My brother, Steven, has been making these enchiladas for years. I’ve helped him make them, but can never remember all the steps. So when our family got together to celebrate the 99 years of my grandmother’s life, I decided to write the recipe down.

Steven learned this recipe from a friend who was married to a Mexican man, and it has been approved by my cousin’s husband, who is a first generation immigrant from Zapiguri, Durango, Mexico. This is an area that is truly in the heart of Mexico, and he knows what authentic Mexican food tastes like.

Without further ado, here are the ingredients you will need:

1 green bell pepper
1 yellow or red bell pepper
3 jalepenos
6 ancho peppers
1/2 average sized onion
2 lbs hamburger meat
1 pkg 8-10 inch flour tortillas
1-2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
1 jar salsa
1 T chili powder
2 T minced garlic
1 T brown sugar
salt and pepper
Shredded cheese of your choice

I forgot to take a picture of all the assembled ingredients, so I’ll just apologize now.

Chop half the peppers and onions into large chunks. Dice the other half into small pieces. Remove the seeds from the diced jalepenos.

Place ancho peppers and large chopped vegatables into a sauce pan and cover with water. Add 1 T minced garlic and boil until anchos are soft.

While anchos are heating, simmer hamburger meat, diced peppers and onions, salt and pepper over medium heat until browned. Drain and set aside.

When ancho peppers are soft, remove from heat and set your blender next to the pan and the trash can underneath. Using a fork, remove anchos from the water. Pull stems and throw them in the trash. Put the ancho in the blender. Place peppers and onions from the sauce pan into the blender.

Add juice from sauce pan, filling the blender about half-way up the side of the peppers. Blend on low, increasing speed until smooth. If too thick, add more juice.

Discard leftover juice.

Using a strainer, pour a few cups of the sauce back into the pan.

Tap strainer over pan with your hand to strain out the large pieces of pepper and jalepeno seeds.

Return saucepan to heat and add 1-2 cans of tomato sauce and/or salsa to reduce ancho/jalepeno heat.

Add 1 T chili powder and 1 T brown sugar (to taste). Salt and pepper.

Coat 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray.

Create an assembly line in the following order:

1. Tortillas
2. Hamburger
3. Sauce
4. Cheese

Spoon hamburger meat into a tortilla, ladle sauce over the top and cover with cheese. Fold up tortilla and place in a single layer in pan.

Cover with remaining sauce and cover with cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven until cheese is browned.