So. Howsit going? It's been a while since I have given this Blog a second thought. When I do It is usually in passing, or when I cook a particularly good meal I feel like sharing. Anyway, things have been busy since I last posted! I finished my Paralegal Certification, bought a house, got married, you know... small things. This dish, however, is something I have been working on (and off) for the past couple years, and is worth taking the time to document and share.
For this recipe I used the following:
Fresh Tomatillos, 2-3 pounds
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast - 4 Split Breasts
Fresh Cilantro
1-2 fresh Jalapeno peppers
Shredded Mexican Blend Cheese - 2 Cups
Minced Onion - 3 Tbsp
Fresh Garlic - 1-2 Tbsp
Fresh Lime Juice - 2 Limes, separated
Tortillas (If I was going for true authenticity, I would make them from Masa Corn Flour, and have on occasion. Alas, Mi Familia prefers flour tortillas.)
I started with the fresh tomatillos. Honestly, I forgot to look at the receipt to see what the weight was, but I think it was between 2 and 3 pounds.
Here they are after removing the husks and washing wish cold water.
After placing them (and two decent sized jalapenos) on a preheated grill set to high...
I prepared my chicken by trimming off any cartilage and fat, splitting the breasts into cutlets of equal thickness, and seasoning with coarse sea salt, coarsely ground pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. I then sprinkled the chicken with the juice of a lime (about 1/8 - 1/4 cup)
I had gone outside halfway through the above procedure and turned my tomatillos and peppers. When finished, i removed them to a bowl...
...and loaded the grill with the chicken, after spraying the grill carefully with cooking spray, standing back as to not burn myself with the flare-up from the burning oil.
When the chicken was finished, I brought it all back inside, got out my semi-trusty blender, and got to salsa-fying!
I loaded the blender with the tomatillos (including all the juice that dripped into the bowl, I added ONE of the roasted jalapenos (peeled, seeded, and pithed), and started blending on low speed...
I then added some washed cilantro (being careful to get only leaves, not stems)...
The juice of the other lime...
The minced onion...
and the garlic...
and finally removing the fully blended salsa to a small pot on medium heat, to simmer and wait for me to shred the chicken...
using two forks to pull it apart, and placing it in a large bowl. Now I was ready to assemble.
I start by pouring a bit of salsa in the bottom of a large glass baking dish...
I lay a tortilla in the salsa, in the dish, put a decent amount of chicken in the middle...
and rolled the tortilla under, pulling it tight against the end of the dish...
repeating this process, and adding salsa to the dish as necessary to keep the tortillas wet.
When all the chicken was used and the pan was full, I poured the rest of the salsa on top evenly. (Don't be afraid to force the enchiladas to fit tightly!)
I then spread the shredded cheese evenly over the top, placed the baking dish in an oven preheated to 350 degrees, and baked for 20 minutes to a half hour, till the edges were bubbly, and it looked like...
THIS!
I served the enchiladas with Goya Yellow Rice, and a large dollop of non-fat Greek Yoghurt, which gives you all the thick, rich sourness of Sour Cream without a single gram of fat! I do not have a picture of the plated dish because, well, it aint really pretty after digging the individual enchiladas out of this!
It's a decent amount of work, especially for a Monday evening meal, but each of the several steps is in itself very easy, requiring no real technique, and the reaction from Erika and the boys made it well worth it to kick off the school week! Besides, there are leftovers for lunch!!
Stay tuned! I promise to be back in less than two years!
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