Spicy Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas

     Thanks to the encouragement of my dear friend Angela, I have decided to do some procrastinating and post about these delicious enchiladas instead of attempting to be productive in other areas of my life.  Food is always a priority in my life.  Trust me, the first planning I do for each day or week begins with the food I will be consuming.  Therefore, I decided the other things I planned on doing would just have to wait a few minutes.  People need to eat!

     I am so pleased I decided to try these beauties.  Enchilada recipes in my life tend to fall into two extreme categories: 1. Way too Plain or 2. Way too Crazy.   My Mom makes a delicious, yet rather simple, enchilada recipe which I go to when I am seeking traditional, and the other enchiladas I have made involve pumpkin cream or delicious Asian inspired flavors.  If you don't believe me, check out the Pumpkin Cream Enchiladas or the Thai Chicken Enchiladas.  This recipe, however, falls nicely in between those extremes.  Thank goodness my husband asked me to try something fairly traditional but with more flair (aka more sauce and more spice).  The recipe below meets that criteria to a T.

     The recipe below is from the Colorado Classique cookbook which is a favorite among many of my friends and family members.  I can honestly say I have never made or eaten a recipe from this cookbook that was not 100% satisfying.  So if you like this recipe, GET THE COOKBOOK.  You won't be sorry.

     Anyway, onto the good stuff.  The cheesy sauce pairs nicely with the spicy jalapenos...and grilling the chicken adds some nice flair.  Nothing beats the flavor of grill.  That sounds gross, but you know what I mean.  =)  Plus, the black beans add the perfect touch to bring each bite together in perfect palate harmony.  I hope you enjoy these as much as we did.  They are certainly going to be a dish I go back to time and time again (although, my Mom's will always be popular in the recipe books as well).

INGREDIENTS:
Sauce:

• 1/2 C onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 t coriander, ground
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1 t cumin, ground
• 2 T butter (or you can sub olive oil to make it healthier)
• 3 T flour
• 8 oz. sour cream (I use light, but if you love the real deal, go for it!)
• 2-1/2 C chicken broth (round up or down if that makes life easier)
• 1-2 jalapeno peppers, diced fine with seeds (I use seeds from 1 but not both, but I like mild)*
• 4 oz. can of diced green chiles
• 1 C cheese, shredded (Mexican, Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack for more spice)

*For the jalapenos, I used fresh, but the cookbook I used calls for a 4oz. can of jalapenos.

Enchiladas:

• 4 chix breasts, halved (so they grill faster), grilled and cut into bite size pieces*
• 8 medium flour tortillas
• A 15oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 C cheese, use the same that you use in the sauce
• 1 C chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 C sliced green onions

*For the chicken, I make the breast thinner before my husband grills for easier cooking.  I marinated the chicken breast with a small amount of olive oil and some salt and pepper, but they don't need much because the enchiladas are very flavorful.


DIRECTIONS:

1.  Grill the chicken ahead of time if possible.  If you are feeling lazy, you can cook the chicken ahead of time with another method, but I highly recommend grilling.
2. Preheat the oven to 350.
3. In a large sauce pan, saute the onions and spices for the sauce in the butter (or olive oil if you prefer).  Cook until the onions are tender.
4. Meanwhile, stir together the flour, and sour cream.
5. When the onions are tender, add the flour/sour cream mixture to the saucepan and mix well.
6. Stir in the broth, jalapenos and canned chiles.  Stir the mixture until it thickens and the sour cream and flour smooths out.  This can take about 10 minutes.
7. Once smooth, remove the sauce mixture from heat and stir in the 1 C of cheese. 
8. Set aside.
9. Once all your other ingredients are prepped, set up a space to assemble the enchiladas.  I usually have one plate piled with tortillas, one plate where I wrap, and the greased Pyrex all in a row.
10. Mix 1/2 cup of the prepared sauce with your grilled chicken in a small bowl
11. In each enchilada add a spoon full of the chicken, a spoonful each of black beans, diced tomatoes, green onions and a pinch of cheese. 
12. Roll up the enchilada and place it seam side down in the 9x13x2 baking dish.  This helps to keep the tortillas rolled while you fill the others.
13. Once all your tortillas are filled, top the enchiladas with the remaining sauce mixture and sprinkle with cheese.
14. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.  Begin checking around 25 minutes to make sure the cheese isn't burning, and if you run into problems with too much browning, cover the pan with foil for the remaining bake time.
15. Allow time for the enchiladas to cool slightly, then serve warm and garnish with more green onions and tomatoes if you have some left.  Otherwise, it is delicious as is!

