Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada : The Daring Cooks May 2010 Challenge

What better way to celebrate Cinco De Mayo with some homemade Mexican food? It is time for another Daring Cook's Challenge and it is 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. Since I am in TX, it was very easy to get all the ingredients needed to make this dish.
I have never made a homemade enchilada sauce and I was sooooo glad I did this month. It was delicious. Please don't get discouraged by the long recipe and steps. it was not difficult at all and worth your time. The hardest part for me was roasting the chilies and tomatillos simply because it is time consuming and have to watch them. The rest is a piece of cake. The only change I made to the recipe is that I boiled a whole chicken and make homemade broth and used the chicken for filling. In my opinion it is moister than grilled but others may prefer the grilled, smoky taste. Whatever float your boat! Changing things up is a big part of the COOKING FUN, isn't it????

Ingredients

1½ pounds Fresh Anaheim chilies (about eight 6 to 8 inch chilies) 24 ounces 678 grams - roast, peel, remove seeds, chop coarsely. Other green chilies (NOT bell peppers) could probably be substituted but be conscious of heat and size!)
7-8 ounces Tomatillos (about 4-5 medium)212 grams - peel, remove stems
4 cups Chicken broth (32 ounces/920 grams)
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 teaspoons yellow onion, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ tsp Kosher salt (add more to taste)
¼ tsp Black Pepper (add more to taste)
2 tablespoons Cornstarch (dissolve in 2 tablespoons water, for thickening)
Hot sauce, your favorite, optional
2 Boneless chicken breasts (you can also use bone-in chicken breasts or thighs)
3 tablespoons Olive oil or other neutral vegetable oil (use more as needed)
Kosher salt and pepper
12 Small Corn tortillas (5-6 inch/13-15 cm). (you can also use wheat tortillas or other wraps)
6 ounces grated Monterey Jack, 170 grams (other cheeses (cheddar, pepper jack, Mexican cheeses) can be used. Just be sure they melt well and complement the filling)
Cilantro for garnish, chopped and sprinkled optional

Directions:

Roasting Fresh Chilies

1. Coat each chili with a little vegetable oil. If you are doing only a couple chilies, using the gas stove works. For larger batches (as in this recipe), grilling or broiling is faster.
2. Lay the oiled chilies 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 chilies so they char evenly. They should be black and blistered.
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. Pull on the stem and the seed core MAY pop out (it rarely does for me). Open the chili and remove the seeds. Turn the chili 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! (this will wash off awesome flavors)

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.
2. Drain and puree in a blender or food processor.
3. Return the tomatillos to the saucepan along with the chicken broth, chopped green chilies, minced onion, 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.
6. Adjust seasonings and add hot sauce if you want a little more heat.


Stacked Green Chile and Grilled Chicken Enchiladas

1. Heat a gas grill to medium high or build a medium-hot charcoal Coat the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Grill the chicken until just cooked through, 4-5 minutes a side for boneless chicken breasts.
3. Cool and then slice into thin strips or shred.
4. 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.
5. 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).
6. Drain on paper towels.
7. Add oil as needed and continue until all 12 tortillas are done.


















Note: The directions are for 12 totillas but my pictures will only show a single stack but you will get the idea.

In a baking dish, ladle a thin layer of sauce.











Lay tortillas in the dish and ladle another ½ cup (4 ounces/112 grams) of sauce over the tortillas. Divide half the chicken among the first layer of tortillas.


Top with another ½ cup of sauce.










And 1/3 of the grated cheese.











Stack another tortillas, top with the rest of the chicken, more sauce and another third of the cheese.






Finish with the third tortilla. Top with the remaining sauce and cheese.Bake until the sauce has thickened and the cheese melted, about 20 minutes. Let rest for 5-10 minutes.



. To serve, transfer each stack to a plate. Spoon any leftover sauce over the stacks and sprinkle with cilantro, if you wish. The stacks may also be cooked in individual gratin dishes.