Enchiladas Verdes
Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone!
I love tomatillos! I love their unusual acidity, I enjoy their peculiar taste, I like their greenness, etc. The only problem is that I never know what to do with them. Although, they look like green tomatoes, they cannot be used like green tomatoes in cooking – trust me, I have tried and the end result was not pretty. Fortunately, a few years ago I finally got my lovely grandma (who guards recipes as if her life depended on it) to teach me how to make her famous enchiladas verdes or tomatillo enchiladas. And, guess what? I’m about to share it with you! After all, is there a better day to make enchiladas than May 5th?
Enchiladas Verdes
2015-05-05 16:44:03
Serves 4
Authentic tomatillo enchiladas
Prep Time
30 min
Ingredients
- 1 Large chicken breast, bone in and with skin
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1/2 medium white onion
- 1 (29 oz) can of tomatillos, drained
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, plus a couple of extra leaves for garnish
- 1 whole jalapeño
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup crema
- 1/2 cup queso fresco or feta cheese
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a medium pot, place the chicken breast, bay leaves, peppercorns and 1/4 of the white onion. Add cold water to cover the chicken breast completely. Over low heat, bring to a slow simmer. Let simmer until chicken is done. Set chicken aside to cool. Keep liquid.
- In a blender puree tomatillos, the rest of the onion, garlic, jalapeño and cilantro using 2 cups of the liquid from the chicken until smooth.
- In a small pot, heat a tbsp of vegetable oil. Once hot, add the tomatillo puree. Bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer for about 5 - 7 mins or until it changes colour to a paler green. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove the chicken skin, then pull and cut the meat off the bones. Set aside once again.
- In a medium pan, heat the rest of the vegetable oil. One by one, very lightly fry the tortillas. One minute per side. Set aside.
Assembly
- Dip each fried tortilla in the tomatillo sauce.
- Place some of the pulled chicken in the centre of the just-dipped tortilla. Roll tortilla tightly.
- Once you've rolled all the tortillas. Pour remaining tomatillo sauce on top.
- Garnish with crema, queso fresco and cilantro. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you want these enchiladas to be spicy, add the jalapeño whole (seeds in) to the blender. If you prefer a milder enchilada, remove the seeds from the jalapeño.
- If you can't find cream, you can make you own by adding whipping cream to sour cream until you get a honey consistency.
- If you feel the sauce is too acidic, do not be afraid to add 1 tbsp of granulated sugar to it.
One Prickly Pear http://www.onepricklypear.com/
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I never knew what to do with tomatillos either, which is why I’ve never actually cooked with them. This recipe sounds delicious!
nicole (thespicetrain.com) recently posted Salad with Baked Candied Apple Chips. Yum!
Thank you, Nicole! Tomatillos just make everything look more exotic. I’m sure you’ll love cooking with them!