Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.
The sad truth is I almost never cook any other type of cuisine besides Italian. The biggest obstacle to trying different ethnic recipes is that I inevitably find myself with a long shopping list of ingredients that I know I’ll only use once or twice. With cupboards that are already full of bottles, jars and various other packages that I rarely dip into, I’m reluctant to add to the clutter.
Deep down, though, I have a huge thing for Mexican food. I love it and it’s certainly not easy to find great Mexican food in Toronto (although it’s getting better).
I was so happy when I saw what the May 2010 Daring Cooks’ challenge was because I have always wanted to make enchiladas. I should also confess that I just love saying that word.
It makes me feel happy and hungry all at the same time.
The best part of this recipe was hunting down the ingredients for the Green Chile Sauce. Having never tried tomatillos, or purchased them for that matter, I thought I’d give it a try and locate them. My search took me to Toronto’s Kensington Market, which is home to several food stores that sell ingredients used in Mexican and South American cuisine. While I was successful in procuring tomatillos, I could not find Anaheim chiles so instead, I bought poblanos.
I had no idea that poblanos were as spicy as the ones that I bought were. It definitely gave the sauce a special “kick”. Luckily, we love our spicy food in the Cream Puff household so it worked out. I made a fresh salsa, however, and mixed in some of the chile sauce to take a bit of the edge off.
Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly and ended up with a most delicious enchilada dish. Everyone loved it and there were no leftovers. I’m looking forward to using the rest of the chile sauce and corn tortillas and making this dish again.
I’d like to thank Barbara and Bunnee for doing such a great job of hosting!
For a copy of the challenge recipe, visit The Daring Kitchen recipe section.
Ciao!
9 comments
Claudia
Yes, you did indeed wind up with a delicious dish! I am a huge fan of Mexican and cook very little of it. I love how fresh and flavor-filled the enchiladas are. Love the tomatillo salsa.
Kathleen is Cooking in Mexico
I love anything wrapped in a corn tortilla, and enchiladas are at the top of my list. If you like to make Mexican food, but don’t want to be stuck with unused ingredients, try chilaquiles for breakfast. I love them with green salsa. The ingredients don’t come in cans or bottles. They are mostly fresh, so you will only need to buy what you will need for the recipe. I hope you try them.
A note on poblanos: for some reason, the ones grown north of the border are very hot, but in Mexico they are very mild 99% of the time. Maybe it is a different variety.
Paula
it must be so delicious!
Margaret
Yes, you got some spicy peppers with the poblanos. Spicy.
I loved making this. All the melted cheese and saucy goodness.
Yours look perfect.
Wolf
We love Mexican food too, but I rarely make it. This changed my mind about that. Hee!
Lori
I have so many spices in my pantry- thank fully when I discover a new cuisine, like Ethiopian- between my Mexican collection and my Indian collection- I have enough to make my own blend of spices. Like cumin- it certainly is used in many cuisines.
I would have to say that as a Daring Cook- going beyond your normal repertoire is quite daring indeed. Bravo!
Barbara Bakes
I’m so glad you and the Cream Puff household loved the enchiladas. Thanks for cooking with us this month and thanks for creating such a wonderful Kitchen!
Mara
nom, nom. these enchiladas look tasty. i can’t wait to make some.
Mara
nom, nom. these enchiladas look tasty. i can’t wait to make some.