Enchiladas, 2 ways.

As you all may have guessed I never (well, 98% of the time) measure ingredients. For me, cooking is about feel and flavor. Put things together you like. Try new stuff. It will probably be tasty, but maybe it will need refining. No problem. Try again. That's the fun about it. I decided to stray a little from my cooking mantra and make some enchiladas with a tomatillo salsa (Ive never made that before). Still though, recipes are just a guide. More for me to keep track of what I need to buy so I don't forget something at the store. Here we have "The Recipe Way" for which I sort of followed the recipe as a guideline, basically eyeball all measurements and add and subtract ingredients when I want. Case in point: I like onions so I added more of those, but I am a HUGE WIMP when it comes to spicy food, so I took everything spicy out. And we have "The Tara Way" which means I make it with what I have...?

THE RECIPE WAY:
AKA green enchiladas.
The recipe was spawned from reading the other Tara's food blog, Tara the Foodie. I came across the blog a while ago, and really love the pictures she posts with everything, and the liberal use of Mexican ingredients (one of my faves). She gives the recipe as Tyler Florence's. Check her blog out, its worth a look.

Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa:
1 pound tomatillos, husked
1 white onion, peeled, sliced, quartered
4 garlic cloves
2 jalapenos tooo spicy
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 Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
2 cups sour cream
Chopped tomatoes and cilantro leaves, for garnish
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.

While chopping, don't forget eye protection from the evil sulfuric acid! These are my old chemistry goggles. Safety first.

Tomatillos, red onion, white onion and garlic.

After roasting, blend with cilantro and cumin to make your salsa.
The veloute (one f the 4 french mother sauces... all pretty easy so don't get scared). Basically a roux with stock or broth added. If we added milk it would be a bechamel sauce. Roux+ _____= a mother sauce.
Roaster chicken from the deli that I shredded. Save the carcass for stock!
Veloute, chicken and tomatillo salsa. The saucy deliciousness... mmmm.
Filling the enchiladas using flour tortillas, sauce and cheese.
Put in pan and cover with more tomatillo salsa.

Cover with cheese. I <3>Here I am making a black bean and con dish Ive made like a million times: Saute red onion, add roasted red pepper, corn, cilantro, lime juice and rinsed canned black beans. Consume.

Enchiladas after baking.

Black bean side.

Condiments: tomato, sour cream, cilantro, avocado, tomatillo salsa and chopped banana pepper.

The meal: rice, beans and enchiladas. Carb heaven.

THE TARA WAY:

AKA don't use a recipe

some (2 lbs-ish) chicken

1 bell pepper, sliced

1 onion, sliced

1 zucchini, cut into large matchsticks

1 pkt low sodium taco seasoning

1 T-ish cumin

couple scoops of sofrito

1 small can chopped green chiles (available at a latin market or the international section of your grocery)

1/2 c-ish cilantro, chopped

1 can tomato sauce

corn tortillas

8 oz cheddar cheese

Garnish: avocado, sour cream, green onions, cilantro, lime wedges, tomato...

Cook chicken (however you want), remove and shred or chop, then set aside. Cook onions, zucchini and bell peppers until onions are almost translucent. Add taco seasoning, cumin, sofrito and green chiles. Cook for a couple min. Add chicken. Add cilantro right before use.

Pour 1/2 can tomato sauce in a 9x13 pan and spread out. Put about a 1/4 cup of filling into a corn tortilla and fold over then place in pan, seam side down. Repeat until pan is full. I can usually fit 8-10 in. Top with rest of tomato sauce and then cheddar cheese.

Bake at 350F until cheese is melty and slightly golden, about 20-30 min. Consume!

Filling.

Rolling...

After baking... one exploded. It happens sometimes w/ corn tortillas.

Plated with lime, cilantro, avocado and sour cream. Maybe enjoy with a horchata?

<3