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I am CRAZY about Mexican food. Like certifiably lock me in a padded room, Britney Spears shaving her head crazy. If I hear the work “enchilada” whispered in the wind form a radius of about 100 yard, I’m on my feet looking for the person who said it to see if I can go out to lunch with them. Now that I’m paying rent and bills for cable and electricity that my annoying electric oven uses up by the bucketful, I really only have a chance to go out to eat once every couple of weeks. And when I do, it’s straight to the Mexican restaurant I go. Screw variety; give me melty cheese and red sauce!

So this week I decided to succumb to my urges and bake up a big, gooey batch of my own personal form of kryptonite, wrapped in a corn tortilla. This is probably the easiest dish I’ve made (considering in the last couple of weeks I’ve made paella, chicken noodle soup and cornbread encrusted chicken – those are QUITE involved, I must say).

Here’s what you’ll need:

• A package of CORN tortillas (yes, I know flour tortillas a more tasty in general but you need something a little tougher for this venture so as not to disintegrate upon baking)
• 4-5 cups of red enchilada sauce (canned is fine, there are recipes to make your own but this is easy and much better than any first time sauce-maker could come up with. You can use green sauce too if that’s your prerogative!)
• 3 Âœ cups grated Monterey Jack cheese (mmmm, try not to snack on it too much while you cook or you’ll have to grate more like I did!)
• Âœ cup grated mild to medium cheddar (just to give it a little more oomph!)

Enchilada accessories:

• A large can of refried beans (just heat ‘em over the stove as you go)
• Some Mexican-style rice mix (in the Uncle Ben’s aisle! – prep in the microwave while other stuff is cooking)
• A nice frothy pitcher of margaritas!

Now, to cook:

Take about a dozen of the tortillas, brushed lightly on both sides with vegetable oil and place them on a big cookie sheet, lined with tinfoil. Seal those suckers in with another layer or tin foil, tightly wrapped. Heat them in a 400-degree oven for about 5 minutes until they are pliable.

While they cook, pour about œ-to-3/4 cup of the sauce over the bottom of a baking dish (I used a 13-by-19-inch glass one, it worked well!)

Once you can touch the heated tortillas without burning your hands off, scoop about two large spoonfuls of your cheeses, mixed up, into the center of each. Wrap as tightly as you can, then put each one seam-side down onto the sauce in your backing dish. Do this with all of the tortillas, and don’t be afraid to pack them tightly! (Did that sound dirty? Oh well.) Make sure you save a bit of your cheese!

Pour the remaining red sauce over the enchiladas, making sure to cover the edges as they can burn in the oven. Then sprinkle as much cheese as you’ve got left (the best part!) over the whole thing and shove it back in the over. Let it bake about 10 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling. Feel free to spoon some sauce over any exposed edges as your check the progress of your dish, in case they appear to be drying out.

And that’s it! Once they are out of the oven, spoon those enchiladas onto a plate, plop down some beans (always good with some cheese on top too!), slop some rice beside it, pour yourself a drink with a salted rim, and bon appetite (or however you say that in Spanish)!

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