Enchiladas

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The best mac and cheese you'll ever put in your mouth....

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

I knew the moment I saw this recipe that I would love it. I really can't say no to green chilies. I love them. I also have a hard time saying no to chicken enchiladas. I am happy to report that this recipe did not disappoint me! I'm excited because the flavors are similar (but actually much better) to the chicken enchilada's I have made before, but this recipe is from scratch and uses no cream soups. I did use flour tortillas so I'm not sure if the actually "disqualifies" me from using the word enchiladas, butnext time I will try it with corn tortillas. I also think that the filling would make a great base for enchilada soup. So you'll probably see a post about that soon! Enjoy!

Green Chile Enchiladas
(Source: The Way the Cookie Crumbles food blog)

Note: To wet the tortillas before heating and rolling them, I usually hold them under running water for a second. Alternatively, you could brush water on them using a pastry brush.

1 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast (12-16 ounces)
salt and pepper
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 tablespoons water (I used chicken broth)
3 tablespoons butter
½ large onion, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk plus ¼ cup
4 ounces chopped green chiles, undrained
½ cup sour cream plus 2 tablespoons
1 cup (4 ounces) cheddar, shredded, plus ¾ cup (3 ounces)

1. For chicken: Adjust oven racks to the lower-middle and upper-middle positions; heat oven to 450 degrees. Heat oil in heavy-bottomed 9-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat until oil just begins to smoke; swirl skillet to coat evenly with oil. Brown chicken breast skin side down until deep golden, 3 to 4 minutes; turn chicken breast and brown until golden on second side, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Place in oven on lower-middle rack. Roast until thickest part of breast registers about 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 18 to 25 minutes. Using potholder or oven mitt, remove skillet from oven. Transfer chicken to platter and set aside until cool enough to handle. Pour water into hot skillet and scrape with a heat-proof spatula or wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Pour liquid into small bowl. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.

2. For filling: Melt butter until foaming in medium saucepan over medium heat; add onions and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 1½ minutes. Do not brown. Gradually whisk in milk and reserved water from deglazing. Bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat. Stir in green chiles, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper. Remove from heat, and stir in ½ cup sour cream.

3. For sauce: Set aside ¼ cup of filling mixture. Add an additional ¼ cup milk and 2 tablespoons sour cream and stir until blended.

4. Remove and discard chicken skin. Using fingers or fork, pull chicken off bones into 2-inch shreds and 1-inch chunks. Stir shredded chicken and 1 cup shredded cheddar into filling mixture. Spread ¼ of sauce in bottom of 9×13-inch pan.

5. Lightly wet both sides of four tortillas; place on baking sheet in oven for 3-4 minutes, until soft. Spread approximately ¼ cup of filling down center of each tortilla. Fold in sides and place enchilada, seam side down, in prepared pan. Repeat with remaining tortillas until all the filling has been used, wetting and warming tortillas as necessary.

6. Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas and top with remaining ¾ cup cheese. Bake on upper-middle rack until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted, 20-25 minutes. Let rest 5-10 minutes and serve.


Black Beans

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic crushed
1/4 of an onion diced
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 can Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chiles)
salt and pepper to taste.

Heat the olive oil in a small sauce pan. When the oil is hot add the onions and garlic. Let the onions sweat out but do not let the garlic burn. After a few minutes add the black beans and chicken broth. Then season the beans with chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Bring the beans to a simmer then add the Rotel tomatoes. Let simmer for about 20 minutes.

Carnitas

While blog browsing I came across a very tempting picture in Elly's
blog for Carnitas, which is basically like Mexican style
pulled pork. I had every intention of using her exact recipe, but then
my computer decided to crash on me so I had to improvise. I am pretty
happy with how it turned out.

A while back I made a big pot of Mexican bean stew and I froze a lot of the leftovers. So when I got everything together for the crock pot I took the beans out of the freezer to defrost. I served the beans and pork on whole wheat tortillas with cheese and sour cream. Yum!

My twist on Carnitas - very similar to Elly's

1 1/2 pound pork roast
6 cloves peeled garlic
Dry rub - cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, dried cilantro, dried onion flakes, paprika
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh salsa (I prefer it with lots of cilantro!)

To
start I poked some deep holes in the roast and shoved the garlic cloves
in the holes. Then I rubbed generously with the dry rub. Then I set it
in the crock pot and poured the chicken broth around the edges and the
salsa on top. I let this refrigerate over night and turned the crock
pot on low before work. 8 1/2 hours I shredded the pork with a fork and
turned it on high with the lid off to let some of the liquid thicken
up. That's about it! The pork literally fell apart. I can't wait to
have this again!

Enchilada Lasagna

After feeling really horrible all day (migraine) I was sooo happy that my dinner was already pre-prepped. Tuesday night I put it all together so all we would need to do was pop it in the oven. This was a very simple very delicious meal. I will definitely make again. I made this in a small round casserole dish because it was for just the two of us. You could easily use a larger casserole dish and make the layers bigger with more tortillas.

Enchilada Lasagna

Ingredients
Corn tortillas
1 can medium enchilada sauce (I found this in the Mexican section at the grocery store)
4 chicken tenders (you've probably noticed by now I use these a lot. They just cook so fast)
1 can black beans
1 can Ro-tel (diced tomatoes and chilies)
1 cup shredded cheese

Bring the can of enchilada sauce to a low simmer. Add the chicken and let it cook for about 15-20 minutes. While the chicken is cooking mix the can of black beans (drained) with the can of Ro-tel. In a casserole (lightly sprayed with non-stick)set down the first layer of tortilla. On top of this spread the bean and tomato mixture and a sprinkle of cheese. Then another tortilla. Then the enchilada sauce and chicken (shredded with a fork). Repeat until there are 3 layers of bean/cheese and 2 layers
of chicken. For the top layer use the enchilada sauce (the chicken should mostly be gone and there should just be sauce left) and a handful of cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Top with sour cream.

Salsa Chicken Tacos

Easiest. Dinner. Ever. On Monday nights I don't usually get home until after 8:30, which means dinner needs to be super fast and easy. And what's easier than a crock pot meal?

3-4 chicken breasts
3/4 cup salsa
1 can of beans (Black would be best but I only had kidney)
2 tbsp of southwest seasoning mix (or a combo of red pepper flakes, dried cilantro, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and dried minced garlic)

I put everything in the crock of the crock pot on Sunday night. On Monday morning I had Jesse set the crock in the thing and turn it on. It cooked on low until I got home. When we were ready to eat I just used 2 forks to shred the chicken and mix everything together. Yummy!

We had this on wheat tortillas with sour cream and cheese.

Mexican Bean Stew

I served this bean stew with cheese and salsa quesadillas and topped with a little sour cream and manchego cheese. It was a very hearty meal and the left overs can be easily frozen.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup dried pinto beans
1 cup dry black beans
1/2 cup dry red beans
1/2 cup navy beans
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Rinse and sort pinto beans, black beans and garbanzo beans. Place in a large bowl and cover with water. Soak overnight.
Drain beans and place in a large pot; cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 hour, or until beans are tender. It may be necessary to add more water during cooking to prevent drying out or scorching.
Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute onion and garlic until onion is transparent. Stir in cumin, chili powder, red pepper flakes and cinnamon. To the beans add the onions, garlic and crushed tomatoes. Simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne to taste before serving.

Make sure to soak your beans SEPARATELY, other wise the black beans will give the pinto beans and navy beans a gross color.