So, I was getting tired of winning my family's annual enchilada cook-off with my brisket enchiladas, and decided to do something different this year. The solution-- BBQ duck enchiladas with Tex-Mex red chile gravy.
Oh my, they not only kicked the crap out of the rest of my family's entries, and they were not only the best enchiladas I've ever made, but they were the best enchiladas I've ever eaten, any time, any place. I'm not trying to brag here but... oh well, yes I am.
The BBQ duck was fantastic on its own. I picked up a fresh 5 lb bird from my nearest Asian grocery, it was way cheaper than all of the white-folks stores. I just used my standard BBQ rub of salt, pepper, and paprika, and rubbed it inside and out. I also stuffed the cavity with some onion, crushed garlic cloves, and a quartered blood orange. I pricked the skin so that as the fat rendered, it would have a place to escape, and then I captured that tasty smoked duck fat goodness in a pan below the bird. Cooked it at around 275-300 for almost 3 hours, until it hit about 168 in the breast. Let it rest, then chopped/pulled it to make the filling.
And then I added some of that duck fat back into the chile gravy instead of the normal vegetable oil, and it's the best gravy I've ever made. Rolled the enchiladas and topped with some simple monterrey jack cheese, and the entire mixture was just unbelievably tasty.
I highly recommend anyone that enjoys BBQ and enchiladas and duck, try this out.
