Green Chile Sauce

This recipe makes a great green enchilada sauce. I've started using it in place of the stuff in cans since the price of buying the chiles is comparable, plus I sort of prefer the taste to the canned sauce. So far I've only used it in these honey lime enchiladas, once with chicken and once with pork (both were good).

The recipe is really easy, but does take a little time. Next time I make it I'm going to double or triple it and freeze some for later.

Recipe from Cooking Light magazine, December 2007

6 fresh Anaheim chiles (long, slender green chiles found in most grocery stores)
1 T. canola oil
2 c. chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. all-purpose flour
1 t. ground coriander
1/2 t. salt
1 14-oz. can chicken broth

Preheat broiler.

Place chiles on a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil chiles for 14 minutes, or until blackened and charred, turning after 7 minutes. Put charred chiles in a heavy-duty ziploc and seal. Let stand 15 minutes. Remove from ziploc and peel and discard skin. Cut a lengthwise slit in each chili and remove tops and seeds (I find that they're usually attached, so when I pull off the top the seeds come along). Chop chiles and measure 3/4 c. (I always end up with more than 3/4 c. chopped chiles, but I throw it all in anyway. I suppose you could save the rest of the chopped chile for later and use in place of a can of green chiles or something.)

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan and saute for 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute. (Mine always starts to burn when I add the garlic, so you might try reducing the heat a bit, or stir more often.) Stir in flour; cook 1 minute. Add chiles, coriander, salt, and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Scoop half of chile mixture into a blender. Remove center piece from the blender lid so team can escape and put a dish towel over the opening while you blend. Blend until smooth. Return blended mixture to pan and stir well. Remove from heat and cool.

Makes about 3 cups sauce.

Chipotle Shredded Beef

I made this recipe up to put in tamales and it was surprisingly delicious. It would work well for tacos or tostadas too!

Ingredients:

4 lb. beef (like a roast... I don't remember what exact cut I used, but it was cheap)

3 c. chopped onion

13 cloves garlic, minced or crushed

1.5 T oregano

1 can chipotle adobo sauce with 2 whole chipotle peppers (I ended up just getting as much sauce out as possible and then spooning in two of the peppers as well, and it was spicy enough for me, but not too spicy for my husband or kids)

1 1/4 t. salt

1 c. chicken or vegetable stock

Directions:

Throw everything into the crock pot and cook on low heat for 8-12 hours. Shred and enjoy!

** Makes enough to make about 95 tamales... could easily be halved (or quartered), and I would even wager that any excess could probably be frozen.

Grilled Chicken with Poblano Cream Sauce

YUM.  Adapted from Mexico The Beautiful Cookbook.

Ingredients:

3 whole chicken breasts, cut in half

1 large chile poblano

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions: 

- Remove the stem, seeds, and membranes from the chile, then puree in a blender with 1/4 cup milk.

- In a separate bowl, mix the sour cream, yogurt, and 1/4 cup milk together.  

- Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a small saucepan.  

- Add the flour and stir until smooth.

- Add the chile puree and stir.

- Add the sour cream mixture and stir constantly over low heat until the mixture boils and thickens.

- Remove from heat and salt to taste.

** This sauce can be made up to 6 hours in advance and reheated over low heat before using. **

- Preheat the oven to 350F.

- Melt the remaining two tablespoons butter in a skillet, add the chicken breasts, and saute for 2-4 minutes on each side until cooked through.

- Transfer to a lightly greased 13x9 dish, cover with the poblano sauce, and sprinkle with cheese.

- Bake for 15 minutes.

Serves 4-6.

Flour Tortillas

These tortillas are pretty easy and sooooo good. Plus they freeze well, so I encourage making a large batch and then saving for later.

Also, as a quick note... if you're going to make them more than once, I HIGHLY recommend a tortilla press. You can get them dirt cheap at your local Latino market ($5-$10) and are worth every penny. Rolling them out by hand is at least 3 times more work. I have a 8 inch metal one that I looooooooove. The perk of metal is that you don't have to use a piece of wax paper when you roll them out like you do on a wood press. Ok, enough about that.

