I love Mexican Food and no...it's not because I have an unreasonable passion for cheese.
Mexican flavors and my soul really jive together. I love spicy and I love fresh and I have some internal guilt over the fact that I have never, in my entire life, stepped foot into a Taco Bell. Before you raise your pitch forks and educate me with information that Doritos Locos Taco Supreme is not authentic Mexican food, believe me, I know. But deep down, one day, I would just want to know the satisfaction one can get when eating a burrito wrapped in a quesadilla. Sue me.
But back to real Mexican. I have a select list of "food memories" in my mind and most of them happen to take place during my travels throughout Europe. However, one of my first ever "What on earth am I eating?" moments occurred in Cozumel Mexico. I begged my parents to go on a cruise my Junior year of high school, mainly because our Spring Break trips to Florida just didn't give me an impressive enough tan when I returned back to school. Instead of lounging by the beach, like my teenage self wanted to, my Dad dragged us through the uncharted streets of Cozumel looking for the most "dive worthy" authentic joint to eat lunch. I was a moody 15 year old, and certainly not impressed by this idea. Little did I know that I too would inherit the "what are the locals doing" gene while traveling. My feelings dissipated as a young girl wheeled up a cart to our table and began peeling an avocado in front of us to make guacamole, without us even ordering it.
In Connecticut, we are having some super unusually hot weather for October and it's making me crave Mexican. Now I know this ingredients are not necessarily in season, but when you get a craving, it needs to be satisfied...come on! I would definitely rank these enchiladas as a bit more time consuming meal, so maybe not a go to weeknight dinner. However, the tricky part is more of the assembly rather than the actual cooking. I have never tried store bought enchilada sauces, and I'm sure there are some really good brands, but I prefer to make it on my own. The thought never crosses my mind to buy enchilada sauce while grocery shopping, and I usually have all the ingredients needed on hand. I follow Emeril's recipe to the T when making this sauce. Pretty funny saying that, since I don't vision Emeril as the king of Mexican flare, however this one works for me. I also have tried Gimme Some Oven's sauce which is great to use too! I love spiciness so the only alteration I make to Emeril's sauce is that I throw in 2 tablespoons of diced chipotle chilis in adobo sauce. I also switched these enchiladas up a bit from the standard recipe. I love beans and chicken so I made a re-fried bean like mash of black beans and dark kidney beans. On to the chicken...there are many ways you can prepare your chicken. I happened to have some grilled chicken on hand leftover so I chopped that up. But you can certainly saute or bake chicken, or even use a rotisserie chicken.
Ingredients:
3 cups pre-cooked shredded or diced chicken
1 15oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15oz can of dark kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium white onion diced
4 cloves of garlic minced
1/4 cup of chicken broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 batch of red enchilada sauce with 2 tbs of chipotle chili peppers (peppers optional)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup diced cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup diced black olives
1 avocado peeled and diced.
2 cups Mexican blended cheese
8 large corn or flour tortillas
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in a medium sized pan and add in onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is translucent, stirring occasionally to prevent the garlic from burning. Add in the cumin and saute for roughly three minutes. Add in the black beans and the dark kidney beans and cooking for an additional 2 - 3 minutes. Add in the chicken broth and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook beans for 20 - 25 minutes. Make sure to stir occasionally to prevent the beans from sticking to the pan. I like to mash down the beans so it creates a paste like consistency. The end goal is to be able to spread them onto the flour tortillas.
While the beans are cooking, prepare the enchilada sauce according to the directions or heat up a can of store bought enchilada sauce. Once the beans and sauce are ready, drizzle about 1/8 cup of sauce into a 9x13 glass baking sheet so that is covers the bottom in a thin coat. Take one tortilla and coat it with 2 tablespoons of sauce. Spread a spoonful of the bean mixture onto the tortilla. Add in a spoonful of chicken into the center of the tortilla. Roll up the tortilla and place it, seam side down, into the baking dish. Repeat this process until all tortillas are used. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered for twenty minutes. Serve immediately with black olive, avocado, cilantro, and tomatoes.
3 cups pre-cooked shredded or diced chicken
1 15oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15oz can of dark kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium white onion diced
4 cloves of garlic minced
1/4 cup of chicken broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 batch of red enchilada sauce with 2 tbs of chipotle chili peppers (peppers optional)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup diced cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup diced black olives
1 avocado peeled and diced.
2 cups Mexican blended cheese
8 large corn or flour tortillas
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in a medium sized pan and add in onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is translucent, stirring occasionally to prevent the garlic from burning. Add in the cumin and saute for roughly three minutes. Add in the black beans and the dark kidney beans and cooking for an additional 2 - 3 minutes. Add in the chicken broth and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook beans for 20 - 25 minutes. Make sure to stir occasionally to prevent the beans from sticking to the pan. I like to mash down the beans so it creates a paste like consistency. The end goal is to be able to spread them onto the flour tortillas.
While the beans are cooking, prepare the enchilada sauce according to the directions or heat up a can of store bought enchilada sauce. Once the beans and sauce are ready, drizzle about 1/8 cup of sauce into a 9x13 glass baking sheet so that is covers the bottom in a thin coat. Take one tortilla and coat it with 2 tablespoons of sauce. Spread a spoonful of the bean mixture onto the tortilla. Add in a spoonful of chicken into the center of the tortilla. Roll up the tortilla and place it, seam side down, into the baking dish. Repeat this process until all tortillas are used. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered for twenty minutes. Serve immediately with black olive, avocado, cilantro, and tomatoes.
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