...Aka: the Least Photogenic Food. Seriously. It's tough to take a pretty picture of enchiladas, especially once they've been plated up. Poor lighting doesn't help. Witness:
Anyway...it was one of those afternoons when I inventoried the fridge, and tried to decide what to make for dinner based on a Google search of, "Chicken Breast and Spinach recipes." I don't necessarily recommend this tactic, but in this case, it worked.
I found a recipe for chicken and spinach enchiladas that didn't seem to involve hours of work or a trip to the grocery store. Score.
Deciding to photograph the process, and release it to the world was another thing altogether BUT I promised to keep this food blog free of unrealistically-perfect cookery, so here goes:
First, boil about 2 lbs of bone-in chicken. (I {ahem} had two breasts.) I always put onion and celery in the water so I then have an impromptu soup base for later. The recipe also called for cumin and coriander. Done.
While the chicken was doing its thing, I quickly sauteed a package of chopped, frozen spinach. Once the chicken was done and cooled, I deboned the meat, and put it into a food processor with the cooked spinach, and pulsed until "well chopped."
I found a recipe for chicken and spinach enchiladas that didn't seem to involve hours of work or a trip to the grocery store. Score.
Deciding to photograph the process, and release it to the world was another thing altogether BUT I promised to keep this food blog free of unrealistically-perfect cookery, so here goes:
First, boil about 2 lbs of bone-in chicken. (I {ahem} had two breasts.) I always put onion and celery in the water so I then have an impromptu soup base for later. The recipe also called for cumin and coriander. Done.
While the chicken was doing its thing, I quickly sauteed a package of chopped, frozen spinach. Once the chicken was done and cooled, I deboned the meat, and put it into a food processor with the cooked spinach, and pulsed until "well chopped."
Next, (and this is a good non-fry tortilla prep substitution) the recipe calls for the corn tortillas to be dipped (one at a time) into the reserved, warm broth from the chicken. It softens the tortillas so they won't crack (as much) when you go to roll the enchilada.
Then, fill the tortilla with the chicken/spinach "cud" mixture, roll it up, and place it seam-side down in a 9 x 13 Pammed or Oiled Pyrex dish. Rinse and Repeat.
After rolling all the tortillas, the recipe calls for you to "gently warm sour cream with a couple of tablespoons of the chicken broth." We don't have sour cream in Brazil (I did mention we live in Brazil, right?) So, I substituted this
It's kinda like cream cheese, but a tad more pourable. Mixed with the broth, it worked fine. Once the enchiladas were properly coated with a thick, cheesy topping, I cooked them at 350 degrees (F) for 30 minutes.
Voilà
The recipe calls for you to sprinkle the top with paprika, shredded cheese, and jalapeño slices, but I had some tomatillo sauce I needed to use, so our enchiladas got the verde treatment.
Overall, I'd say it was a success with the Fam, but I thought the filling was a tad dry. Next time, I'll mix a bit of the cheese sauce in with the chicken/spinach filling, and all should be good.
Overall, I'd say it was a success with the Fam, but I thought the filling was a tad dry. Next time, I'll mix a bit of the cheese sauce in with the chicken/spinach filling, and all should be good.
Recipe adapted from HERE
I used to make a similar recipe years ago, and frankly had forgotten about it. Thanks for the reminder!
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