Chicken Enchiladas for The Daring Cooks Challenge (and stacked they are not!)

I had never made enchilada sauce until I prepared this dish. The tomatillos are pretty weird to cook, but it was all incredibly good with very few ingredients. I was truly amazed at the flavors of the enchiladas, especially when we were missing some of the sauce. I am sure that roasting the peppers and grilling the chicken with some spices added to the great flavors.
I did not taste the black bean (vegetarian version) of the dish, but if it was anything like the chicken enchiladas, it was very tasty! I used white cornmeal tortillas. It tasted very much like authentic Mexican food to me and nothing like what we get in some restaurants.
My sauce was pretty hot because I used Poblano peppers instead of Anaheim chilies (the chilies that were called for in the recipe). It did mellow as it cooked (sort of like I do with some sangria!) and was really delicious when mixed with everything else. By the way, do not chop these chilies with no gloves (as I did…) I had some hot little hands for a while after I did. Just because they don’t bite at first doesn’t mean they aren’t vicious!!
We really liked sour cream as an accompaniment to the enchiladas. It cooled down some of the flavors and added a different texture.
My changes to the recipe are in the printable version below. I doubled all of the ingredients for the enchiladas since I was feeding a crowd. I have made the adjustments to cook this entirely with chicken and not as a vegetarian dish (as I did). This was so good, I will be making this again! (Or else I had too much sangria and didn’t know any better!)


Chicken Enchiladas
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
Chiles
3 pounds fresh Poblano chilies
Canola oil
Chile sauce
1 lb. fresh Tomatillos, peel, remove stems
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 teaspoons dried oregano
1 tsp Kosher salt (add more to taste)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper (add more to taste)
4 tablespoons cornstarch (dissolve in 4 tablespoons water, for thickening)
Hot sauce, your favorite, optional (I used a bit of Cholula)
Chicken and enchiladas
4 boneless chicken breasts (you can also use bone-in chicken breasts or thighs)
3 tablespoons Olive oil or Canola Oil
Cajun Seasoning mix or Kosher salt and pepper
20 small white corn tortillas (5-6 inch)
Canola oil for frying
1 lb. grated Mexican four-cheese blend (Kraft)
Sour cream, for garnish
Cilantro for garnish, chopped and sprinkled, optional
Directions:
Roasting Fresh Chiles:
1. Coat each chile with a little canola oil. If you are doing only a couple chiles, using the gas stove works. For larger batches (as in this recipe), grilling or broiling is faster. *I broiled mine in the oven.
2. Lay the oiled chiles on the grill or baking sheet (line pan with foil for simpler clean-up). Place the grill or broil close to the element, turning the chiles so they char evenly. They should be black and blistered. This takes 5-10 minutes total or even longer, depending on your broiler element.
3. As they are completely charred (they will probably not all be done at once), remove them to a bowl and cover with plastic, or close up in a paper bag. Let them rest until they are cool.
4. Open the chile and remove the seeds. Turn the chile skin side up and with a paring knife, scrape away the skin. Sometimes it just pulls right off, sometimes you really have to scrape it.
5. DO NOT RINSE!
6. Chop the chiles.
Green Chile Sauce:
1. Put a medium saucepan of water on to boil and remove the papery outer skin from the tomatillos. Boil the tomatillos until soft, 5 to 10 minutes. You can also grill the tomatillos until soft. *I boiled mine for about 8 minutes.
2. Drain and puree in a blender or food processor.
3. Return the tomatillos to the saucepan along with the chicken broth, chopped green chiles, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper.
4. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add the cornstarch/water mixture and stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened and reduced to 4-5 cups, another 10-15 minutes. *I cooked mine a little longer to reduce the sauce and blend the flavors.
6. Adjust seasonings and add hot sauce if you want a little more heat.
Grilling Chicken and Preparing Enchiladas:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees (for baking enchiladas).
2. Heat a gas grill to medium high or prepare a charcoal grill to medium hot. Coat the chicken with olive oil and season well Cajun Seasoning mix (that is what I used) or with salt and pepper.
3. Grill the chicken until just cooked through, 4-5 minutes a side for boneless chicken breasts.
4. Cool and then slice into thin strips or shred.
5. In a small skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Dip the edge of a tortilla into the oil to check – it should sizzle immediately.
6. Using tongs, put a tortilla into the pan and cook until soft and lightly brown on each side, about 15-20 seconds per side (at the most).
7. Drain on paper towels.
8. Add oil as needed and continue until all tortillas are done.
9. In a lightly oiled 13 x9 inch baking dish (and a 7 x 9 inch baking dish), place approximately one half of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of the dishes.
10. Put a couple pieces of chicken and a tablespoon or two of cheese in each tortilla. Roll up and place in casserole dishes.
11. Continue until all the chicken is used and slightly more than half of the grated cheese has been used for the enchiladas. You should be able to fill both casserole dishes with the rolled enchiladas.
12. Cover both casseroles with the remaining enchilada sauce and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.
13. Cover casseroles with aluminum foil and bake until sauce begins to thicken and cheese is melting (about 20 minutes). Uncover casseroles. Continue to bake until dishes are bubbling and cheese is slightly browned, approximately 5 minutes. You can also pop the casseroles under the broiler to brown the cheese. Be careful not to get the cheese too brown.
14. Let the casseroles sit for 5 minutes. Serve with sour cream and chopped cilantro.
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It was so nice to meet u at camp this weekend! These enchiladas look great.
Thanks, Marla. It was great to meet you, too. The weekend was worth the trip out to LA!
Dear Gwen – What great flavors you’ve come up with!
