It’s that time again…time for another Daring Cooks’ challenge.
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 www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.
We are big fans of foods with a Mexican flair around here, so this challenge went over very well in my home. I followed the recipe pretty much exactly, substituting organic ingredients whenever possible. I think the only real change I made was using less cheese than the recipe calls for…
Green Chile and Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 1/5 pounds fresh Anaheim chiles about eight 6 to 8 inch chiles - roasted, peeled, seeds removed and coarsely chopped
- 7-8 ounces tomatillos about 4-5 medium, peeled and stems removed
- 4 cups chicken broth preferably homemade
- 1 clove garlic peeled and minced
- 2 tsp yellow onion minced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp organic cornstarch dissolve in 2 tablespoons water, for thickening
- your favorite hot sauce- optional
- 2 boneless organic chicken breasts
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 12 small corn tortillas 5-6 inch/13-15 cm. (you can also use wheat tortillas or other wraps)
- 6 ouces grated organic Monterey Jack cheese
- cilantro for garnish chopped and sprinkled-optional
Instructions
Roasting Fresh Chiles:
- Coat each chile with a little olive oil. You can use a gas stove, or you can broil or grill them.
- Lay the oiled chiles on the grill or baking sheet (line pan with foil for simpler clean-up). Place the grill or broil close to the element, turning the chiles so they char evenly. They should be black and blistered.
- When they are completely charred (they will probably not all be done at once), remove them to a bowl and cover with plastic, or close up in a paper bag. Let them rest until they are cool.
- Pull on the stem and the seed core MAY pop out. Or open the chile and remove the seeds. Turn the chile skin side up and with a paring knife, scrape away the skin. Sometimes it just pulls right off, sometimes you really have to scrape it.
- DO NOT RINSE!
Green Chile Sauce:
- Put a medium saucepan of water on to boil and remove the papery outer skin from the tomatillos. Boil the tomatillos until soft, 5 to 10 minutes. You can also grill the tomatillos until soft.
- Drain and puree in a blender or food processor.
- Return the tomatillos to the saucepan along with the chicken broth, chopped green chiles, minced onion, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the cornstarch/water mixture and stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened and reduced to 4-5 cups, another 10-15 minutes.
- Adjust seasonings and add hot sauce if you want a little more heat.
Stacked Green Chile and Grilled Chicken Enchiladas:
- Heat a gas grill to medium high or build a medium-hot charcoal grill. Coat the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- Grill the chicken until just cooked through, 4-5 minutes a side for boneless chicken breasts.
- Cool and then slice into thin strips or shred.
- In a small skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Dip the edge of a tortilla into the oil to check – it should sizzle immediately.
- Using tongs, put a tortilla into the pan and cook until soft and lightly brown on each side, about 15-20 seconds per side (at the most).
- Drain on paper towels.
- Add oil as needed and continue until all 12 tortillas are done.
- In a baking dish large enough to hold four separate stacks of tortillas (I used my cast-iron skillet), ladle a thin layer of sauce.
- Lay four tortillas in the dish and ladle another ½ cup of sauce over the tortillas.
- Divide half the chicken among the first layer of tortillas, top with another ½ cup of sauce and 1/3 of the grated cheese.
- Stack another four tortillas, top with the rest of the chicken, more sauce and another third of the cheese.
- Finish with the third tortilla, topped with the remaining sauce and cheese.
- Bake until the sauce has thickened and the cheese melted, about 20 minutes. Let rest for 5-10 minutes.
- To serve, transfer each stack to a plate. Spoon any leftover sauce over the stacks and sprinkle with cilantro, if you wish. The stacks may also be cooked in individual gratin dishes.
