Verde enchilada sauce recipe

Salsa de enchilada verde:

First off, a disclaimer…
I am a shortsighted chef (perhaps “chef” is overstated)… Let’s say I love to cook.
I never think of having to explain the steps, I cook by feel.
If the dish was successful, I have to deconstruct it in reverse in order to recreate it.
So here is a green enchilada sauce recipe that I produced and tried to deconstruct for you.

These sauces are always to taste… in that, for this instance, a larger tomatillo ratio to roasted pepper ratio will create a milder sauce and the inverse has the a heating up effect.
It comes down to what your taste dictates as the proper flavor for your ingredients.
If you are making a green enchilada sauce and it’s too hot for your taste buds, or overwhelms your flavors, add more roasted tomatillo.

I think enchilada sauces should be deep and mellow. A sublime and rich undercurrent to the filling ingredients. The roasting chilis here, especially over the grill adds a wonderful… roastiness

Had I added more Anaheim peppers to the mix, or heat in the form of hotter chiles, the sauce would have actually turned into something more appropriate as a chip dipping salsa or a spooned on taco sauce. So you see, heat is always appropriate to the specific ingredients, taste subtleties, and the desired outcome.
So enough hot air…

I believe I started with about:

3 lbs. or whole raw tomatillos with paper skins removed and washed .
1 1/4 lb. fresh Anaheim peppers.

Roast your tomatillos and Anaheim peppers on grill or under a broiler until they are blistered softened and 50% or more blackened.
The Anaheims can continue to steam in a brown paper bag until cooled, then be de-stemmed, skinned and de-seeded. Be somewhat careful handling the pepper off the grill, they have hot pepper liquid in them. you can burn yourself.
Tongs are handy here.

The roasted tomatillos can be thrown in the food processor directly… they will end up with the roasted black specs in the sauce seeds and all, makes for a rustic handmade look and toasty taste.

My amounts:
3 1/2 pureed cups tomatillos after roasting
2 pureed cups peppers after roasting.
2 white onions diced sauteed under medium heat until slightly golden.
5 cloves of diced garlic, saute along with onions.
1 cup fresh chopped cilantro, more or less to taste.

Put the above ingredients in the food processor and blend it all up… it can be crude and rustic.
Place the blended sauce in a large saute pan.
Add chicken stock or vegetable stock (water, last resort) to achieve the desired consistency (think just short of runny, the sauce thickens with heating)
Salt and pepper to taste.
Add cumin to taste (I used 1 1/2 tsps. ground cumin)
Simmer for about 10 minutes on low to meld flavors.

Makes 9 cups or more sauce.
Enough for 3 trays of enchiladas. (30 plus enchiladas)

I think about 1 1/2 enchiladas per person is appropriate. The bigger eaters will have 2 or more, the smaller eaters will have 1.

Here’s the way I made the enchiladas…

I use fajita size flour tortillas.
Place a tortilla in your simmered sauce until coated and softened both sides. (about 1 minute)
Too stiff to roll, the tortilla has not heated long enough, too fragile or too floppy, burn your hands… your sauce is too hot.
Pluck the tortilla out of the sauce with a slotted spoon.
Place the softened tortilla in a greased 9″x13″ cooking pan (glass or metal).
Fill the tortilla with your favorite ingredients.

I made mine with;
Roasted chicken, bite size pieces (NO bones!).
Fresh cilantro leaves.
Shredded swiss cheese.
Sliced black olives.
Diced tops of scallions ( I don’t like the whiter part)
Dollups of sour cream.

I guess the green sauce and Swiss cheese makes this a Enchilada Suiza (Inchee’lada Swee’zah).

Fill the tortilla with just enough ingredients so that you can roll it up onto itself (about 1 1/4 inch in diameter).
You can put just about anything into an enchilada.
Use you imagination….
Roasted vegetables, tofu,pork seafood, shrimp, etc. etc.
One of my favorites…
Enchiladas Suizas with grilled swordfish and baby shrimp! Yeooooooweee!

Just remember, the main protein ingredient above should be largely precooked just short of done. Sauteed, roasted etc. prior to going into the tortilla… otherwise you’ll have crunchy enchiladas. (no bueno! )

Continue the process until you have filled the tray.
You can crowd the tray.
Usually 10 enchiladas per 9x 13 inch tray.
Using a ladle, spoon some more sauce over the filled tray (about 50 % coverage) Do not smother them, they will end up swimming).
Then complete the tray with a scattering of your cheese on top.
You can now place the tray in a preheated oven (375 degrees or so) for 20 -30 minutes uncovered. The enchiladas should be golden and the cheese on top melted.

Let them rest for a few minutes, then serve with toasted garlic black beans, mexican rice, a citrus salad or the like…. And Beer!
Very super yummy!

Once you get the hang of the process, you will learn to production line it.
You can prepare all of your filling ingredients in advance.
You can even mix most of these ingredients in a larger bowl together to further streamline the production for larger crowds.
Have plenty of hand towels around as you will get dirty in the process.
The enchiladas can be prepared the day before and refrigerated (covered) then cooked for your dinner.
How about a cool Negra Modelo for the chef! Aaaaaaaah!

PS
Enchiladas are fantastic leftovers! So make more than you need for dinner and enjoy them in the days to come. They just get better!

PPS…
The sauce doesn’t necessarily have to go just on enchiladas… It is very versatile. And freezable.

How about a crock pot fall apart pork shoulder
(fat trimmed) smothered in sauteed onions and the above green sauce.
Put some quartered red potatoes in for the final hour or so. You have got a great comfort food dinner.
Or how about some bone in chicken thighs with rings of yellow onions, red bell peppers, white hominy, and fresh parsley… all smothered in the above green sauce. Bake this in a casserole dish in the oven for one hour (400 degrees). Serve with rice.
The point… once you have gone through the trouble to make a great sauce…. put it to work for you!

Junior “June Bug” Morris chasing turkeys!

Junior, our two year old tabby, “tries” to catch the turkeys when they visit our side yard.
I’m hoping he doesn’t ever catch one, because I think it might not work out well for either party.
Today , there had to be twenty five hens and one very mature Tom, snatching up black oiled sunflower seeds from our driveway.
Our older kitty Jones is no fun, so June Bug is trying perhaps overly hard to stir up some action.
I hear him saying ‘Wait! Don’t run! I just wanna play!’

Perhaps the two most moving songs ever…. IMHO

I know, you all will think I’m corny, hopelessly sentimental, whatever…
Call me a softy!
I think this Leonard Cohen song, done by the late Jeff Buckley, and this John Prine song, done by (a very young) Bonnie Raitt, are heart wrenching and tremendously moving… nothing new, just fantastic!
I guess I’m in a mood….

Jeff Buckley “Hallelujah” Youtube Video link

Groovy Dancing Girl…. She totally Rocks!

Ok,
This is just unadulterated good fun!
Groovy Dancing Girl Rocks!
She has several good Youtube videos….
Simply great dancing!
Makes me happy!

Billy

The fence project… a challenge… turned out beautifully!

Beth and Jordan’s design was challenging…
We had 100 1×4’s to cut. 200 short pieces of pipe to cut.
80 feet of 5/8″ all thread to cut.
Each 1×4 part had 4 counter sink holes to retain the pipe sections. A through bore to accept the all thread.
We were crossing our fingers that everything would come together properly.
It appears that it did!
Cheers to the designers for putting us to the challenge.
The outcome was worth the head scratching!
Beth and Jordan’s new side yard hang out.