P.S. The series premiere of "The Taste" is on tonight and you can bet I will be tuning into that new show!  Get people to enjoy your dish in one bite?  I imagine that could be tricky!

Bon Appetit!

Thai Chicken Enchiladas

I know that many people think Pinterest is useless and is just a way to waste time and think about all the crafts and trips and recipes you won't ever try.  I agree it is the central hub for procrastination nation; however, I truly think it is a wonderful tool for people to try new things, and change old habits for the better (pending user motivation).  I really try to only add pins to my boards that I really want to try, and the following recipe is the perfect example of a glorious Pinterest find.

Can't decide if you are in the mood for Thai food or in the mood for Mexican?  Have both!!!!  This recipe from How Sweet it Is was a delicious find and is definitely a must try.  My husband took one bite, his eyes opened wide (along with his stomach) and a look of pure delight spread across his face.  Don't get me wrong, he generally enjoys my cooking, but this was probably one of the best reactions to a meal ever and I knew this was a recipe to stash away with "those which we are willing to eat again" recipes.  I am more of a recipe scouring, experimental cook than a stick to the same menu, repeat old recipes cook, so it says something that I already am excited to make this again.

If you never try anything else I put on my blog, at least give these a try because they are scrump-didilly-umptious!

Thai Chicken Enchiladas
Yields: 8-9 enchiladas (Serves about 4)

Ingredients:

• 8 flour tortillas
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked.  - I boiled them for 15 minutes (or until cooked through) and then shredded as soon as I took them out of the water while still hot
• 1T canola oil - or whatever oil you prefer
•  1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• about 1/3C carrots, shredded - I found it easiest to chop fine in a small food processor
• about 1/2C cabbage, shredded - you could either chop in small food processor or slice in thin pieces
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 t salt
• Pepper to taste
• 4 green onions, sliced thin
• 1/3 C chopped peanuts + whole peanuts for garnish - again, easiest to do this in a small food processor
• 1/4 fresh cilantro - food processor style
• 1 can coconut milk, divided into 3/4C and whatever is leftover
• 1/3C Sweet chili sauce + about another 1/2C - This can be found in the Asian section of the grocery store where you find the water chestnuts, rice noodles, soy sauce, etc.

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. When prepping ingredients, place onion, carrots, cabbage, garlic, and salt in one bowl.  Place green onions, pepper, cilantro, and peanuts in another bowl.
3. After prepping all ingredients, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
4. Pour onion, carrots, cabbage, garlic and salt into skillet and saute over medium heat until veggies begin to soften, about 7-8 minutes.
5. Add cooked chicken to the skillet along with the pepper, green onion, peanut, cilantro mixture.  Mix well and cook for 1-2 minutes.  At this point, taste your creation and adjust salt as needed.
6. Pour 3/4C of coconut milk and 1/3C sweet chili sauce into the skillet and mix well.  Remove from heat.
7. Grease a 9x13" baking pan
8. Take what is left of your can of coconut milk and pour some chili sauce into the coconut milk can until the level of the milk is close to the top of the can.  Mix well. *Note #1: The chili sauce will sink to the bottom of the can, so make sure you use a spoon that will aid in spooning out all the deliciousness the sweet chili sauce has to offer!  **Note #2: Keep in mind, the original recipe called for more coconut milk for the sauce for the top of the enchiladas, but I did not want to buy more than one can because I am not a fan of excess coconut milk so I used less and it still tasted great!!  Refer to the link above to the original recipe if you are interested in more sauce. 
9. Spoon a small amount of sauce into the bottom of the pan...just enough to dot the bottom of the baking dish (but you don't have enough sauce to cover the bottom of the baking dish)
10. Spoon equal amounts of your chicken mixture into the flour tortillas.  Roll tightly and place in the prepared baking dish.  I find placing the wrapped tortillas seam side down is most effective for keeping everything in place
11. Spoon the remaining coconut milk mixture over the tortillas trying to cover as much of each tortillas as possible 
12. Snack on any leftover mixture, or any mixture that fell out of the sides of your tortillas when placing them in the baking dish  =) - this step is optional
13. Bake for 20 minutes
14. Remove from oven and garnish with additional cilantro and whole peanuts
15. Serve warm and enjoy your Asian Fiesta!!