Ingredients:
5 c. flour (or, if using whole wheat, 4 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup white flour)
1/2 c. olive oil (you can also use lard or shortening... but I like to pretend I'm being healthy, despite my plans to top them with piles of cheese)
2 t. salt
1.5 c. boiling water

Directions:
Mix the flour, olive oil and salt together with a fork, or ideally, a pastry blender. Make a well and pour in the boiling water. Mix together with a fork and then as it begins to become one large ball, knead by hand until it is moist, but does not stick to your hands. Add flour or boiling water as needed to get to this consistency.
Form 1-2 inch balls and set on a plate. Cover with a towel and set aside for 15-20 minutes, up to an hour. I have no idea why this step is important, but it makes a big difference.
Roll (or press) out until very thin. I usually press the tortillas twice, once on each side, to make them as even as possible.
Heat a griddle or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Place the tortillas on, and flip over when they start to bubble and have light brown spots. Remove and place in a stack on a plate or in a cloth napkin, or allow to cool slightly and then refrigerate or freeze.

Green Enchiladas

Ok, Lisa, here you go! I warn you all though... I was going to make these and attempt to get more 'exact' measurements, but I am now fearful for my life, so I will post it as I remember it. All things are approximate. I'm not the most 'exact' cook.

Ingredients:
1.5 pounds tomatillos (those green tomato things with the husks)
1 bunch cilantro
1/2 onion
6 cloves garlic
1-3 serrano chiles (depending on your spicy preferences)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
4-6 chicken breasts, shredded (or about 1/2 of a Costco rotisserie chicken, shredded)
12-18 tortillas

Directions:
1 - Boil a large pot of water. Remove husks from tomatillos and then place in boiling water. Remove when they begin to turn from a bright green to a dull army green color. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the water you boiled them in.
2 - Slice serrano chiles and remove seeds and membranes. Do not, under any circumstances, touch your eyes while handling these things. I have found that three de-seeded serrano chiles make it spicy, but not too spicy. For those who are adventurous, you could try up to five... or use 1 or 2 with the seeds and membranes intact. For those who aren't big on spicy, you could use one, or just leave them out altogether. Now wash your hands really well. You will inevitably touch something (eyes, nose, child) that will make you regret it if you don't.
3 - Place tomatillos, serrano chiles, onion, garlic, cilantro (stems and all), and 1/4 cup water in the blender. Blend. If needed, you can add more of the water.
4 - Heat oil in a saucepan. Pour sauce into oil, stir. Allow to simmer until the sauce becomes thicker, bubbly, and frothy. Remove from heat.
5 - Preheat oven to 350F.
6 - In 9x13 pan, pour about 1/3 cup of sauce into the bottom and spread to barely cover the bottom of the pan.
7 - Assemble enchiladas as follows: one small handful of shredded chicken, one even smaller handful of shredded cheese, and a little less than 1/4 cup of sauce. Roll, place seam-down in the pan. Do this until you are out of chicken. You may need another pan. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the cheese. You should have about 1/3 of the sauce left.
8 - Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas. Top with remaining cheese.
9 - Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.

Preparation Time: 45 minutes-ish

Servings: 6-12

FYI... this green sauce works for just about anything. It's a great salsa for chicken, nachos, Cafe Rio burritos, or whatever else you feel like using it for. YUM.

Flan

For those who may not like flan... this is the only one I will eat.

Ingredients:
4 oz. cream cheese
6 eggs
1 reg can evap. milk
1 can sw. condensed milk
1 t. vanilla
1 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt

Directions:
For best results separate 6 eggs. Beat cream cheese and egg yolks together. Add milk and vanilla. Whip egg whites to soft peaks and add salt. Fold in whites slowly to yolk/egg mixture. Set aside. Put sugar in a fry pan and melt on medium heat. Stir CONSTANTLY with a non-meltable spoon (made that mistake once...). When the sugar is barely melted, pour into a deep (preferably 3-4 inches deep, or you could divide into two) round cake pan that has been greased. (** Caution ** Do not use a springform pan or you will be cleaning your oven. It would be sad.) Pour egg mixture on top. Bake for 1 hour at 300 degrees or until not jiggly any more. Put flan pan in another pan of 1-2 inches of water while baking.

Number Of Servings: 1- all mine! If you're sharing (which I'm not), 8-12, depending on the size of piece you cut.