Enchiladas Callejeras with Chicken and Mexican Chorizo

From the shredded chicken inside to the sauce-soaked pan-fried tortillas and the Mexican chorizo hash on top, these enchiladas callejeras are too many bites of wonderful to count.

 

One of the things I really, really miss living overseas is Mexican food, or I should properly say Tex-Mex since that’s what I grew up on in Houston, Texas. It’s almost always the first meal out when I go home. And I always order the enchiladas with a crispy taco on the side. That’s why I jumped at the chance to get a copy of Enchiladas - Aztec to Tex-Mex by Cappy Lawton, who currently owns three restaurants in San Antonio, and Chris Waters Dunn, a Nashville songwriter and record producer turned food writer. I could recreate those wonderful meals at home? Yes, please!

Enchiladas - Aztec to Tex-Mex: What started out as a small exploration of enchiladas – things enhanced with chili peppers – became a treatise on ALL the enchiladas, from ALL the regions of Mexico and beyond. I hesitate to use the word "definitive" because it is so overused in book reviews and someone is bound to leave a comment about some enchilada their abuela makes that wasn’t covered, but, dang, there’s a lot of information there! The book is divided into three sections covering ingredients, fundamentals and then recipes. Read through the first two before checking out the recipes. You will be so glad you did!

If you’d like to buy your own copy of Enchiladas - Aztec to Tex-Mex, it’s available at Amazon.com <affiliate link or get a signed copy on their website.

I have permission to share the recipe for Enchiladas Callejeras with you today and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Yields 12 enchiladas / Serves 4
Ingredients
For the sauce:
4 guajillo chiles or chiles de árbol, destemmed, deveined, deseeded
10 ancho chiles, destemmed, deveined, deseeded
1 medium white or yellow onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons (18 grams) kosher salt
1 cup (237 ml) olive oil
(This makes way more sauce than you need! Save the leftovers for another dish!)

For the filling:
3 cups or 390 grams cooked, shredded chicken

For the chorizo/vegetable topping:
8 ounces (227 grams) chorizo
1 large Yukon Gold potato, peeled, medium dice
1 large carrot, peeled, medium dice
1⁄2 cup (65 grams) frozen green peas, thawed

For the assembly:
12 corn tortillas, preferably a day old

For the garnishes:
Crema Mexicana
Queso fresco
Avocado slices
Jalapeños en escabeche (pickled)

Method
Cook the diced potato and carrot in salted water until they are just done. I cheated by cutting the potato a little bigger than the carrot so I could pop them all in the same pot.

Now the sauce:
Place the prepared chilies a few pieces at a time on a comal (or iron griddle or skillet) over medium heat and dry roast until fragrant, about 30 seconds per side

Place chilies, onion, garlic, salt, and 4 cups (946ml) hot water in a blender. Let sit for 5 minutes to soften chilies.

Blend at medium speed into a smooth purée. Then, with the blender running, add the olive oil in a slow steady stream and process until emulsified.

Strain the sauce into a pan, then warm over medium heat.

Warm through, taste, and adjust seasoning. Cover and set aside. (No need to keep warm.)

To prepare the chorizo/vegetable topping:
Remove the casing (or cling film if you are using homemade) and crumble the chorizo into a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently to break up the chorizo, until it begins to brown, about 5 minutes.

Add the just cooked potatoes and carrots and gently stir to combine. Cook, gently stirring occasionally, until the edges of the potatoes barely begin to brown.

Remove from heat, stir in the peas, cover, and keep warm.

To assemble the enchiladas:
Gently warm the shredded chicken. Have the topping and garnishes ready and at hand.
Warm 4 individual serving plates.
Heat a 9-inch (23 cm) non-stick sauté pan or pancake griddle over medium-high heat. (The pan with
sauce should be nearby.)

Dip each tortilla in the sauce, making sure it’s well coated.

Place in hot sauté pan, and quickly sear for about 3 seconds per side—just long enough for the sauce to begin to caramelize.

Place 2 tablespoons shredded chicken on the tortilla, fold in half, and place on an individual serving plate.

Wipe the sauté pan with a paper towel and reheat. Repeat the process with the remaining tortillas, slightly overlapping the enchiladas on serving plates, 3 per serving. When the enchiladas are plated, top with a drizzle of crema Mexicana.

