If you know me, you know that I love Mexican food. I think my first words were "green limes and no beans extra rice." I could eat it morning, noon and night, and I'm pretty sure most Texans feel the same way. I'm convinced that I was a Juanita in my former life. We eat Mexican food so much Brian's dad thinks that our kids are going to be born with a sombrero and a mustache.
But it's hard to find good Mexican, or shall I say, Tex-Mex, in Boston. Nearly impossible. We live up the street from what I thought was fairly decent Mexican restaurant, Mexico Lindo, but when we took my dad there during his visit to Boston, he snubbed his nose at it. I've searched high and low and it's the best I can come up with. So I'm trying to recreate my favorites at home. It's not the same but it'll have to do until my next trip to H-town.
Here's an enchiladas verdes recipe that's become a favorite in our household. When I want to go all out, I make the verdes sauce from scratch. If you don't have the time, you can buy green sauce in the supermarket (La Victoria is my favorite brand). If you forgo the homemade sauce, this is a relatively quick and easy recipe, not to mention good for crowds.
The homemade verdes sauce calls for tomatillos and serrano chiles. I've included a picture for those who don't eat, sleep and dream Mexican food.
Ingredients:
1 pound of chicken breast
1.5 cups of light sour cream
½ cup of thinly sliced scallions
¼ cup of minced fresh cilantro
½ of a white onion
3 cups of chicken broth
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon of salt
1.5 cups of light sour cream
½ cup of thinly sliced scallions
¼ cup of minced fresh cilantro
½ of a white onion
3 cups of chicken broth
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of garlic powder
2 garlic gloves minced
8 flour tortillas
1 cup of cheddar cheese
Verdes Sauce
2-4 serrano chiles (depending on how hot you want it)
1 pound of tomatillos, husks removed
¼ cup of minced cilantro
¼ cup of chopped white onions
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
½ teaspoon salt or to taste
To make the enchiladas:
Sprinkle chicken with salt. Place chicken in a skillet with the garlic and half of a sliced white onion. Pour in 3 cups of chicken broth or enough to cover the chicken. Simmer until chicken is no longer pink inside. Let chicken cool a little and shred with your hands. Put shredded chicken in a bowl with the sour cream, scallions, cilantro, ½ cup of shredded cheese, ½ teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder. Mix. Spray a baking pan with non stick cooking spray. Put two-three spoon fulls of chicken mix in a tortilla. Roll and place in the pan seam side down. I spread a little extra sour cream on each enchilada. Top with verdes sauce and cheese. Bake covered in a 350 degrees pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes. Last 5 minutes remove foil and back uncovered. I used another recipe to base this from but really I made this up so you can add anything you want to it.
Verdes Sauce:
Place chiles in a sauce pan with three cups of water, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the tomatillos, cover, and continue to simmer for an additional 8 minutes. The tomatillos should be cooked through but not falling apart. Remove chiles and tomatillos from pot and reserve the cooking liquid. Allow chiles and tomatillos to cool then move the stems and seeds from the chiles and cut into small pieces. Place chiles, tomatillos, cilantro, and the onions in the bowl of a blender and blend for about 30 seconds. The sauce should be well blended but still retain some texture. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add the content of the blender and ½ cup of the reserved tomatillo cooking liquid and simmer for about 10 minutes. The sauce should firmly coat a spoon. Add the salt and cook for another minute. Remove from the heat and reserve. This makes about 2 cups.
2 garlic gloves minced
8 flour tortillas
1 cup of cheddar cheese
Verdes Sauce
2-4 serrano chiles (depending on how hot you want it)
1 pound of tomatillos, husks removed
¼ cup of minced cilantro
¼ cup of chopped white onions
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
½ teaspoon salt or to taste
To make the enchiladas:
Sprinkle chicken with salt. Place chicken in a skillet with the garlic and half of a sliced white onion. Pour in 3 cups of chicken broth or enough to cover the chicken. Simmer until chicken is no longer pink inside. Let chicken cool a little and shred with your hands. Put shredded chicken in a bowl with the sour cream, scallions, cilantro, ½ cup of shredded cheese, ½ teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder. Mix. Spray a baking pan with non stick cooking spray. Put two-three spoon fulls of chicken mix in a tortilla. Roll and place in the pan seam side down. I spread a little extra sour cream on each enchilada. Top with verdes sauce and cheese. Bake covered in a 350 degrees pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes. Last 5 minutes remove foil and back uncovered. I used another recipe to base this from but really I made this up so you can add anything you want to it.
Verdes Sauce:
Place chiles in a sauce pan with three cups of water, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the tomatillos, cover, and continue to simmer for an additional 8 minutes. The tomatillos should be cooked through but not falling apart. Remove chiles and tomatillos from pot and reserve the cooking liquid. Allow chiles and tomatillos to cool then move the stems and seeds from the chiles and cut into small pieces. Place chiles, tomatillos, cilantro, and the onions in the bowl of a blender and blend for about 30 seconds. The sauce should be well blended but still retain some texture. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add the content of the blender and ½ cup of the reserved tomatillo cooking liquid and simmer for about 10 minutes. The sauce should firmly coat a spoon. Add the salt and cook for another minute. Remove from the heat and reserve. This makes about 2 cups.
Arriba arriba!
2 comments:
I made this last night and the Verde sauce is absolutely delicious!! Couple of things I learned--if you are in a real time curcnh, use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery. I pulled off all the skin and hand shredded the rest, then tossed it with some mexican seasoning. I also added too many serrano's and the verde was super hot. So instead of adding the cooking liquid back in, I just added some water--which toned it down perfectly!
Courie - that's a good idea. I usually just make chicken salad with the rotisserie chickens but it's probably perfect for this dish as well. Glad you enjoyed it.
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