A Farewell Fiesta: the enchilada recipe

Last week I hosted a little dinner party with some friends before my departure to Boston. I've always enjoyed cooking mexican food, and I have trouble finding a restaurant that creates the flavors I can create in my own kitchen. Last week I served a crazy concoction that I call a baked enchilada. I basically use an enchilada filling, but no sauce, and I bake them until the tortillas crisp on the outside. I can't stand the smothered-in-cheese- soft -shell enchilada in restaurants- it just doesn't have the zip I crave.

I also serve grilled corn and a black bean salad on the side or rice, and usually I'd mix up some guacamole and salsa, too. Ryan will mix up some of his insane margaritas, and voila. One delicious meal.

If you, like I, are seeking a different kind of enchilada, here is the recipe!!

Ingredients- makes 8 enchiladas- eyeball the veggies, about a fistful or two of each.

cilantro

tomato

red onion

green/red/yellow pepper

jalepeno pepper- 1/2 to a whole, seeded or unseeded, depending on spice preferences

2-3 cloves garlic

cumin

cayenne

recaito or mexican seasoning

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 small container sour cream- 8 oz

salt

pepper

1/2 lime

1 bag mexican shredded cheese

chicken cutlets or 2 breasts

tortillas

1. Saute the chicken in butter until cooked just past pink. Set aside to cool.

2. Preheat oven to...350

3. Dice all the vegetables into small pieces

4. shred the chicken with your hands. Mix the vegetables, seasonings, cream of chicken, and 1/2 the sour cream together. Mix well, add in 3/4 of the bag of cheese.

5. butter two baking pans. fill the enchiladas and wrap them.

6. bake for 40 minutes, put remaining cheese on top, bake additional 5 minutes.

Sides:

Black Bean Salad-

You need to make this one a few hours in advance and let it chill. Light and refreshing, a healthier alternative to refried beans.

1 can black beans- drained and rinsed thoroughly.

jalepeno

cilantro

1/2 lime

1 clove garlic- use sparingly and to taste

red/green/yellow pepper, very finely diced

red onion- finely chopped

tomatoes- tiny as possible

cumin

recaito

corn kernels

salt & pepper- you're going to want a healthy pinch of salt here!

Mix all ingredients together, tasting to adjust the amount of lime and cilantro. Chill until ready to serve.

Hope you enjoy the fiesta- maybe later this week I'll reveal the secrets of Ryan's margaritas. It may or may not involve a lot of lime and booze...