ENCHILADAS SUIZAS A LA MARCELA VALLADOLID

Posted in Poultry by

Today we are leaving to present our work at a meeting (Gordon Conference on Mechanisms of Membrane Transport, very exciting venue!) and visit former colleagues & collaborators.
I have posts scheduled for publication during our trip, but my ability to reply to comments or leave comments on blogs will be limited until
June 26th.

enchilladas.
Watching an episode of Mexican Made Easy the other day made me crave this dish. Pure comfort food.  As everyone knows, enchiladas are a typical Mexican concoction of corn tortillas rolled around some type of meat (or veggies, or cheese) and baked under a blanket of chile sauce, often tomato-based.  Enchiladas suizas are a variation that resulted from the influence of Swiss immigrants to Mexican cuisine. A real happy marriage!   This was a fun dish to prepare, perfect activity for a Sunday afternoon.  The tomatillo sauce is superb, the recipe makes more than you’ll need, so you can enjoy it in other dishes later.

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS SUIZAS
(slightly adapted from Marcella Valladolid, Mexican Made Easy)
.
9 tomatillos, husked and rinsed
1/2 medium white onion
1 Serrano chile
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, loosely packed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 + 1/2 cup shredded cooked chicken breasts (I used from rotisserie chicken) 
1/2  cup Mexican crema or sour cream (I used a little more than 1/4 cup)
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Put the tomatillos, onion, Serrano pepper and 3/4 cup water in a medium, heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover and boil until the tomatillos turn olive-green color, about 10 minutes. Let it cool a little, then transfer the tomatillos, onion and pepper to a blender. Add as much water as you need to make a smooth sauce (I added almost all the liquid left in the pan). Add the garlic and cilantro and blend again until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the tortillas until golden but still pliable, about 10 seconds per side. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
.
Put the tortillas on a work surface. Divide the shredded chicken evenly among the tortillas and roll up each like a cigar. Spread 1/3 cup sauce in a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish. Arrange the enchiladas, seam-side down, in one layer snugly inside the dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas.
.
Drizzle with the Mexican crema and sprinkle the cheese all over. Bake until the cheese melts and starts to brown in spots, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

ENJOY!
.

                                            to print the recipe, click here

.

composite
When you make this recipe, use good quality corn tortillas,  not flimsy ones that are too thin or too soft.  Those would pretty much disintegrate during baking.  For me, two of these enchiladas make a nice meal.  We had leftovers and they were still delicious on the following day. Not as good as fresh from the oven, but definitely a tasty option for a quick lunch at home.  We warmed them up in the microwave, which is not ideal. If you have time, warm leftovers in a low oven, covered with aluminum foil.

IMG_1988

The tomatillo sauce is absolutely delicious!  The level of heat I like, not too much, but definitely there.  You can add more Serrano peppers or other chiles too, using the basic recipe as a starting point.  I had a moment of unique inspiration to use the leftover sauce, and will blog (brag?  ;-)) about it in the near future… Stay tuned!

ONE YEAR AGO: The Little Apple

TWO YEARS AGO: Majestic Sedona

THREE YEARS AGO: Watermelon-induced Daze

16 thoughts on “ENCHILADAS SUIZAS A LA MARCELA VALLADOLID”

  1. Have a happy, successful, healthy time at the Conference: great to be able to meet up with old time colleagues 🙂 ! Fun recipe a little different from the usual filling . . .

    Like

    Reply

  3. I do like enchiladas of any kind but suizas are my favorite. I need to try to make these. It’s been ages since I’ve had a good one. In my old neighborhood, around the corner was a family-run Mexican restaurant with the best enchiladas. I moved away and they closed soon thereafter. I guess they couldn’t bear to carry on without me. 🙂

    Like

    Reply

  5. I think I’d probably smother that tomatillo sauce all over everything! Yum. Also, I didn’t realize you study membrane transport! I study membrane trafficking (of an insulin-responsive glucose transporter in adipocytes). Very cool. 🙂

    Like

    Reply

  7. I hope you’re enjoying the conference! I love to travel and I find that traveling with Mike’s conference schedule is a fabulous way to go. I hope you both are enjoying work and play while you’re gone. 🙂 And these enchiladas look like another one I’m printing off tonight. Yum!!!!

    Like

    Reply

    • Hi, Kristy! Somehow this comment escaped my replies! Conference was awesome, Phil gave a fantastic talk and my presentation was smooth, no tricky questions… cannot ask for more than that! 😉

      Like

      Reply

  8. I have never seen fresh tomatillos here, but I have tinned ones, forgot why bought them, would they be Ok to use? I have a tortilla press (unused) so embarassing, so maybe I should be brave and use it and this sounds really good !

    Like

    Reply

    • The tinned ones will be partially cooked during the processing, I think it is fine to use here, as the sauce will be cooked anyway. I’d say go for it, maybe it won’t have the same “bright” taste of the sauce made with fresh tomatillos, but… still tasty

      Like

      Reply

Click here to comment, love to hear from you!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.