When serving the enchiladas I tried to spoon some of the warm sauce from the bottom of the pan over the tortillas being served since the sauce is limited and pretty thin.
The enchiladas are filling on their own, but for future Thai Chicken Enchilada meals I may try to make some sort of salsa with an Asian inspired bread for dipping.  Yummy!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE try this recipe.  You won't regret it!

Bon Appetit!!

Chicken Enchiladas with PUMPKIN CREAM SAUCE

Since this dish was deemed heavenly by my enthusiastic, potluck loving coworkers last fall, I knew I would have to make it again this year.  If you are like me and have a sincere appreciation and love for Mexican food and all things fall, then KEEP READING.  These simple, pumpkin flavor packed enchiladas are sure to be a treat for family and friends.  I bet kids would even find them tasty.

Enjoy these now and thank me later...

Chicken Enchiladas with Pumpkin Cream Sauce

Yields 9 Enchiladas (depending on how full you pack 'em)!

Before...

Ingredients:

• 2 medium/large sweet onions, thinly sliced
• 4 T butter
• 3-4 C cooked chicken, diced
• 1 C pumpkin puree
•  1 C heavy cream
• 1 C chicken broth
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t nutmeg
• 1/2 t cumin
• Dash of salt and pepper
• 9 medium flour tortillas
• 2 C queso fresco
• This is a Mexican cheese, often found near the shredded cheeses but packaged like mozzarella (see photo above)
• 1/2 C diced scallions, for garnish
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
2. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, then add the onion slices.  Saute until brown and caramelized, about 5-8 minutes.
3. Once caramelized, add the cooked chicken to the pan and mix with onions and remove from heat
4. In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, cream, broth, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, salt and pepper.  Set aside.
5. Spoon chicken mixture into tortillas, roll tightly and place in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish.
6. Spread the pumpkin cream mixture over the tortillas and sprinkle generously with queso fresco.  The more cheese the better!
7. Place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tips of the cheese brown.
8. Garnish enchiladas with scallions and serve! MMM MMM Delicious!

After!!

Bon Appetit!

 

Slow Cooker Pork Tacos

Yes, slow cookers can be used for much more than chili or soup on a cold winter day!  Yesterday Lucas and I spent the whole day brewing and bottling our most recent beer batches which left little to no time or kitchen space for making dinner.  Typically when we brew we eat leftovers or make dinner in the crock pot and yesterday seemed like the perfect time to try something new!

This slow cooker pork taco recipe is EXTREMELY easy and requires no effort other than measuring a few ingredients, starting the slow cooker and chopping / setting out whatever toppings you like to include on your tacos.  The pork in this recipe ends up being so tender you can shred it with a spoon, and the pork's smokey and spicy flavor is great for tacos. 

The type of salsa you use will have a significant impact on how muck kick these tacos have and can also alter the flavor slightly.  We used a cilantro salsa made with cilantro and jalapenos and it ended up being delicious!  Also, this recipe makes a generous number of portions so if you make it over the weekend for a few people you will still have plenty of leftovers for dinner the following week!

Sorry, I didn't take any pictures of this amazing dish....but don't let that be a reason to not try it!

