Thanks to TLN I can finally catch episodes of ‘Mexico – One Plate at a Time‘ again. It’s been two years since PBS stopped carrying it on our local affiliate and I’ve missed my weekly or twice weekly looks at authentic Mexican food. After a couple weeks of catching up I found myself, once again, inspired to get cooking, so last night I pulled out my associated Rick Bayless cookbook and sought out some enchiladas to create. I settled on Enchiladas Suizas, typically filled with roasted, pulled chicken and topped with a sauce of tomatoes, green chiles, and cream. Why not?

I coated chicken thighs in salt, pepper, and ancho chile powder and started cooking them in a cast-iron skillet while getting some onions sauteeing in bacon fat. That’s right, I don’t mess around.

Onions in bacon fat

Once they were translucent I hiked the heat up until everything started sizzling and browning, then dumped in a blended mixture of whole, roasted tomatoes and three roasted jalapeno peppers. I stirred this mixture for almost 20 straight minutes until it had reduced and darkened in colour, then added in some chicken stock and let simmer for another 15 minutes. Finally, a dousing of whipping cream to make it authentic.

Roasted tomatoes and green chiles

From here it was assembly time: Dip tortillas in green chile tomato sauce mixture, fill with pulled chicken combined with green chile tomato sauce, roll into enchilada, add to oven-safe container, top with yet more green chile tomato sauce, top all that with grated old white cheddar, then oven bake and serve with cilantro on top. For such a simple dish with only a few ingredients I was surprised how good it tasted, nothing fancy and no weird techniques, just honest food cooked slowly. Thoroughly enjoyed.

Enchiladas Suizas