"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." ~Lin Yutang

Monday, December 12, 2011

friday food post : chicken enchiladas


this was my first recipe i collected from someone other than my mom.  and it was from a complete stranger.  at a hispanic food store.  a hispanic stranger...
my purpose was to get an authentic mexican enchilada recipe.  at that point i had never had an enchilada before, authentic or not.  we didn't eat much mexican food growing up. 
over the past 10 years (or so), i have perFECTed it.  i'll write down what she wrote down for me as the recipe, but add my little "i'm dumb, so i have to spell it out for myself" notes that i didn't get from her pretty clear instructions.  they were good the first time i messed them up, but this last time i made them i actually got the recipe out and made sense of it and they were the best. 
AUTHENTIC MEXICAN ENCHILADAS
cook chicken - boil.  season with garlic, cumin, peppar (i've bbq'd the chicken most of the time to get that yummy bbq flavor... but finally this last time, i diced it up as small as i could while it was raw, and fried it up with a little water and lots of these seasonings --since they're all watered down---)
drain chicken set aside (i just spooned out the chicken and left all the seasoned broth for the sauce -below.  when i bbq'd the chicken, i'd let it cool and then dice it up.)
for enchilada sauce - heat skillet with oil.  optional add flour -about 2 teaspoons.  brown.  add california chili powder.  brown.  add garlic and salt to taste.  add water.  (my biggest problem was the enchilada sauce... 'cause it's homemade.  and i had never seen, nor tasted the canned kind.  so i didn't know what i was aiming for.  i should have known it was a sauce (from the name), rather than a paste... but well, i'm dumb, so i have to spell it out for myself sometimes.  so i took the broth from the chicken and added a bunch --like 2 Tbsp-- of chili powder.  then i added 2 tsp. of flour and mixed it around as if i was making gravy.  since my broth was already seasoned, i didn't have to add as much garlic and salt... but i still had to add some.  you don't want it TOO flavorful, but it needs some flavor.)
dip tortilla in sauce -> add chicken to tortilla.  wrap.  sprinkle with cheese.  put in oven and let cheese melt.  (the more cheese, the better!  i usually open up a can of mild green chilis and add them to the chicken, but they're not necessary.  'nother note: i had extra sauce when i actually made it into sauce this last time instead of paste.  i poured the extra sauce over the cheese-sprinkled enchiladas and baked them for about 20 minutes.  it really helped moisten them up.  otter pop exclaimed that they didn't even need any ranch --or sour cream and salsa is how i like them.  delish!)
here you are.  with some pictures too. (but i guess they'll come later, because it seems i haven't uploaded them yet.)

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

7 comments:

Jonathan and Telcia said...

I think you got that recipe in Jerome with me and rentay when binkins was really just a binkins. I was carrying her around the store, oogling at the tortillas and what-not. a stranger working there admired her and i looked down and saw her eyes open and just staring there. so i reached and brought her eyelids down and they stayed shut, just like a real dead person!

Jonathan and Telcia said...

oh. and you DO look pretty. i LOVE it.

MamaT said...

your memory serves you correctly. i remember those details after you reminded me. (all of them). also, i remember otter pop coming over and eating it... since we made it in jerome i just assumed i wasn't married with child yet.

aunTelcia said...

I'm making these tonight for company.

aunTelcia said...

No tomato anything?!

aunTelcia said...

At 350? This is a horrible recipe but i know dish is worth all the anguish!

MamaT said...

Sorry about the terribleness. But the heat is only to melt the cheese, so very hot if you wanna crisp and brown it, or just 350 for 20 if you want it creamy melty. There been plenty of times that I’ve left it in past 20 and resulted in cheeze-it-like topping. It’s yummy every way!
And no, no tomato, but I top mine with salsa (and sour cream).