Enchiladas Rojas brings me memories of growing up. I remember my mom making this dish for us. This is one of signature traditional dishes in the southern region of Mexico.
I was born in Tejupilco, a small town south of Mexico City. I moved to Texas in 1996 and grew up in Austin. I started developing my passion for cooking and food at the young age of 15, when I began working in Austin’s Tex-Mex restaurants.
Later, I gained experience in high-end restaurants, including Veritas and Paolos Italian Kitchen in College Station. I honed my skills even further when I moved to Tyler in 2016 and became executive chef at Villaggio Del Vino for nearly three years.
My learning experience inspired me to create my signature dishes. Now, I incorporate my roots — authentic Mexican food — with gourmet style. I am still growing and moving forward as owner of C Rojo’s Mobile Cuisine and C Rojo’s Taqueria. This has always been my dream.
Recipe for Enchiladas Rojas:
10 dried guajillo peppers
1 quart of water
1/4 of an onion
4 gloves of garlic
Pinch of oregano
Pinch of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 cups of reserved juice
2 tablespoons of oil
Put water and pepper to boil for five minutes. Reserve the water from the peppers. Mix seedless peppers, onions, garlic, oregano, black pepper and salt. Before blending, add half of the reserved water; then blend together. In a saucepan, put 3 tablespoons of oil, add all the purée from the peppers and bring to a boil. Season to taste.
Get four tortillas, dice a quarter of onion, mix with 1 cup of parmesan cheese. Dip the tortillas in the chili sauce. In a sauté pan, start sautéing the tortillas; add cheese.
Make them into little taquitos. Put them on a plate, adding cabbage and sour cream. There you have it — Enchiladas Rojas!
Rojo Tellez, along with his wife, is the owner and founder of gourmet food truck C Rojo’s Mobile Cuisine. You can find the schedule for the week on their Facebook and Instagram pages. Chef Rojo recently opened C Rojo’s Taqueria on FM 14 towards Tyler State Park, open Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., where you can find homemade corn and flour tortillas, breakfast options and more.
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