Enchiladas Verdes

We have the sauce, and now it's time to put it all together.

You'll need a cooked chicken.  We poached ours with onion, a bunch of cilantro and Mexican herbs.  I have to say it turned out a bit dry.  Barefoot Contessa always roasts the cut up chicken with the bones and skin attached, and it seems to yield moist flavorful chicken (350˚ for 35-40 min).  Or you could go the easy way out and buy a rotisserie chicken.  That would make this a pretty simple meal to make actually.

Anyway, here's our chicken coming out of the poaching liquid:

Hello my friend, did you have a nice soak?

I know, I'm insane.

Pick and shred that chicken.  I moistened ours with a bit of the broth, which really helped things.  The dryness of the chicken really had no effect on the final dish.

Now get your little assembly line ready to go.  Put some of your salsa verde at the bottom of your baking dish.  In a moment of irony, these chicken enchiladas are being baked in a vessel decorated with a rooster.  I felt bad for the bird, but it's the best pan for the job.

Heat up a small skillet with canola oil about 1/4 inch deep. 

Now take a tortilla and give it a little fry.  You don't want these to get brown, this is about softening them up, not making hard tacos. (That's another post...)

Now fill it with some chicken;

And roll it up and put it in your dish. 

I had a lovely helper, Wenonah.

When they're ready to go cover them with more salsa and put them in a 400˚ oven for about 20 minutes or until they start to get bubbly.

Then cover them with cheese.  We used this cotija which is kind of like unaged Mexican parmesan.  Ricotta salata would be a good substitute, or feta.  Cotija is the best though.

Pop them back into the oven until they're brown and delicious. 

Eat topped with sour cream.  It's a must.

Playing,
Meredith