Ole' with 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.

I guess you can say that we are no strangers to Mexican food but then again we ain't experts either. We ventured as far as fajitas and tacos only. So making enchiladas would be new territories but then again that's the main reason I joined Daring Kitchen. This group is amazing and even had a mention in The Independent . Every month, a new host will challenge all of us with a completely different recipe and most times, from different countries. We were allowed to make variations of enchiladas but the main criteria was to make the sauce from scratch. I decided to keep the recipe simple and decided on using chicken meat. My hubby is not keen on red meat at all. But he was keen on trying out the enchiladas especially after being told it would be smothered with melting cheese. I had also wanted to try my hand at making some corn tortilla wraps from sractch but I could not find masa harina flour at all. So that idea got tossed out the window and I ended up taking the easy way out .... store bought flour tortillas. Anyway the enchiladas were delicious and I will certainly be making this again. Many thanks Barbara and Bunnee for another great challenge!



Chicken Enchiladas
(makes enough for 8 - 10 wraps)

Ingredients:

3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium sized onion, diced
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 can chopped stewed tomatoes (or equivalent in fresh cherry tomatoes)
1/4 cup can tomato sauce (or substitute with 1 Tbsp of tomato paste)
1 tsp cumin
400g minced chicken (you can substitute with turkey, beef or lamb)
2 minced chipotle peppers (I used a small can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce)
1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro, roughly chopped
Salt and crushed black pepper to taste
8 pieces flour tortillas
Cheddar cheese (yellow and white) grated
Salsa, sour cream and guacamole as condiments

Method for the Filing:

1) Heat oil in pan. Saute onion and garlic on medium heat until they begin to turn translucent.

2) Add chicken, brown for a few minutes and add seasonings.

3) Add tomatoes (crushing as you go if you used whole cherry tomatoes) and tomato sauce. Let sauce simmer and reduce until barely any liquid remains. The sauce should resemble consistency of a thick chilli. Set aside and cool.



Enchilada Sauce

Ingredients:

1 tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 small chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 can tomato sauce
Salt and crushed black pepper to taste

Method for the Sauce:

1) Heat oil in small sauce pan on medium heat, add onion and garlic. Stir until onions are translucent.

2) Add in chipotle chile and other seasonings, stir to combine.

3) Add in tomato sauce, stir and bring to a boil. Lower to simmer and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

To Assemble the Enchiladas:

1) Heat the oven to 200C.

2) Warm the tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Remove and lay one piece on a flat surface. Spoon about 2 Tbsp of the chicken filing across the center of the wrap.

3) Sprinkle some cheese over the filing.

4) Roll one side towards the other and place into a glass baking dish. Continue to do this for the next enchiladas, until you fill up the baking dish.

5) Pop the dish into the oven for about 5 mins. Remove from oven and pour the enchilada sauce over the wraps.

6) Top with a liberal sprinkling of cheese and place it back into the oven for another 10 - 15 minutes, or until the cheese just starts to bubble.

7) Remove and serve with salsa, guacomole and sour cream.