This is the kind of recipe that makes my Texpuritan instincts cringe up, but it sounds pretty good.

>From Stephan Pyle (Star Canyon in Dallas), published in the February '96 Texas Monthly (as a sidebar to a nice article on the spread of Southwestern ... ahem ... Texas kyoozeen: (Stephan Pyle's _New Texas Cuisine_, Doubleday)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. To prepare ancho paste, wash, dry, stem, and seed chiles. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for 1 minute. Put in a bowl and cover with warm water for 30 min. To rehydrate. Strain (reserve liquid) and puree' in a blender with enough of the liquid to form a thick paste.

In a skillet, bring 5 tbsp ancho paste, cream, and garlic to a boil and simmer for 2 min. Transfer to a blender and puree'. Add lime juice and salt to taste. Strain and set aside.

Heat butter in a large skillet and saute' onion and mushrooms for 2 minutes over medium heat, until onion is translucent and mushrooms are soft. Add avocado, cheese, cilantro, and tomato, and just heat through. Add 2 tbsp of reserved ancho cream puree' and stir gently. Add salt to taste and simmer 3 min.

Heat remaining reserved ancho cream puree' in a skillet until simmering. Soak tortillas one at a time in puree' for 15 sec. To soften and use tongs to place on a baking sheet. Spread mushroom mixture evenly down the middle of tortillas. Roll up tortillas, and using a metal spatula, place on plates, seam side down. To reheat, cover baking sheet with foil and place in a 350 degree oven for 10 min. Please note the recent questions answered by this recipe:

1. Rehydrate chiles in Warm water, not hot, cold, or vodka.

2. Warm tortillas in sauce, not oil.

3. Place tortillas seam side down.

Chile-Heads Digest V3 #018

From Glen Hosey's Recipe Collection Program, hosey@erols. Com