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Cooking Notes
Stephen Martin
I have been making fabulous enchiladas from leftover roasted chicken breast for years. Store bought green enchilada sauce ishard to beat, particularly Hatch brand. An important step is, after browning the tortillas, to drag them through a shallow bowl of the green enchilada sauce.
Mix the shredded chicken, some green sauce, some onion, and some cheese before filling.
Betsy
Instead of dipping each tortilla in oil, you can instead microwave the stack of tortillas for 10-20 seconds, which will soften them up. Keep the stack covered with a kitchen towel to keep them moist as you take each one to roll up with the filling.
José
If you have the time, roast the tomatillos, onion, and garlic in the oven until lightly charred. Greatly improves the flavor of the sauce.
Lisa F
Queso Fresco is not meant to melt- it is often sprinkled over finished dishes for added flavor and texture. It is meant to have the same type of consistency as Feta cheese. In Mexican cuisine it is often served crumbled over black beans, enchiladas, soups, Chilaquiles, sopes, etc.
Donneek
It is so much easier to layer the tortillias with the meat like a lasagna, I usually do three layers cutting the tortillians in half and quarters to fit the pan. I've made it with beef and red mole sauce, and have used chicken and shredded pork butt with the chile verde. one square is the equivalent to three enchaladas.
I have added spinich or chard to the sauce before I blend it other favorites are frozen corn and mushrooms. It's a winner every time!
Sisters
Had no chicken--smashed up a can of pinto beans; no fresh chilis--used a can of Hatch fire-roasted chilis. Mixed the chilis and beans, seasonings, put a spoonful on a softened corn tortilla, added shredded cheese, rolled it up, into a greased baking dish, kept on until out of cheese, beans, and tortillas. Poured Hatch green enchilada sauce over it. Crumbled up queso fresco, put it on top. Baked at 350 for 30 minutes. HEAVEN! Ya use whacha got in the cupboard, right? =)
Anne
They turn to mush without oil and so don't come out of the pan whole.
LeeAnn
I put my cooked chicken breasts in the stand mixer, with paddle attachment, and it makes for perfectly shredded chicken. I do this for shredded pork as well.
BA Garcia
Tomatillos are best once they are charred in cast iron pan or in the oven along with onion, garlic, Serrano Chiles then processed. Put back in pan with some fat and fry a little to give it more dimension. Always fry tortillas to stand up to sauce and for texture. No melting cheese, top with Queso Fresco, onion and radish slices. Let sauce shine through....
Ed
I have on a couple of occasions used shredded Monterey Jack cheese, which melts well and has a nice flavor that marries well with the tomatillos.
MJ
One of the people I was cooking for has the soapy taste problem with cilantro so I omitted it, but the sauce still needed something, which turned out to be lime juice. I added about a tablespoon, which worked beautifully - apparently this is the best thing I've cooked in months, or so says my family. I'll definitely make it again.
Zac from VA
Not sure why the recipe calls for waiting until the cheese melts. Neither queso fresco nor cotija are melting cheeses - they're closer to cottage cheese or feta (respectively) that way.
kittypro
I always toss all the tomatillos, onions and garlic together, place on a foil lined sheet pan, and roast at 375 for 30-45 minutes. Then, put everything in a deep bowl, add the chiles and cilantro, and blend with an immersion blender. Makes cleanup easier. Roasting releases all the juices in the tomtillos and really perks up the flavor. Also, I always opt to triple the sauce. But I like it saucy, so just a personal preference. Good recipe that I have used many times!
Renee
The oil isn't to prevent the tortillas from sticking to the pan, it's to provide a binding for the sauce to the tortilla, without having the sauce penetrate the tortillas, so they don't get soggy. It's about layering flavors. Use the oil!
Jean Miller
In Austin we love enchiladas! This dish, however, is much easier as a layered casserole. Other weeknight hacks: canned tomatillos and a rotisserie chicken. Spread some of the tomatillo sauce in the baking dish. Follow with 4 tortillas, 1/2 the chicken, and 1/3 of the cheese, 1/3 of sour cream, and 1/3 of remaining sauce. Then 4 more tortillas and repeat. Top with final 4 tortillas and last 1/3 of cheese and sour cream. You can have this in the oven in 15 minutes. Fantastic and easy.
GeriR
Could this be made ahead and frozen?
rocky
We keep green chilaquiles sauce in the freezer and leftover chicken, so this came together super fast. Next time I might add chopped onion and maybe some sliced mushrooms. Tasty and fast!
John Golden
Bland and thin. So much better when tomatillos are roasted with vegetables and then puréed with chicken stock enriching the sauce and mixed with meat before rolling uo
Liz
How much salsa verde does the recipe make - in terms of substituting with store-bought salsa verde?
Liz P
These are a great use for the huge batch of tomatillo sauce that I made during summer and froze in jars. Straightforward, delicious recipe!
Pat
This was really bad. Tossed the leftovers. The sauce using roasted tomatillos went south with the addition of the serrano chili. And I love hot. Perhaps another pepper would have been better. Will not bother making again.Would double the tomatillos and substitute good flour tortillas if I did.
Castle Cook
I roasted the salsa verde ingredients (minus the cilantro) in the oven, broiled for a few minutes at the end to get a nice little char, and then added them, plus cilantro, to the blender. DELICIOUS!!!This was a hit!
d
Amazing recipe! Turned out so good especially the salsa verde! I did substitute flour tortillas for corn tortillas because flour has a bit more robust flavor profile and glad I did! Can’t wait to make again in the future
Elaine
I love this recipe! However, I use canned green enchilada sauce instead of the tomatillo-based recipe given here. This is my go-to left-overs recipe! Chicken, of course, but also beef, beans, pork. Yum!
Liz
how much canned sauce did you use?
Namesullycyn
We love Mexican recipes and anything with tomatillos. But these were kind of a disappointment. They were just ok. I could have used more sauce overall. I also might try the suggestion of first roasting the veggies—maybe that would make a difference. Personally, I would also add more spice—and I included the seeds!
Karen
I thought these were just okay, rather bland. I agree with the suggestion to roast the Tomatillos before using them in the salsa, but even so, I will not make this again as written.
Ras Daoud
This looks like a very good recipe. However, there is an error in the text. It says "if you want your sauce less spicy, then remove the seeds. Seeds have a lower concentration of capsicin than does the flesh of the pepper. That which they DO contain is absorbed in the seed coat by diffusion from the internal atmosphere of the berry (yes, peppers are berries).So, if you want a more piquant sauce, de-seed your peppers. (No thoughts on deveining.)
Ann
I took the tip to roast the sauce ingredients before blending and agree that it's even better. The tortilla step seemed stressful and I don't have a microwave so I tried this-- after I took the roasted veg out of the oven, I brushed each tortilla with a little olive oil and stacked them in a foil packet and put them in the still-warm oven while I made the sauce. It worked like a charm.
Sandra Talarico
While they were delicious, it was a lot of work. I made salsa verde several days prior (growing tomatillos this year). You could poach that chicken ahead of time as well (I did not). Frying tortillas calls for a lot of clean up on the stove. They were very, very good.
Shawn Oster
This recipe takes me back to my childhood growing up in Laredo, TX. We were a steak and potato family fresh from South Dakota until my neighborhood tia taught my mom a very similar recipe and we’ve been making it our own ever since. Still my favorite use of chicken or turkey leftovers.Since then I’ve learned many more regional versions but this is pure childhood comfort food for me.
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