Recipe #1 - Chicken Enchiladas

Before starting on the first recipe I want to make a correction to the prior post.  It came to my attention that the name of the Julia Child movie is "Julie and Julia" and not "Being Julia" which is also a movie.   While the movies share the name Julia in the title, hence my confusion, one if about cooking and the other is about some actress in the 1930s dealing with love and revenge.  So I guess they are not that different.

Now on to the good stuff.....


So last night was the first of many cooking experiences and what better way than to start with Tyler's #1 rated recipe, Chicken Enchiladas.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken-enchiladas-recipe/index.html

This recipe is classified as "Intermediate", probably due to the many ingredients and steps, but I think any of you novices out there could handle it.  I got all my ingredients together and was ready to start cooking.

Most of the ingredients.  I didn't use Swiss Miss even though it is pictured here.  Maybe I'll try it next time to add a little mole flavor to the dish.  But now I'm getting off topic. Back to the cooking.

While the recipe calls for 1.5 lbs chicken breasts, anything in that range will do.  The recipe also calls for "Mexican Spice Blend, " which I had never heard of.  So there I was in the mexican isle of Stop and Shop staring at the spices, peppers, tortillas, chinchillas, and yet no Mexican Spice Blend.  So off to the Spice area, and yet again, no Mexican Spice Blend.  Now an amateur chef might say, "How can I make these without the key Mexican Spice Blend?", but an intermediate chef like myself ended up buying the Goya Adobo all purpose spice pictured above.  While it might not have all the correct spices it still worked well so now worries if you can't find it.  If you do find it, please let me know where the heck it is in the store!

So while the chicken is cooking (pictured below), it's a good time to get all the other ingredients prepared.  Chop up the onions, garlic, chipotle peppers, and green chiles. 

 

Chicken almost done.  Takes about 7-10 min per side or until cooked through. 

Chopped red onion and garlic.  Make sure you have a sharp knife.  Mine needs sharpening.

  

One thing I want to note here is the Chiptole Chiles that the recipe calls for.  I've never bought chipotle chiles and if you are in the same boat as me you can find them in the mexican food section.  There were two similar looking can theres.  One said Chipotle Chilis and the other said Chipotle Peppers so I made sure to get the one that said Chipotle Chilis.  When I get home I look at the can it says Chipotle Peppers and I was like " I swear I bought the Chipotle Chilis," so I turn the can around and it says Chilis on the other side.  So if you're new to mexican cooking a chipotle chili is the same as a chipotle pepper.

While the peppers and things are cooking in the pan you can shred the chicken.  Be careful, it's pretty effin hot on the inside.  I thought I let it cool enough but swore when I burned my fingers and ran to the sink.  Just a little warning.

After adding the Chilis, peppers, tomatoes, corn, and shredded chicken your pan should like something like this.

While this is cooking you can prep the tortillas and 2 9x13 baking dishes.  Yes, that's right, you'll need 2 of them since this makes 15-20 enchiladas.  Make sure to warm up the tortillas so they don't crack when you roll them.  The first few I did we not soft enough and cracked and made me mad at life.  But then I got the hang of it.  Don't worry, if they do crack, they will be covered in cheese and sauce and no one will know, except you and maybe me.

Here they are before going into the oven:

While the recipe calls for 1.5 cups of Jack and Cheddar cheese, I used Mexican 4 cheese blend.  Cheaper and easier than buying two separate bags of Jack and Cheddar.

And here they are after about 20 minutes in the oven.

MISSING PICTURE

I just realized I forgot to take an after picture in the pan so here they are on a plate with a side of rice and black beans.

And this is what they look like when you finish them.

This was an excellent recipe with lots of flavor and just the right amount of spices and heat.  (I should mention for those who don't know me, I like my food ont he milder side so if you want  more heat I suggest adding more green and chipotle peppers.)  

This recipe earns my 4 clean plates of approval

Special thanks to Dave, Amanda, and Robin for sharing this meal with me.

Dave polishing off the chips and salsa.  A necessary addition to any mexican meal.

Next weeks recipe:  Fried Chicken
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/fried-chicken-recipe3/index.html