Enchiladas Verdes – Andicakes

Recipe: Enchiladas Verdes

Ingredients

4 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
1 medium onion, chopped
4 medium garlic cloves, minced, divided
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 cups homemade chicken broth
1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat
16 to 20 (1 1/2 lbs)medium sized tomatillos, husks and stems removed, rinsed well and dried
3 medium poblano chilies, halved lengthwise, stemmed, and seeded
1 tsp sugar
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
8 oz Pepper Jack cheese, grated – 2 cups
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas

For Garnish:

Scallions, sliced thin
Thinly sliced radishes
Sour cream

Instructions

First adjust the racks in the oven to the about 8 inches from the broiler and turn the broiler on.

While the oven broiler is preheating, heat 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a medium sauce pan and add the chopped onion. Cook the onions over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes stirring frequently until fragrant and golden. Next add three garlic cloves, minced and ground cumin to the onions and stir continuously for 30 seconds to 1 minute until the garlic is fragrant. Turn the heat down to low and add the chicken broth and the trimmed chicken breasts. Cover the saucepan to poach the chicken until just cooked about 15 to 20 minutes in total. The chicken needs to register 160 degrees to be properly cooked and should be turned over halfway through the poaching time. Once the chicken breasts have cooked, transfer the cooked chicken breasts to a plate, reserve ½ cup the cooking liquid and set it aside and refrigerate the chicken breasts to cool for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss the tomatillos and poblanos with the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a large bowl to coat the tomatillos and peppers evenly. Now arrange the oiled poblano peppers and tomatillos on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil, with poblanos skin-side up and broil until just blacken and they start to soften, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove them from the broiler and cool for about 10 minutes and then remove the skins from the poblanos but do not remove the skins from the tomatillos. Transfer the broiled poblano peppers with the skins removed and the broiled tomatillos to the food processor and add 1 teaspoon of sugar, ½ tsp of kosher salt, 1 minced garlic clove and ¼ to ½ cup of the cooking liquid and process until the sauce is chucky like salsa and results in 3 cups of sauce.

When the chicken has cooled using two forks shred the chicken into bite size pieces and place in a large bowl along with 1 ½ cups of the grated pepper jack cheese and the chopped cilantro. Season with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper stir to combine gently to incorporate. In a large baking dish add a little less than 1 cup of the poblano/tomatillo sauce to the bottom of the baking dish to prevent sticking and set aside. Working in batches heat 3 tortillas at a time in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute in a plastic bag to warm and make pliable.

Take 1 warmed tortilla at a time and fill about 1/3 – 1/2 cup of the chicken/cheese/cilantro mixture in the center of a warmed tortilla and roll into a cigar and place the filled tortilla in the baking dish and repeat with the remaining 11 tortillas.

Once all the warmed tortillas have been filled and lined up in the baking dish, pour the remaining poblano/tomatillo sauce over the filled tortillas and then spread the remaining ½ cup of pepper jack on top. Cover the dish with foil and back for 20 minutes.

Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes to brown and fully melt the cheese. Remove from the oven and serve with scallions, radish and sour cream as flavorful garnishes.

Culinary tradition: Mexican

Recipe adapted from America’s Test Kitchen http://www.americastestkitchen.com/

My rating: 5 stars: ★★★★★ 1 review(s)

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