Pigs in Blankets

Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Enchiladas

Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna-Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on Fine Cooking and written by Robb Walsh.

At home we decided to turn this weekend into a mexican culinary experience so in addition to the enchiladas, we made fajitas, guacamole, pico de gallo and frozen strawberry margaritas. You can find the recipes for guacamole and margaritas here. Below are the recipes for enchiladas (including grilled chicken and green chile sauce), pico de gallo and homemade nachos.

Grilled Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Juice of one lemon
1/2 chopped onion
1 cup olive oil
Salt, pepper

Instructions

In a large bowl, place the chicken breasts with all the ingredients listed above. Cover with film and marinate overnight in the fridge. Remove from maceration liquid and grill in the oven at 300 ºC (572 F) until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once cooled, shred it with your hands.

Green Chile Sauce

8 medium Poblano Chiles (canned)
5 medium Tomatillos (canned)
4 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoons yellow onion
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and Pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. Cornstarch (dissolved in 2 tbsp. water)

Instructions

I had trouble finding fresh tomatillos and chiles poblanos, so I bought them canned. The chiles come already grilled an pealed and the tomatillos come boiled and soft. They make a great substitute for the fresh stuff and yield a great sauce.

Remove the seeds from the poblano chiles and chop coarsley. Heat a sauce pan and place tomatillos. Burst them with a spoon and let simmer over medium heat for a couple minutes. Remove from pan, puree with an immersion blender and return to pan. Add poblano chiles, chicken broth, minced onion, oregano, salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cornstarch-water mixture and stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened and reduced. Adjust seasonings and reserve.

Enchiladas

170 g (6 oz.) grated Monterey Jack
Green Chile Sauce
12 corn tortillas
Grilled chicken

Instructions

Reserve 1/4 cup sauce and mix the rest with the shredded chicken. Fry the tortillas in very hot oil, until lightly golden but still tender. Drain on paper towels.

In a baking dish, ladle a thin layer of sauce. Lay one tortilla and add the mixture of chicken and sauce until the tortilla is covered. Sprinkle some grated cheese, top with another tortilla and repeat procedure. The top tortilla should be covered just with salsa and a generous amount of cheese.

Bake in the oven at 300 ºC (572 F) until the cheese melts and golds. Let rest for 5 minutes and serve.

Pico de Gallo

3 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of one lemon
1 small onion
2 tomatoes

Instructions

Finely dice the tomatoes and onion. Add lemon juice and chopped cilantro. Mix well and store in the fridge. Serve cold with nachos.

Homemade Nachos

1/2 cup olive oil
Corn tortillas

Instructions

Heat the olive oil over high heat. Add the tortillas cut in quarters and fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and reserve.