I usually have Food Network droning on in the background
throughout the day.
A good amount of the time,
the TV's mute button is employed,
for example, whenever The Wretch is on,
or Pauler with her dull spawn.
The other day Rachael was on with yet another new program -
Rachael's Week In A Day-
(Someone please stop giving this woman new shows.)
and she was making this recipe-
Roast Chicken Enchilada Suizas Stacked Casserole.
Technically, I don't think what she made is an enchilada.
When I think of enchilada,
I'm thinking of a rolled, stuffed tortilla,
baked in a tomato sauce seasoned with chili,
but what do I know?
It's Rachael's show and she can call it whatever she wants.
I did not follow Rachael's recipe to the letter.
She called for 12 tomatillos.
I had 5 tomatillos and 6 Roma tomatoes.
She called for honey.
I used the 2 teaspoons of honey,
but don't think it added anything to the sauce.
And Rachael called for 1 quart chicken stock-in-a-box.
I was getting ready to add in a can of stock, not a whole quart,
but when I tasted the sauce,
I decided against diluting it with the stock.
It was fine just the way it was.
And I added a rice component
which The Rache didn't.
I'm starting out with the Salsa Verde.
I'll be making corn tortillas.
Then I'll poach some chicken breasts,
make a seasoned rice,
and then assemble it all,
throw some cheese in the mix,
top it with cheese,
and bake it.
I blackened my peppers over an open flame.
If you don't have a gas cook top,
you could put the peppers on a sheet pan
and blacken under the broiler on high for 10-12 minutes.
There are two schools of thought here -
the paper bag school
and the ice bath school.
The paper bag school
has you put the charred peppers
in a paper bag and seal it for several minutes,
letting the steam do its work on the charred skin,
helping to release it.
I prefer the ice bath method.
It's quicker and easier
and the skin just rubs right off.
After charring the peppers,
immediately plunge them into ice water.
Simply use your fingers to rub off the skin.
A good rub with a paper towel
will release any stubborn pieces of skin.
Here's part of my mise en place.
Imagine 6 Roma tomatoes up there
and you get the picture.
4 roasted, peeled, and seeded poblanos
4 garlic cloves
1 large onion
1 large jalapeno
2 teaspoons cumin
bunch of cilantro
salt and pepper
and forget the can of chicken stock - totally unnecessary
Heat a little oil in your pan
and it does NOT have to be EVOO -
that's EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL!!!
Imagine Rachael rasping and screeching out the explanation
of her acronym here for the gazillionth time.
I do not understand this habit of Food Network cooks.
Just say the damn words.
Don't add cutesy acronyms which you then have to explain
over and over again.
Anne Burrell takes the cake for this with her
"BTB RTS."
Any takers on that one?
It should be obvious what it means:
"Bring To Boil, Reduce To Simmer."
Idiots.
Sorry, but I digest.
Add the chopped onion and the minced jalapeno to the hot oil.
I went ahead and added the honey,
although you could skip this part.
The honey really doesn't add anything.
Barely simmer, stirring occasionally,
for about 20 minutes.
Add in the juice of one lime.
Set salsa verde aside and start on corn tortillas.
Yes, Rosie is making her own corn tortillas.
Did you expect any less?
And I must say,
store-bought tortillas don't hold a candle to homemade.
Just like homemade pasta isn't anything like store-bought.
Trust me on this.
Homemade tortillas have much more flavor than store-bought
and the texture is different - in a good way -
it's almost cornbready.
Store-bought is one-dimensional.
Homemade is faceted.
Ingredients for corn tortillas:
2 cups masa
1 1/2 cups warm water plus more if needed
1 teaspoon salt
About a minute each side.
After cooking all 12 tortillas,
stack and cover with plastic
while you prepare the chicken and the seasoned rice.
First, the chicken.
then poured in about a cup of beer.
The chicken took about 12 minutes.
Set aside in pan with broth.
And start on rice.
The Hawthornes had some
quite bad Chinese takeout the other day
and I was saving the rice for the puppies,
but decided to use it for this dish.
The rice is good on its own.
Or you could stuff a pepper with it and top with cheese.
Or make chile rellenos with it.
Or use it with some ground beef
and roll up a burrito.
Or ...
use your own imagination.
And look what Rosie got for Christmas!
One of my loyal readers, Ange in Wisconsin,
sent me this wonderful Mexican spice box.
Thanks again, Ange!
I'll be using the Adobo seasoning on my chicken.
I'm only using three half breasts for my tortilla stack.
The other three halves I left in the poaching liquid
and put back in the fridge for some other use.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes,
until cheese is nice and melted and bubbly
and the casserole is heated through.
I served this with some regular homemade salsa,
sour cream,
and my salsa roja
which is made from dried chiles
and is da bombe.
I apologize for one (only) thing.
My photographs.
I usually start cooking in the afternoon
and when I finally finish and plate,
it's dark and I'm shooting
in fluorescent lights.
And the pictures look like the one above.
The next day,
in natural light,
I get the next pictures.
Color temperature is natural.
I hate to say it,
but thanks, Rachael.
I just choked a bit.
This was truly wonderful.
I loved each and every flavor
and the resulting combination of flavors
brought this to a whole different level.
And the corn tortillas were like none I've ever had.
And I didn't just thank Rachael Ray for the corn tortillas.
I own them.
That looks delicious! Not one of her 30 minute meals I'm guessing!
ReplyDeleteHi, Beth,
ReplyDeleteIt was delish! as RayRay says, but it took me a tad over 30 minutes.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Rosie
This recipe really needs a lot of time and effort to prepare. But it looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteDining table, It really didn't take that long to make and the process was quite soothing. And then you have that lovely salsa verde to use in other dishes.
ReplyDeleteAw, come on Rosie, learn to pat those tortillas out by hand. You don't need no steenking press.
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to know what the inside of this place looks like. Get some interior shots next time!
ReplyDeleteEnglish Bulldog Puppies