make the chili gravy. Heat the oil or lard in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and cayenne. Stir to form a thick paste and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth, breaking up any lumps. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the gravy thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Season with salt to taste.
- Preheat the oven. Set your oven to 375°F. Spread a thin layer of chili gravy across the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish.
- Soften the tortillas. Heat the 1/4 cup oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Briefly fry each tortilla for about 5 seconds per side, just until pliable. Drain on paper towels.
- Fill and roll. Place about 2 tablespoons of shredded cheese and a generous pinch of diced onion down the center of each tortilla. Roll tightly and place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with all 12 tortillas.
- Top and bake. Pour the remaining chili gravy evenly over the rolled enchiladas. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake uncovered for 15–18 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the edges are just starting to crisp.
- Serve. Let cool for 5 minutes. Top with diced raw onion and fresh cilantro if desired. Serve hot.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 420 | Protein: 16g | Fat: 26g | Carbs: 32g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 780mg