Ramses Alvarez's Dona Minerva Enchiladas Rojas

Recipes

Dona Minerva Enchiladas Rojas

By Ramses Alvarez

Home cooking takes Ramses Alvarez back to Mexico City and his mom’s cooking. But with the pork belly mojo rojo and smooth sauce laced with almonds, guajillo peppers and roasted red peppers, his enchiladas achieve something more elevated. “They’re regular enchiladas,” he says. “But the way I make them, they’re more avant-garde, more progressive.” And also, no less comforting than the ones “Dona Minerva” (Alvarez’s mom) made when he was growing up.

Ingredients

Makes 12 Servings

Pork belly mojo rojo:

1 whole pork belly, seasoned with salt and pepper

32 ounces chicken stock (or broth)

4 ounces toasted and seeded dried guajillo peppers

1 ounce garlic cloves

2 ounces shallots

Sauce:

8 ounces roasted red peppers

8 ounces roasted whole almonds

4 ounces toasted and seeded guajillo peppers

3/4 cup sunflower oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Serrano crema:

2 cups quality sour cream

2 ounces fresh serrano peppers

2 bunches cilantro

2 small garlic cloves

Salt and pepper, to taste

Assemble:

12 corn tortillas (flour ones are OK, too)

Mole

Pork belly mojo rojo

Chihuahua cheese

Instructions

Sauce:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add the pork belly, stock, peppers, garlic and shallots to braising pan. Place pan in the oven and cook for about two hours or until fork tender, then remove it from the oven. Take the pork belly out of the pan and place it in a large mixing bowl. With two large forks, start shredding the meat. When it’s fully shredded, set it aside.

For the sauce, transfer the braising liquid to a medium saucepan and start skimming the excess fat. Then add the roasted red peppers, almonds and guajillo peppers. Let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer it to a blender in three batches (to avoid the mixture “exploding”) and blend. Gradually add the sunflower seed oil. Finish by seasoning the batches with salt and pepper and place the mole into a container.

Serrano crema:

Mix all of the ingredients in a blender. Pour into a bowl and set aside.

Assemble:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add the mole to an 8-inch saucepan, bring it to a simmer over medium heat, then remove from the heat. Carefully dunk one of the tortillas into the mole. Place it on a sheet pan and top with 2 ounces of shredded pork belly. Then roll up the tortilla and repeat the process with two more tortillas, forming a line of three in the pan. Continue with the remaining tortillas, dunking and filling in batches of three. Top with more mole and Chihuahua cheese, then place in the oven until the cheese is melted. Serve with your favorite sides, such as serrano crema, shaved iceberg lettuce, chopped cilantro and limes.

Pro Tips

1

To make the basket for his autumn salad collection, Alvarez uses a tool called a pastry lattice roller cutter. It creates the basket’s fishnet-like pattern. It can be used for other pastries that have patterns, such as lattice crust-topped pies and beef Wellington.

Bio

Born and raised in Mexico City, Ramses Alvarez was exposed to cooking very early on, owing to the street food stand his mother operated and the guiding influence of his godfather, who worked as a chef. Since moving to Milwaukee in 2000, he’s worked at Mason Street Grill, the Hyatt Regency hotel and the former Juniper 61. Venturing off on his own, Alvarez offers private chef dinners and catering and he has plans to open a Mediterranean-focused restaurant in the Third Ward.

Ramses Alvarez

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Ramses Alvarez

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