My favorite food

I've said for years that, were it an option, I would alternate eating pizza and Mexican food every day.  I realize it is plausible but I also don't want to be severely unhealthy.  I mean, as it is, I'm only somewhat comfortable with my current level of unhealthiness :-D

So, since coming back to New York from the land of Tex Mex, I am missing what I might have to call my favorite food.  That food is cheese enchiladas.  I've attempted this recipe at home before and the sauce was always lacking.  Before even getting back up here, I was on my phone looking up recipes for cheese enchiladas with chili gravy.  I came across a website by a woman calling herself "The Homesick Texan"!  I tried the recipe on Monday and this is it!

They aren't the prettiest things I've ever eaten but they were tasty. 

Chili Gravy
Ingredients:
1/4 cup lard or vegetable oil (I used Crisco, will buy lard next time to see the difference)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon powdered garlic
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons chili power
2 cups beef broth or chicken broth

Directions:
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the flour and continue stirring for 3 to 4 minutes, or until it makes a light brown roux.

Add the black pepper, salt, powdered garlic, ground cumin, dried oregano and chili powder and continue to cook for 1 minute, constantly stirring and blending ingredients. Add broth, mixing and stirring until the sauce thickens. Turn heat to low and let sauce simmer for 15 minutes. Add water to adjust the thickness.

Cheese Enchiladas
Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
8 corn tortillas
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (can make it with Velveeta for extra melting oomph and good ol' Tex-Mex authenticity)
2 cups chili gravy

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 and grease a large baking dish.

Pour the oil in a small skillet, and heat the tortillas one at a time. Keep them wrapped in a cloth until all 8 are heated.

Pour 1/2 cup of chili gravy in a baking pan.

Take a tortilla, put 1/4 cup of cheese and 1 tablespoon of onion in the center and roll it. Place rolled tortilla in baking dish, seam side down.

Continue with remaining tortillas.

Take remaining chili gravy, and pour it over the rolled tortillas. Sprinkle remaining cheese and onions on top. Bake for 10 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted.

I ended up making two batches of sauce, one when I actually made the dish and another the next day for reheating them because they seemed so dry the first time around.  I might make double the sauce next time, to be sure.  I also had larger tortillas so I should have used more cheese but as it was, I ran out on the filling alone.  I topped off the enchiladas with Velveeta slices :-)  Next time, I'm putting LOTS of cheese inside them.  I might try baking them covered to keep the exposed tortilla areas from getting crispy.  Lastly, the first batch of chili gravy was very salty.  It might be that I didn't have Kosher salt so I just used table salt but at any rate, I omitted the salt on the second batch. 

Clearly, I will be cooking these more to fill the cheese enchilada shaped hole in my soul.