Thursday, April 30, 2015

Salsa Verde Chicken, Pepper Jack cheese and Sour cream Enchiladas



Happy day before Friday! Today I am sharing one of my absolutely most favorite recipe of all time, Salsa Verde Pepper Jack cheese Enchiladas with Sour Cream. Perfect timing for Cinco de Mayo. A neighbor of mine, when we lived in California, showed me how to make authentic Salsa Verde. This is it, minus the onions. What I love about this salsa verde, isthe fresh flavors of the cilantro, the heat from the Serrano chilis, (which are spicier than  jalepenos), and the tanginess from tomatillos.


Sure you can cut time by using a jar of Salsa Verde, but the taste of the homemade salsa is amazing, it seems to be more cohesive, bringing all the elements of the enchiladas together. I've noticed with jar salsa, that it doesn't really soak into the enchiladas, just sits on top. I don't add any water to the salsa verde, I don't want my enchiladas, too soft and mushy, but you can add a Tbls. at a time, until the salsa is to the consistency you prefer. You can blend the cilantro in the salsa to make it greener. I added my chopped cilantro to the salsa (making it easier for my children who don't like the cilantro, to pick it out)!


These have been a great tradition in our family to make. My daughter Lindsay likes to get in their and help me shred the chicken, stack the enchiladas, add the filling, and if she doesn't eat all the cheese by the end, she loves to top the enchiladas with the shredded cheese. 

Here are the enchiladas I am preparing by rolling them. It is a little more time consuming, and I'll be honest, there is more filling used in the stacked version. If you are looking to stretch your filling and make more enchiladas, than rolling is the way to go.  This time I only used one Serrano chili in the Salsa Verde, and added Spicy Pepper Jack cheese. My husband likes his enchiladas a little spicier, so I sliced a fresh Serrano chili and garnished his plate extra special!




Salsa Verde Chicken Pepper Jack cheese and Sour cream Enchiladas
For the Salsa Verde:
1 1/2 pounds Tomatillos
1-3 Serrano chili peppers
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 tsp. salt (for water) + 1 tsp. salt (for salsa)
1 Tbls. canola oil
1 Tbls. roasted garlic or 3 garlic cloves
For the Enchiladas:
1 Rotisserie chicken, shred the 2 chicken breast
2 cups Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese
2 cups Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
12-18 corn tortillas
Avocado, for garnish
cilantro, for garnish
Serrano chili, for garnish
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Peel the tomatillos from their husks. In a saucepan, add the tomatillos, depending on how spicy you want your salsa verde, I only put 1 Serrano chili, but you can add as many as you want, and this time I used minced garlic, but you can add the garlic cloves to the pot. Add enough water to cover, add salt and boil. Just until the tomatillos turn a bright green color, and the tomatillo skin, starts to blister off. Don't over cook, or the tomatillos will become too mushy, and very pale in color.
3. In a blender, combine the tomatillos, chili,  minced garlic or whole garlic cloves, salt and oil together, and puree. If you prefer chunky do not puree until smooth. You could also add the cilantro to the blender, it will give it a deeper green color. I add it to the puree to give it texture. My salsa, may be a paler shade of green, but for some of my children who don't like cilantro, they can easily pick it out, that way!
4. To the bottom of my pan, I spread about 1/4 cup of the salsa, so the bottoms of the enchiladas, soak it up, instead of sticking to the bottom.
5. My nana taught me this trick, you can soften the tortillas, by frying them lightly in a sauté pan filled with canola oil, and cook on low heat for 5 seconds per side, transfer to a plate, and with paper towels, drain the grease off...
OR
You can make extra salsa, heat it up in a sauce pan, and dip each tortilla whole in the warmed salsa.
6. Combine the two cheeses.
7. I roll my tortillas, filling them with a little chicken, cheese and 1/2 Tbls. of sour cream each. Gentle roll them up, do not over fill. Leave seam side down.
OR
8. You can stack the tortillas, 6 for first layer, 6 for middle layer, and 6 for top layer.
9. Between layers, I use chicken, cheese and dollops of sour cream.
10. Cover enchiladas with remaining salsa verde, (should be about 1 cup), and remaining cheese ( should also be about 1-2 cups, depending on if you like a ton of cheese).
11. Bake in oven for 15 minutes, until warmed through and cheese is slightly browned and bubbly.
12. Garnish with avocado, more cilantro, and since I used only 1 Serrano chili, I garnished my husband with another fresh Serrano chili, since he likes his enchiladas on the spicy side.
They are Muy Delicioso!!
Have a great week! Until next time!

21 comments:

  1. Oh yum!!! I have never actually used a tomatillo for anything. Only salsa verde from a jar. But I would like to do it sometime, and this would be a hit with my husband. I will have to pin it to try!!

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  2. These look amazing! Would you believe I've never made enchiladas before? So happy to have a good-looking recipe to try! Pinning!

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  3. We used to make something very similar to this. It was amazing!!!!

    www.journalofjanedoe.com

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  4. Christine, this is fantastic! I love Mexican type food in any form or fashion, so this really caught my eye. Perfect for today, Cinco de Mayo! :) Thank you for sharing it with us at Treasure Box Tuesday! Pinning!

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  5. Hiya, This looks absolutely amazing - Im one of the co-hosts on Wordless Wednesdays.

    Pop over to http://prettyshabbyuk.blogspot.co.uk/

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  6. Looks delicious! Thanks for Hosting at the Oh My Heartsie Girl Wordless Wednesday! I look forward to seeing you again next week!
    Mary
    Jingle Jangle Jungle

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  7. Hi Christine, this recipe looks wonderful, I have yet to try Tomatillos.
    Thanks for Co-hosting with The Oh My Heartsie Girls this month!
    Wishing you a wonderful day!
    Karren
    xoxo

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  8. Yummay, looks amazing! My husband would absolutely love this! Have a fantastic day Evija x

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  9. Your little kitchen helper is precious and this is a fantastic dish. We will just love your Salsa Verde Chicken. Hope you are having a great week and thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

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  10. Looks devine! Our daughter's look about the same age (mine is nearly 9, going on 20...). She is my meat loaf mixer girl in the kitchen. Love to get the kids involved with the dinner prep!
    Stopping by as a fellow WW co-host!
    www.dailydiyer.blogspot.com
    -Shannon
    The Daily DIYer

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  11. This looks great! We like all things hot and spicy at our house!

    Shellie
    www.thefabjourney.com

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  12. This is something we would really enjoy, since it has a nice kick to it. We are all about spices over here. Thanks for sharing and co-hosting WW.

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  13. What an awesome mix with avocado and chili !
    I hope you'll find the time to link up with us this week:
    http://milaslittlethings.com/2015/05/idea-box-thursday-link-party-9.html

    xx
    Mila

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  14. looks delicious...and it will be great to cook it together with the kids :)...bon appetit..

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  15. What a yummy looking recipes. Thanks for the photos too. Photos always help me when it comes to recipes. It's been a pleasure co-hosting with you this week.

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  16. Just stopping by again to let you know you're one of my features at Snickerdoodle Sunday this week! Can't wait to make these with my own helpers! :)

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  17. Looks so tasty - Thanks for linking up to Pin Worthy Wednesday, I have pinned your post to the Pin Worthy Wednesday Pinterest Board.

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  18. Yum! I love Salsa Verde Chicken. Will have to try out your recipe. Thanks for sharing on Merry Monday.

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  19. I’m loving this! I’m so impressed by your masterpiece. Pinned and tweeted. We appreciate you taking the time to party with us. I hope to see you on tonight at 7. Happy Monday! Lou Lou Girls

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