Daring Cooks' May Challenge: Enchiladas!

Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.

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I'm glad to get back into the swing of things with Daring Cooks.  I was kind of bummed that I missed out on last month's challenge because of all the craziness that has been going on in my life.  Anyways, I really enjoyed this challenge, and appreciated all the room for creativity.  

The mandatory part of this challenge was to make a homemade Mexican-style sauce for enchiladas.  I know my mom has a few great enchilada recipes, so I asked her to send them to me.  I based my enchiladas on one of her recipes, which focused on a tomato and spice based sauce.

Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas

For chicken:

2 large chicken breast halves

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup water

1 clove minced garlic

1 bay leaf

1/2 an onion, finely chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, minced

1/2 a serrano pepper, minced

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

2 thinly sliced green onions

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 teaspoon oregano

salt and pepper to taste

For sauce:

2 tablespoons oil

3 cloves minced garlic

3 tablespoons chili powder

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup tomato sauce

To assemble:

10-12 6-inch corn tortillas

3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

sour cream and cilantro for garnish

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For chicken:

Arrange chicken in heavy medium saucepan.  Add stock, water, garlic, and bay leaf.  Bring to boil.

 

Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until chicken is cooked through.  Transfer to bowl using slotted spoon and cool.  Discard bay leaf.  Reserve liquid.

In the meantime, heat oil in a small pan and saute onions and peppers until slightly softened and aromatic.

 

 

Peel skin off chicken and remove meat from bones.  Tear meat into bite size strips.  Place in a large bowl.  Mix in green onions, cilantro, pepper and onion mixture, and oregano. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

For sauce:

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add 3 minced garlic cloves and saute 30 seconds.  Add chili powder and saute 1 minute.  Add flour, cumin, and cinnamon and stir 1 minute (mixture will be dry). This seemed like a lot of spice to me, but it ended up tasting great.  Don't use less! 

 

Whisk in 1 cup reserved poaching liquid.

 

  

Add remaining poaching liquid and tomato sauce.

Cook until thick and smooth, whisking frequently, about 5 minutes.  Adjust seasonings.  I added a dash of Sriracha chili sauce.  I think a splash of strong coffee would have done the sauce justice, but I didn't have any brewed so I skipped it.  Next time, though.

Cool slightly before assembling. 

To assemble:

Lightly oil a 13x9x2" baking dish.  Heat heavy medium skillet over high heat until hot.  Add 1 tortilla and cook until heated through, turning frequently.  Using tongs, dip into sauce, coating both sides.

Spoon about 3 tablespoons of chicken filling into the tortilla and roll.  Repeat.  (Can be prepared one day ahead- cover with foil).

 

Spoon any remaining sauce over.  Sprinkle with cheese.  

 

 

Cover with foil.  Position rack in top third of oven and preheat to 425.  Bake enchiladas 10 minutes.  Uncover and bake until hot and bubbling, about 10 more minutes.

 

 

And that's it!  These were delicious and easy, despite the seemingly long amount of steps.  They would be great to make ahead and throw in the oven after a long day at work.  

 

 

I served mine with some spicy red rice, sliced avocado, and sour cream, and cilantro.  These would be great with a margarita, but I thought a couple Modelos with a bit of salt and lime were perfect.

Daring Cooks January Challenge: Satays!

 

This challenge was hosted by Cuppy from Cuppylicious, and it was actually really fun to plan out.  I decided to make 2 different marinades, one for beef and one for chicken, and 2 different dipping sauces.  I marinated the beef in the Daring Cooks' recommended recipe, and for the chicken I decided on a coconut curry inspired marinade.  I made the peanut sauce posted on Daring Cooks, and decided on an herbed cucumber Raita-style sauce as well.  I know I kind of blended Thai and Indian flavors, but the recipes seemed really tasty, and well, I can do what I want!

So, here are the recipes:

Beef Satay Marinade 

 

1/2 a small onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, finely diced

2 tablespoons ginger root, finely diced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

I chose to use a top sirlion steak- it was much cheaper than even a flank steak or a skirt steak

Mix ingredients well.  Cut beef into 1 inch strips, against the grain.  Cover and chill.

Chicken Satay Marinade

Adapted from allrecipes.com 

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, lightly pounded, and cut into 1 inch strips

Mix marinade until brown sugar has dissolved.  Toss marinade with the chicken, cover and chill.

Herbed Cucumber Raita

I looked at several different Raita/chutney recipes, and kind of took elements from all of them to make this sauce.

10 ounces plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cup minced mint leaves

1/2 cup minced cilantro leaves

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely diced

1 jalapeno, seeded, minced

1 teaspoon curry powder 

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoons cumin 

salt and pepper to taste

pinch paprika

Blend all ingredients, and adjust components to your liking.  Chill.  Before serving, sprinkle with paprika.

 

Peanut Sauce

3/4 cup coconut milk

4 tablespoons peanut b utter

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

2 dried chilies, finely chopped

Sriracha to taste

Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, and mix well.  

Just before you are getting ready to serve, combine coconut milk, peanut butter, and your soy-lemon-seasoning in a small pan.  Warm over low heat, stirring well.  Add Sriracha to adjust heat. 

Cooking Instructions

Just before you're ready to cook the satays, soak your wooden skewers in warm water for 20 minutes.  This keeps them from catching on fire.  Thread the meat onto the skewers, accordian-style.

You choose whether to grill or broil them.  I used a grill-pan because I don't have an outdoor grill.  Cook over medium-high heat until done.

I served mine with some simply steamed baby bok choy and jasmine rice with coconut milk.  Both sauces were good, but I loved the cucumber Raita.  It had a nice cooling effect against the heat of the satays.  These were pretty easy to make, but there was a lot of prep involved.  They would be a good weeknight recipe if you had the forethought to get the marinade going before work.  Overall, this was a fun, tasty, and slightly unusual dinner!