National Press Club

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo all week with warm cheese corn tortilla enchiladas or bracing ceviche tostadas

Susan Delbert

May 04, 2020

Ceviche tostadas

While Cinco de Mayo, or the 5th of May, is a minor holiday in Mexico, it's popular here in the United States and a celebration of Mexican heritage and culture -- and what better way than with food and drink. 

Many dishes from our southern neighbor are now regular fixtures of the American diet:  tacos, burritos, huevos rancheros, nachos and margaritas, to name just a few. 

Cinco de Mayo is the anniversary of the 1862 Battle of Puebla, when the Mexican military defeated the French forces of Napoleon III. Puebla is a state in east-central Mexico, about 60 miles southeast of Mexico City.

Why is Cinco de Mayo celebrated with such exuberance in the United States?  Suzanne Barbezat, a journalist living in Mexico and the author of Frida Kahlo at Home, says the celebrations emerged around 1863 in Southern California as a showing of solidarity with Mexico against the French. At the time, America was engaged in the Civil War and the French strategically moved into Mexico to gain a foothold in North America. They planned to move north to support the Confederate Army. The Puebla defeat slowed the French plan until the Union forces could make advances, forging solidarity between Mexico and United States.

And now let's get back to the party. There are plenty of take-out options for enchiladas and tostadas, but making these dishes at home allows you to customize them to liking. Plus, they are very fun -- at once, familiar, but your own. 

Cheese and Corn Enchiladas

Cheese enchiladas by Chef Susan Delbert
Cheese enchiladas by Chef Susan Delbert

Sauce (this can be made ahead of time)

1 onion, chopped 

1 clove garlic, minced

1 20-ounce can of crushed tomatoes, preferably fire roasted

4 oz. (1/2 to 3/4 cup) chopped cooked or pickled green chilies or jalapeños (to taste)

1/2 cup water (use it to rinse out tomato and chile cans)

Dried oregano, preferably Mexican

Cumin

Vegetable oil

Enchiladas

10 to 12 corn tortillas (commercial “homemade” preferable)

1 lb.  shredded cheese, any combo of mozzarella, pepper jack, cheddar

1 cup red onion, fine dice (optional)

Assembly

Iceberg lettuce or shredded cabbage

Apple cider vinegar/vinaigrette (optional)

Salt/ pepper

Chile flakes

Sour cream

Avocado (optional)

Cilantro (optional)

Procedure

Enchilada sauce: 

  1. Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a large sauce pan on medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a minute more.
  2. Add the crushed tomatoes. Add the green chilies. Add 1/2 cup of water. Add a generous amount of cumin and oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and taste. A little heat is expected. If necessary, increase jalapeños, or add a bit of red chile peppers or cayenne pepper. Set aside for assembly

Tortillas 

The corn tortillas must be cooked to soften them for rolling. There are a couple of methods: Fry, bake or microwave.  

  1. To fry, add a small amount of oil to large sauté pan, add tortilla, flip and cook second side.  Some cooks double the tortillas while frying to absorb some of the excess oil.  It is possible to start on the stove top and finish browning in the oven, to reduce the amount of oil.
  2. A better alternative is to microwave tortillas, about one minute.  Easy, pliable and easiest of all. Assembly

    1/ Preheat oven 350 degrees.  In either a casserole pan (9 x 9 or 9 x13) or cast iron skillet, put a bit of oil and/or enchilada sauce in bottom of baking dish/pan.

     2/ If adding onions, dice red onions (or other sweet onions) and rinse under cold running water in strainer (this reduces sulfur and minimizes some of the onion “bite.)  The onions lend a nice surprising texture to the enchiladas.  If using multiple shredded cheeses (cheddar, mozzarella and pepperjack all work well), mix with onions. Cover 2/3 of warmed/softened tortilla with cheese mix. Place in pan/skillet seam side down. 

    3/ Cover all rolled tortillas with sauce and additional sprinkling of cheese.

    4/ Bake 25 minutes or until cheese melts

    Service (all of these additions are optional): 
  1. Top individual tortillas with either shredded lettuce (tossed with a little apple cider vinaigrette is nice) or—as is popular in some circles—shredded cabbage.
  2. Whatever you add atop will be welcome:  sour cream, avocado, pico de gallo, cilantro.  Or just enjoy them au naturel.  You’ll be a hit any way.

Ceviche Tostadas

Ceviche Tostadas

1 lb. fresh fish, (preferably, not previously frozen); any combo: rockfish, bass, snapper, perch, halibut, mackerel and/or calamari, shrimp. Peel shrimp, remove vein, fish skinned/scaled, cut into 2 inch pieces

1 carrot, chopped, about a cup

3 limes, zest and juice (about ¾ cup or 6 oz.), not bottled

1 (or more, to taste) serrano or jalapeno pepper, fine mince

¼ to ½ red onion, fine dice, rinsed under cold water

½ bunch cilantro leaves, chopped (no stems)

1-2 T oregano, preferably Mexican

Salt/pepper

10 corn tortilla tostadas                                     

1 tomato, diced

1 avocado, sliced

Procedure

  1. In food processor, pulse carrots about 20 times until fairly uniformly broken up; add fish and pulse about 10 more times until mixture is uniformly chopped.  Do not puree.  If no food processor, mince on cutting board.
  2. Pour lime juice over fish mixture in bowl.  Cover and allow to marinate at room temperature about 30-45 minutes to allow lime juice to “cook,” or chemically cure, the fish.  Drain well.
  3. Add and mix well remaining ingredients:  pepper, onion, cilantro, oregano, salt and freshly ground pepper. Taste.  A bit of a bite is expected, add more jalapeno or serrano pepper.  Wrap, label and refrigerate overnight.
  4. Tostadas are corn tortillas fried and/or baked until crisp.  Tostadas can be purchased, but frying fresh corn tortillas will have a fresher taste. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.  Place a rack on a baking sheet.  Heat about ½ inch of oil until small test piece of tortilla sizzles.  Place tortilla, in oil, flip and remove to wire rack.  Finish crisping in oven; finishing tortillas in the oven reduces the amount of oil absorbed; watch closely, they brown quickly.  When removed from oven, while hot, sprinkle immediately with salt.
  5. Assembly:  Place about ½ cup (3-4 T) fish on tostada, top with tomato and avocado.  Pop a cool one and kick back.

Special thanks to Pati Jinich, always an inspiration when cooking anything Mexican.  This recipe is adapted from Pati’s Mexican Table (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston/NY; 2013).

Susan Delbert is the National Press Club executive chef. She oversees the Club's catering and two restaurants, the Fourth Estate and the Reliable Source.  

Contact:  [email protected].