How can you go wrong with poblanos and tomatillos. Yum! I love your detailed explanation and pointers all the way. I wish I could get a serving of this right now!!!! Happy to have you back after a few days with the bears 🙂
Ciao, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
Hi Devaki,
I am still drooling over your guest post for me! Thanks for your comment. Too bad that I don’t have any bear stories I guess I could make them up! 😉
Gwen
Glad you guys made it home safely. It was really nice to finally meet you at CampBlogAway this past weekend!
These enchiladas look like they turned out great. Don’t you love the fresh ingredients of the tomatillos and peppers? The peppers smell so good when roasting. Well done!
Hi Cristina,
Glad you are back where the air is better (me, too!). It was great to meet you and get to Camp Blogaway this past weekend. I can’t believe it’s over!
These enchiladas were really good. I will make them again. The homemade sauce really was the difference in the dish.
If you ever come our way, you will have to let me know!
Gwen
A great way to feed the masses, indeed. Glad you made it home safely!
Have a glass of wine; it’ll perch you up in no time. 😉 [K]
Hi Kim!
It was so good to get to meet you at camp! There definitely has been some wine pouring since leaving the mountain.
I hope you and Mr. RG Bistro come East sometime. There is always good food and wine on this end. By the way, thanks for sharing your yummy wine! 🙂
Gwen
You make this dish sounds very simple to make! And delicious of course.
Penny,
Thanks for the comment. The sauce took a bit of time, but other than that, it was very simple to make and really good! I will definitely prepare this dish again.
Gwen
Hi Gwen
hope you had a great time at camp blogaway!!! YOur chicken Enchiladas look absolutely delicious!!!! Your photo’s are really great too!!
glad to see your back!
cheers
Dennis
Hi Chef,
Thank you for your comment. I am glad to be back, too, but it was great fun at camp! There are some really terrific bloggers out there (but I am sure you know that!).:)
Maybe I will get to meet you sometime when we go back to Philly. I need to see family at some point soon!
Gwen
Those roasted pepper look amazing. Your dish is HOT!
Hi Belinda,
The sauce was HOT alright, but it definitely mellowed once it was cooked with everything else.
Enchiladas are the bomb and these babies are over the top! I totally agree with you on two counts, rolling them and using corn. An enchilada isn’t made with flour tortillas, at least not in my book.
Hi there,
This was a great recipe and definitely a keeper! I actually did prefer rolling them. They stayed moister that way and with the crowd I had for dinner, it was just simpler!
Gwen
Fantastic post. Great information. Your photos are amazing. Wonderful job.
Cheers!
Hi Lazaro,
Thank you so much for the comments. I like your new schedule for blogging. Maybe I should think about doing that?! I look forward to seeing your posts.
Gwen
This sounds and looks amazing. I can’t wait to try it — I know it will be a hit.
Hi Marie,
I hope you will give these a try! They were really very good with few ingredients.
Gwen
Love enchiladas and these look lovely your pictures are beautiful! Can’t wait to try them out.
Thank you, Suzanne!
I hope you get a chance to try the recipe.
Gwen – I think we should have made the enchiladas for camp! The best part of Camp BlogAway, for us, was meeting you and Mr. Bunky! We’re off to my style of camp in a few weeks, back to Triple Creek Ranch 😉 Let’s definitely keep in touch, through each other’s blogs and The Daring Kitchen!
Denise,
Thanks for the comment. It was great fun meeting you and John! I will have my camper post up tomorrow or Friday and will send the pics along to you as well. I think Greg is doing a video, so that should be fun.
Keep in touch and come our way sometime! I’ll try to keep my dog’s hair out of the food! 😉
Gwen
What a great idea! I may have to join in the challenge. I have a guest coming for dinner on Sunday…xo
Mandy,
Come on for dinner! 🙂 You should do the challenges. They are lots of fun!
Gwen
Another great daring cooks post, looks like you did a wonderful job!
I can’t wait to hear about Camp Blogaway, are you going to do a post about it? Hope you had a great time. 🙂
Thanks for the comment.
Camp Blogaway post is in the works! 🙂
Looks like you did come above your challenges. These look and sound great!
Thanks so much for the comment. The enchiladas were a great dish for the challenge. They turned out to be very tasty!
I can tell by this recipe these are great enchiladas cant wait to try these~
I hope you will Claudia. They were really good!
I sure enjoyed meeting Mr. and Ms Bunky Cooks at camp this weekend. You sure added to the atmosphere of food and fun (and serious study). I Hope you will make some of those pictures of us available to me ‘cuz I want to include some in the video I am working on. I love enchillaas and fully support your decision to poblano (pasillo in LA) peers over (ho hum) Anaheim. GREG at Sippity Sup dot Com
Hi Greg,
It was so much fun to meet you as well! I hope you will come our way this year! We will provide great fun and entertainment on this side of the country, too. 🙂
I worked on my post and the photos today, so they should be up by tomorrow late. I will put them on Flickr when I am done.
These enchiladas were really good, so I will definitely make this again! Besides, it feeds a crowd and you never know when that might come in handy!
Gwen
great recipe, love poblanos and tomatiollos together they make a great combo, I would have rolled them also..glad your back
sweetlife
Great job on the enchiladas! I love the green chile sauce and the ability to change the chiles and change the heat. I’m glad you did the challenge!
Your chicken enchiladas look incredible! Can’t wait to hear more about camp blogaway!
Wonderful to hear that both versions well down so well and your photos looks so yummy and the idea of Camp blogaway sounds intriguing. Lovely photos as well. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.
Love these! Enchiladas have been on my “to make” list forever!
Thanks so much for the yummy recipe and letting me use your photo. Here’s the short link to my post about it http://wp.me/pRnCb-7i.