"American as Apple Pie" Enchiladas

It's pre-Friday! yay!

 

Granted, tomorrow is my Monday as far as work schedules go, but that's ok. I won't be a downer...

 

So I promised you an update to the enchilada night we had last night.  Let me just say, yummers :) Now, I love to cook. And when it comes to cooking a real honest-to-goodness meal, I like a recipe that's a little on the labor intensive side. I love the chopping, dicing, julienning, zesting, (break for a sip of wine), marinating, braising, etc etc that comes along with a real meal.  I've never been a huge fan of those recipes you see floating around Facebook or Pinterest where is says something along the lines of..

 

"2 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies"

 

-or-

 

"Cake mix Cookie Dough kids fun dip"

I actually saw a share for something like this and I have to say, I cringed....It was along the lines of..

-a box of yellow cake mix

-a block of cream cheese

-a stick of butter

-a bag of candy

-a bag of chocolate chips

-a pound of sugar

- another block of cream cheese

-20 pixie stick tubes

and a dash of arterial plaque.

 

It was bad...now, we like sweets in this house too, don't get me wrong...I made S-mores bars for dessert last night, and for goodness sakes, I own a bakery, but there just seems to be something wrong when a recipe asks for a box of cake mix that gets mixed with random fats and then other stuff mixed in.... I mean, I know we can all picture ourselves standing at the counter with a bowl and a spoon and our little ones are either sitting on the counter next to the bowl or they are standing on the dining room chairs that they pulled into the kitchen. Kids LOVE helping in the kitchen, especially sweet stuff.  They love cracking an egg, or trying to pour a little vanilla into a little teaspoon and then pouring it in the bowl...I just can't imagine asking my kid to dump the cake mix powder into the bowl and then having my other little one plop in the block o' cheese...
and that's it...

that's their dessert...

Enjoy kids.

MAMA OUT...

*drops the spoon from high up like a rapper drops the mic*

 

....am I alone on this one?...

Maybe it's just me.

I mean no offense.

There, I made my peace.

Moving on.

 

I got a little off topic...as this post is about enchiladas, not Pinterest Fun Dip. Now, these are not the super authentic-y kind of enchiladas, like the kind where at some point in the recipe a mortar and pestle is used, maze is ground down to make tortillas, or it calls for a cup of shredded Oaxaca Cheese and you curse the heavens for missing that part of the recipe and now the whole thing will be ruined if you cheat and use Velveeta...no nothing like that.... just good old fashioned enchilada ingredients brought together in such a perfect way that if this had been the pilgrims first Thanksgiving meal, they may have decided to settle a little farther south if they knew this was the kind of meal they would be having on a nightly basis...just sayin'.

 

There is some chopping, shredding, grating and wine drinking involved, so allow a little time.

 

"American as Apple Pie" Enchiladas

 

3 chicken breasts

1 tbsp. each:

-cumin

-smoked paprika

-ancho chili powder

-garlic powder

 

1 tsp each:

-salt

-pepper

-cinnamon

 1 cup water

1 small yellow onion finely diced

1 medium green pepper finely diced

1 large-ish can red enchilada sauce

1 can black beans drained

1 small can diced green chilis

 1 package tortillas, (you'll need about 8-10)

one block Monterey jack cheese

one block mild cheddar

 

9x13 glass baking dish

foil

 

 

1. Cook chicken breasts either in the oven at 350 until cooked through, or in a skillet until cooked through, then shred them up.

 



 

 

2.  In a bowl add in all the spices, salt, pepper, and cinnamon to the chicken...

 

 

 

 

 

3.  Toss it up...

 

 

 

 

4 add in green chiles and pour in about 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce..

 

 

5.  Drain the black beans over the sink and rinse off any extra liquid...

 

 

 

6. While beans drip dry, finely dice up an onion...

 

 

7. ...and a green pepper...

 

 

8.  Over medium heat, sauté the chopped veggies with a little splash of veggie or olive oil...

 

 

 

9.  While the peppers and onions are sautéing, (make sure you stir occasionally) shred one of the blocks of cheese (it doesn't matter which. the other block will be shredded and sprinkled on top of enchiladas, so it just depends if you want yellow cheese on top, or white) oh, and if you have an ancient cheese grater from gladiator times, that's a nice touch...

 

 

 

10. Once the veggies take on that slightly translucent look and they've sweated it out a bit, add those, the beans and shredded cheese into chicken mixture. Toss it up. 

 

 

 

11.  Now grab your pan and line it with foil.  Grab your stack of tortillas, a pair of tongs, and start stuffing the enchiladas.

 

 

 

 

12.  Roll them up tight and place them seam side down in the pan, and line them up snugly in the pan...

 

 

13. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the tops...

 

 

14.  If you haven't already, shred your last block of cheese and then spread that evenly over the saucy enchiladas...

 

 

 

15.  ok, throw them in the oven at 400 for about 40 minutes until all cheese is melted and edges start to brown and crisp.

 

 

16.  Let them cool for about 15 minutes before even attempting to get them out of the pan. 

 

 

I don't have a final pretty plated pic (say that 5 times fast) because the starving children/husband in my house kept asking "is it ready yet?!" "how much longer?!" "are they done?!" "mom i'm hungry!"

 

...I swear I had so many panicked voices coming at me it that I imagine is was like when some poor sap is trying to diffuse a bomb and different members of the squad keep yelling,

 

     "CUT THE BLUE WIRE!"

        

     "NO! CUT THE RED WIRE!"

 

      "CUT THEM BOTH FOR GOOD MEASURE!" 

 

....ok, well I've never heard that last one in any suspense flick, but I seems like a good idea to me....then again, I thought it was a good idea to make ravenous children wait for meal that requires "cooling time"...

 

Will I ever learn?  It's ok though, I kept their minds off their growling tummy's by having them help me at the counter making dessert :)  Something else to look forward too always helps with kids.

Especially when it's S'mores bars.... more on that later:)

 

Enjoy the Enchiladas!

 

........OH,  and when it comes time for dishes, don't let your husband offer to do them, and then pull the move where he just decides it would be best to "soak them in the sink overnight"...this only means he's gonna leave for work extra early in the morning and therefore "forget" to finish washing them before he leaves....

 

...nice try...

 

 

 

:) ashley