Ultimate Chicken Enchiladas  

Posted by Matt in , ,



Yes, I stole this recipe from the Food Network, but I pretty much steal everything I have from others.


Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa:


1 pound tomatillos, husked

1 white onion, peeled, sliced, quartered or whole

4 garlic cloves

2 jalapenos

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves

1/2 lime, juiced



Enchiladas:


Extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 medium onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken stock,

storebought Chopped cilantro leaves

1 deli roasted chicken (about 3 pounds), boned, meat shredded

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

10 large flour tortillas

1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

2 cups sour cream

Chopped tomatoes and cilantro leaves, for garnish


Spicy Black Beans, recipe follows

Yellow Rice, recipe follows

Guacamole, optional


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.


For the salsa: On a baking tray, roast tomatillos, onion, garlic and jalapenos for 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the roasted vegetables and any juices on the bottom of the tray to a food processor. Add the cumin, salt, cilantro, and lime juice and pulse mixture until well combined but still chunky.


Enchiladas: Meanwhile heat a 2 count of olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and caramelized - this should take 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin then cook for a further minute. Sprinkle on the flour and stir to ensure the flour doesn't burn then gradually add the chicken stock to make a veloute. Continue stirring over a low simmer until the flour cooks and the liquid thickens. Turn off the heat, add half of the roasted tomatillo chile salsa, some additional fresh chopped cilantro and fold in the shredded chicken meat. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.


Change the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees F and begin assembling the dish. Take a large baking dish and smear the bottom with some of the reserved tomatillo salsa. Now take the flour tortillas and briefly flash them over the stove-top flame (or put them briefly under the broiler if using an electric stove). Using a shallow bowl, coat each tortilla lightly with the reserved salsa mix. Put a scoop of the shredded chicken-enchilada mix on top of the tortilla followed by a sprinkle of the shredded cheese. Fold the tortilla over the filling and roll like a cigar to enclose it. Using a spatula place the tortillas in the baking dish and continue to do the same with all the tortillas. Finally pour over some more of the salsa and top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes until bubbly and cracked on top. Garnish, cilantro and tomato.


Serve hot with Spicy Black Beans and Yellow Rice, the remaining tomatillo salsa, sour cream and fresh guacamole, if desired.



Spicy Black Beans:


2 cups (about 1 pound) dried black beans, picked over, soaked overnight

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 medium onion, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 bay leaf Kosher

salt

freshly ground black pepper


In a large pot, soak beans overnight covered in water by 2 inches. Drain and set aside.
In the same pot, heat the olive oil. Add the onion, jalapeno pepper, garlic, and bay leaf and cook until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the beans and cover with water by about 1-inch. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the beans are tender. Remove the bay leaf and discard. Taste the beans and season with salt and pepper.



Yellow Rice:


2 cups long-grain rice

4 cups water

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 tablespoon turmeric

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 bay leaf


Put all the ingredients into a heavy-bottomed pot, stir well, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook over low heat until the rice has absorbed the water, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Discard the garlic and bay leaf, fluff with a fork, and serve.



Okay. This makes A LOT of food. Enough to feed probably 8 people. The rice is the biggest portion here. I would suggest cutting down the recipe down by half or even a forth. The beans were a good portion, and the enchlades you might want to cut in half as well.


I made some alterations to this recipe when I made it. My family doesn't like the texture that flour tortillas produce in dishes like an enchilada when they soak in juices. We substituted yellow corn tortillas wich are much smaller than the flour tortillas called for. Instead of using 10, we ended up using just under 30. For the black beans we used canned. We have found that these often will have a very dirty taste to them but that can be avioded if you rinse them in a strainer under cold water for a few minutes.


Those are the only adjustments I think we made, but if we did it again (and I hope we do because they are freakin' good) we would also cut the recipe size down big time.

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake  

Posted by Amber in ,

3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 t baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup butter, nmelted
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup hot water
whipped topping optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine 3/4 cup white sugar, flour, 1/4 cup cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Stir in milk, butter and vanilla; beat until smooth.

2. Pour batter into an ungreased 9 inch square pan. Stir together 1/2 cup white sugar, brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa; sprinkle mixture evenly over batter. Pour hot water over top; do not stir.

3. Bake in the preheated oven 35 to 40 minutes or until center of cake is almost set. Remove from oven; let stanf 15 minutes. Serve in dessert dishes, spooning sauce from bottom of pan over top. Garnish with whipped topping, if desired.

8 servings