Ingredients

• 2 C Store bought salsa
• 2 T Chili Powder
• 2 T Dried Oregano
• 2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
• Kosher Salt
• 2.5 lbs boneless pork butt or shoulder (trimmed of fat)...I used Pork Shoulder Butt??  
• 18 taco size tortillas (recipe calls for corn but I prefer flour)
• 1/2 C cilantro sprigs - to be used as a topping
• Can of black beans, rinsed and drained - you can use this as a side or topping
• Your favorite shredded cheese (optional for topping)
• Any other toppings you enjoy on tacos...tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, avocado, bell peppers, onion...you name it!
  

Process

1. In a 4 to 6 quart slow cooker, combine the salsa, chili powder, oregano, cocoa, and 1 tsp salt.  Add the pork and turn to coat.
2. Cook, covered, until the meat is tender and pulls apart easily (aka with a spoon), on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours.
3. 30 minutes before serving, chop up any toppings you plan to use.  I ended up sauteing some red and yellow bell peppers with some onion (using lime juice, garlic, and salt & pepper for seasoning).  At this time you should also prepare any sides you plan to have with the tacos...rice, beans, etc.
4. Once the meat is done cooking, shred the pork and stir into the cooking liquid.  Spoon equally into tortillas and serve with any desired toppings.
5. Savor the flavor!!

Bon Appetit!

Breakfast for Dinner: Huevos Rancheros

This weekend I planned on making at least one big breakfast, but homebrewing and a beautiful day that begged for a long bike ride and silly lawn games occupied my mornings instead of cooking.  To compromise, Luke and I decided having breakfast for dinner on Sunday would suffice, so I tried my hand at Huevos Rancheros!

I found two recipes that sounded delicious, one in The World Cookbook and one in Real Simple Magazine, so I took the best of both worlds and combined them to make a dish that fit my tastes (baking vs. frying, black beans vs. refried beans, and a homemade tomato salsa vs. regular salsa). 
The result was tasty (although Lucas still wishes I had used refried instead of black beans)!

Huevos Rancheros

Ingredients
 - 4 flour tortillas
- Olive Oil
- (1) 14oz. can of black beans, drained
- 1T lime juice
- 1/2 t Cumin
- (1) 10oz. can of diced tomatoes with chilis (*I used Rotel)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 small white onion, chopped
- 4 eggs
- (1) avocado, sliced
- Feta cheese (*Queso Fresco is a delicious Mexican cheese I would have used, but we didn't have it)
- Cilantro

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In bowl, mix together black beans, 1 T olive oil, lime juice and cumin.  Set aside.
3. Brush each tortilla with olive oil (front and back) and place on baking sheet.  Place in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until slightly crispy.
4. Meanwhile, use a small food processor to mix together Rotel, garlic, and onion until well blended but slightly chunky.  
5. Heat 1-2 T olive oil in a large frying pan and add tomato mixture.  Stirring constantly, heat mixture for about 5 minutes until warmed through and slightly thicker.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Transfer to a bowl and cover to keep warm.
6. Using the same frying pan, heat another 1T of olive oil over medium heat and carefully crack eggs into pan, leaving yolk intact!  Reduce heat to low and cook eggs for about 5 minutes until egg white becomes a snow white color.  You can either carefully flip the egg to cook both sides, or leave the egg sunnyside up....chef's choice!  Don't stress if you break a yolk, it will still taste delicious but will be more thoroughly cooked.
7. Once eggs are cooked, assemble your Huevos Rancheros!  Divide and spread the tomato mixture among the baked tortillas followed by the black bean mixture.  Place one egg on each tortilla and then top it off with avocado, feta cheese and cilantro.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

I am sure I will make this again, and when I do I will either use smaller tortillas (and make more than 4) or I will make more eggs and place two eggs on each tortilla.  I enjoyed the serving size because I wasn't terribly hungry, but it wouldn't hurt to make a little more the next time around.  Another idea for people that enjoy some extra spice in their life: smother the top of the assembled Huevos Rancheros with additional salsa or add a touch of hot sauce!

I hope you enjoy!   
Bon Appetit!