I have a giant pack of corn tortillas (possibly two packs) in the freezer.
They’re a bit crumbly from the freezer. but usable. So far I’ve made baked tortilla chips (and baked full tortillas when I realized that saved the effort of cutting and potential crumbling).
Of course there are the usual quesadilla-taco-enchilada options, but the tortillas are a bit crumbly from the freezer, so I’m not sure how they’ll do with folding or rolling.
I’m toying with the idea of an enchilada pie / mexican lasagna. Also chilaquiles, as the baked chips worked well.
So, what do YOU do when you have too many tortillas? Any and all ideas welcome!
Skip the rolling. Stacked enchiladas are so much easier, taste just as good, and are ideal for being topped with a fried egg. We make all sorts ranging from shredded chicken thighs to carnitas to a mixture of squash, onion, tomato, poblano, and cotija.
Are they too far gone to cut in triangles and fry up for homemade chips? We had some at a friend’s house recently and they were a revelation - especially to someone who isn’t nuts about tortilla chips, generally.
If they are too far gone or you just have too many, cut them into small pieces and feed them to the local birds.
I picked up some tortilla(s) that were on clearance and I waited a bit too long to use them. So I cut them into small pieces and put them out for the local birds (that I routinely feed). In no time, the tortilla pieces were gone and nothing went to waste.
You might also freeze a few of them to use in the future to thicken soups or chili. Tear them into pieces and freeze on a sheet tray, then bag them up. I wonder if you could also use them to thicken an enchilada sauce? Hmmmmmmm
This is what I meant by enchilada pie. Would you mind describing your method / recipe? (I have a general sense of what I’d do but have never made enchiladas this way before.)
I’d replace the “cream of” soups with 2-3 cups of a well seasoned white sauce and swap out some or all of the bell pepper for another capsicum with more oomph. But the bones of the recipe look like they would be easy to adapt off of.
Easy peasy…pour a bit of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a baking dish, place tortillas on the sauce, pour more sauce on top of them and proceed as you want to pile on fillings. I usually include some cheese in the filling. Top with more tortillas, pour the last of the sauce over them, sprinkle cheese (and chopped onion if the sauce on top is a meat type red chile gravy sauce). For a hurried dinner, a can of Old El Paso or Hatch is fine. For a heavy dose of psychological nutrients, stuff with Velveeta and top with chile gravy with plenty of ground beef cooked with sautéed onions, powdered chiles, and cumin.
A couple years ago we had a snow/ice storm. The snow/ice took a week to melt. After the first few days the birds were chirping. No food on the ground. My husband threw out some old bread. The blue jays ran them all off. Blue Jays are mean birds.
i prefer to take my advice from wildlife experts and established bird welfare orgs like audubun (not to mention every birder i’ve ever met). in every instance they don’t recommend it. that’s the last i’ll say about it. i would encourage anyone who cares about the welfare of wildlife to do their own research.
