Chicken
enchiladas are easy to make at home—and so fresh and flavorful. Before you head
out to your local Mexican cantina, give this recipe a try.
Authentic
ranchero sauce is made with dried chiles, often the small chiles de arbol
(“tree” chiles), as in this recipe. Small chiles don’t need to be strained
through a sieve after grinding them because the thin skins emulsify well in the
sauce.
These
little chiles are hot but they’re also very savory, and the heat in ranchero
sauce is tempered by vegetable broth and tomato paste.
For a milder ranchero sauce, simply use milder dried chiles, such as guajillo
or New Mexico. You can make the ranchero sauce a day or two ahead and reheat
before using.
Queso
quesadilla is a mild, soft cheese commonly used in Mexican cooking. Its
softness means it melts well in dishes like enchiladas. Queso Chihuahua
(cheese from the Mexican state of Chihuahua) is also a great melting cheese and
may be found in supermarkets with a good international cheese section.
You may be
more familiar with queso fresco (Mexican fresh cheese), but this harder cheese
is typically used for crumbling on top of dishes, such as Greek feta. Queso
quesadilla and queso Chihuahua are the ones to use for melting. If you can’t find
them, shredded jack or white cheddar will work too.
Note: I found packaged shredded queso
quesadilla, so it was ready to go. But in Mexican markets, this cheese is often
sold in small wheels. If that’s what you purchase, simply cut off a piece of
the wheel and shred on the medium holes of a box shredder.
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Queso Quesadilla |
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Queso Wheel |
Serves 4
Ingredients
- olive oil
for oiling dish, plus 2 tbsp
- 2 garlic
cloves, finely chopped
- 2 serrano
chiles, finely chopped
- 1 cup
chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 cup
chopped onion
- sea salt
- freshly
ground black pepper
- 3 cups
shredded, cooked chicken breast or thigh meat
- 1 tsp chile
powder
- 8 8-inch flour
or corn tortillas
- 1 recipe
ranchero sauce
- 1-1/2 cups
shredded queso quesadilla or queso Chihuahua
- 1/2 tsp
crushed, dried oregano
- steamed
white rice and lime wedges, for serving
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Filling Ingredients |
Preparation
- Preheat the
oven to 250° F. Lightly oil a large baking dish with olive oil.
- Stack and
wrap the tortillas in foil. Warm in the oven 10 minutes, flipping once. (Warming
the tortillas makes them more pliable for rolling up.) Keep covered until ready
to use.
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Stack the tortillas and... |
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Wrap in a foil pack |
- Increase
the oven temperature to 350°F.
- Meanwhile,
heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the
garlic, serrano chiles, tomatoes, and onion and season with salt and pepper.
Cook until the vegetables soften and the tomatoes break down, 10 minutes.
- Stir in the
chicken and chile powder and cook until hot throughout, 5 minutes. (Tip: To help judge the amount of filling for each tortilla, divide the chicken mixture into quarters, then fill one tortilla with half of a quarter.)
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Garlic Mixture Beginning to Cook |
|
Cooked Chicken Mixture |
|
Divide the mixture into quarters |
- Place the ranchero
sauce in a 10-inch skillet and warm over low heat. Remove 1 warm tortilla from
the foil-pack and dip in the ranchero sauce. Let all excess drip off then transfer
to a work surface. (Tip: Use a foil-lined shallow baking pan to avoid a messy
countertop.) Spread 1/8 of the chicken mixture across the tortilla, about 1
inch from the bottom.
- Roll the
bottom edge up over the filling and roll up tightly to the top, tucking in any
loose filling as you go. Place seam-side down in the baking dish and repeat
with the remaining tortillas, reserving remaining ranchero sauce.
- Pour the
remaining ranchero sauce over the filled tortillas and scatter cheese on top.
Bake until the cheese is melted, 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle
with dried oregano.
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Dip in Ranchero Sauce |
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Ready to Roll |
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Rolled Enchilada |
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Ready for Sauce |
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Coated with Sauce |
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Ready to Bake |
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Baked Enchiladas |
To serve, divide the rice among 4 plates and
place 1 or 2 enchiladas on top (cut enchiladas in half, if desired). Serve lime
wedges alongside.
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Chicken Enchiladas with Ranchero Sauce |
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