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Wednesday, September 18

Creamy Enchiladas with Chicken, Tomatillo and Poblano

  • 3pounds (18 to 24 medium)tomatillos, husked and rinsed
  • 1largefresh poblano chile
  • 1 1/2tablespoons vegetable oil or rich-tasting pork lard, plus a little oil for spraying the tortillas
  • 1medium white onion, chopped
  • 2cups chicken broth, plus a little extra if needed
  • Salt
  • 1/2cupMexican crema , crème fraiche or heavy (whipping) cream
  • About 2cups coarsely shredded cooked chicken, preferably grilled, roasted or rotisserie chicken
  • 2/3cup shredded Jack cheese or Chihuahua cheese
  • 12 corn tortillas
  • A few sliced rounds of white onion, separated into rings, for garnish
  • Fresh cilantro sprigs for garnish
  • 1/4cupfreshly grated Mexican queso añejo for garnish

Instructions

The sauce. Roast the tomatillos and chile on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, until they’re darkly roasted (they’ll be blackened in spots), about 6 minutes. Flip everything over and roast the other side—5 or 6 minutes more will give you splotchy-black and blistered tomatillos and poblanos that are cooked through. Cool.  When the chile is cool enough to handle, rub off the blackened skin of the chile, then pull out the stems and seed pod. Tear the chile open and rinse briefly to remove any stray seeds and bits of skin, then rougly chop.  Transfer the chiles and tomatillos with their juice to a blender or food processor and blend to a smooth puree.
In a medium-size (4- or 5-quart) pot (preferably a Dutch oven or Mexican cazuela), heat the oil or lard over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring regularly, until golden, about 7 minutes.  Raise the heat to medium-high, and, when the pot is noticeably hotter, stir in the tomatillo puree.  Cook, stirring, until darker in color and gets thickened to the consistency of tomato paste, 10 to 15 minutes.  Stir in the broth, partially cover and simmer 15 minutes. Taste and season with salt, usually about ½ teaspoon. The sauce should be a slightly soupy consistency—not as thick as spaghetti sauce.  If it is too thick, stir in a little additional broth. Keep warm over low heat.
Other preliminaries. Stir the crema (or one of its stand-ins) into the sauce. Put the chicken in a bowl and stir ½ cup of the hot sauce mixture into it. Taste and season with additional salt if you think it needs it. Have the cheese at the ready.
Finishing the enchiladas. Heat the tortillas by spraying with the oil, then sliding them into a microwaveable plastic bag.   Fold the top over but don't seal it.  Microwave on high for 1 minute to create a steamy environment around the tortillas and then let them stand 2 to 3 minutes before using.  Smear about ¼ cup of the warm sauce over the bottom of 4 to 6 nine-inch individual ovenproof baking/serving dishes or smear about 1 cup of the sauce over the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish.     Working quickly so the tortillas stay hot and pliable, roll a portion of the chicken into each tortilla, douse evenly with the remaining sauce, then sprinkle on the shredded melting cheese and bake at 400 degrees until the enchiladas are hot through (the cheese will have begun to brown), about 15 minutes.
Garnish with añejo cheese, onion rings and cilantro sprigs and serve immediately.
Recipe and picture from Rick Bayless

Easy Chicken for Tacos

2 pounds of boneless chicken breasts
1 can green chiles
1 jar of salsa
1 8 oz block of Cream Cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

Put in crock pot and cook on low 7-8 hours or high 4-5 hours.  Shred and put in tacos, enchiladas or salads.

Monday, September 16

Nutella Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup sugar plus additional sugar to roll cookies in
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 8 tbsp unsalted softened butter 1 stick, 4 ounces
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup Nutella

Instructions

  • Fill a ziploc bag or piping bag with Nutella, snip a corner off and then squeeze out Nutella about a teaspoon of Nutella on a parchment lined cookie sheet. (I use a half cookie sheet so it fits in my freezer). Freeze for about 30 minutes until solid.
  • Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  • In a large bowl, cream together the sugars and butter until light and fluffy about 2-3 minutes. Add in the egg to the butter mixture and stir to combine. Mix in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Stir in salt, baking soda and flour until well combined.
  • Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place your thumb in the center of each to create an indent. Place one Nutella "kiss" into the center. Cover up with more cookie dough. And then roll in sugar. Place on baking sheet and flatten with fork.
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Notes

  • Be sure to measure your flour correctly. Over-measuring your flour is going to result in a dry, crumbly cookie. 
  • Use room temperature butter. By softening your butter properly  will allow the sugar to punch tiny holes into the butter incorporating air into the dough. Cold butter won’t allow this to happen. So room temperature, unsalted, and you’re good to go.
  • Don’t forget to take those eggs out early too. You also need a room temperature egg as well. Remember you want your ingredients all playing along well together. So a cold egg and room temperature butter just don’t play nice on the playground together. You’ll end  up with butter that starts to seize up in your bowl. My trick? Put your eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 to 10 minutes and you’re good to go.
  • Flatten those cookies a bit. These cookies won’t spread much, so you want to help them out a bit and flatten them a bit. I prefer the fork criss cross method, but even a quick flatten with the palm of your hand will do the trick. Have you read my post on why your cookies spread too much? 
  • Recipe and picture from Boston Girl Bakes