Add a generous scoop of the chorizo/vegetable mixture and a sprinkle of queso fresco. Place the avocado slices and jalapeños en escabeche to the side of the enchiladas.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I was sent one copy of Enchiladas - Aztec to Tex-Mex for review purposes.

Yin Yang Cookies #CreativeCookieExchange

Fudgy dark cookie on one side with chewy oatmeal cookie on the other side, these two halves complete or more importantly, complement each other.

This month’s Creative Cookie Exchange theme is love and hearts which started me thinking about what love really is, I mean, beyond the heady first rush and tumble of quick emotions, all the highs and lows that are often the hallmarks of young relationships. I’m talking about the comfortable love that settles in, where you can complete each other’s sentences and anticipate each other’s needs, and still thoroughly enjoy spending time together, laughing, traveling, playing. And that brought to mind yin and yang, the Taoist concept of two halves that together complete wholeness.

I’m not sure that’s something two people can ever truly accomplish, but let me just put it out there that this year, in just a couple of short months, my husband and I will celebrate 30 years of marriage and 32 years of laughing, traveling and playing together. Of raising babies to young women of whom we are most proud, moving about the planet making homes in six of the seven continents and sharing the joy of life with friends and family too numerous to count. We have been so blessed.

Since we are both flawed human beings (Ain't nobody perfect folks!) still growing and learning about each other and life, I will never complete him and he may never complete me. After this many years of experience, I believe that complementing each other seems a much more worthwhile goal anyway. Together, we make a pretty solid team. Just like these cookies. These aren’t traditional cookies for Valentine’s Day but bake them for someone you love anyway.

And just because everyone's thinking it anyway, this scene:

Note: Start early in the day to allow chilling time for the two doughs.

Ingredients for about 3 dozen cookies
For the yin:
1/2 cup, firmly packed, or 100g brown sugar
3/4 cup or 150g granulated sugar
1/3 cup or 75g butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup or 125g flour
3/4 cup or 60g unsweetened extra dark cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the yang:
1 cup or 200g granulated sugar
1/2 cup or 115g butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups or 156g flour
1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 95g uncooked quick rolled oats

To decorate: handful each white and semi-sweet chocolate chips
Useful tool: 5 in or 13cm length of stiff wire for marking where to cut the cookie dough

Method
For the yin dough:
Cream your butter with the two sugars.

Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat again.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the mixing bowl. Mix well until thoroughly combined.

Roll into a thick log about 2 inches or 5cm in diameter and cover tightly with cling film. Put the dough log in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour.

For the yang dough:
Cream your butter with the sugar.

Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat again.

Sift in your flour, baking powder and salt and mix well.

Add in the oats and keep mixing until thoroughly combined.

Roll into a thick log about 2 inches or 5cm in diameter and cover tightly with cling film. Put the dough log in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour.

Try to get your logs the same approximate size

While the dough is chilling, bend your wire around the neck of a bottle, first one way and then the other, to make a tool the approximate outline of the division between the yin and yang.

Once the dough is well chilled, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Prepare your cookie sheet by greasing it with non-stick spray or lining it with parchment paper or a silicone liner.

Putting the two together 
Slice your two cookie dough logs into even slices. Use your wire tool to press down on the slices to mark where to cut them into two. You can, of course, do this free hand. But the pieces might not match up as neatly.

Use the tip of a sharp knife to cut each slice apart. Fit them back together, one half light, the other half dark, pressing gently to make them one on the prepared cookie sheet.

Decorate each with one white and one dark chocolate chip.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes or until just done for chewy cookies.

Leave to cool for a few minutes in the pan, then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

These would also be pretty cool for Chinese New Year, another holiday coming upon us shortly. Many thanks to Deepti of Bakingyummies for handling the hosting responsibilities this month!

Check out all the other interpretations of love and hearts from my fellow Creative Cookie Exchange bakers this month.

• Aloha Linzer Cookies by All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Cheese Hearts by Bakingyummies
• Chocolate Valentine Sugar Cookies by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies by Flours and Frostings
• Double Chocolate Spritz Heart Cookies by The Spiced Life
• Happy Heart Lemon Cookies by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• LoftHouse Cookies by Oven Delights
• Meringue Hearts by Noshing With The Nolands
• Nutella Raspberry Cookies by Upstate Ramblings
• Pomegranate, Rose and White Chocolate Cookies by A Shaggy Dough Story
• Sour Cream Pecan Sandies by Magnolia Days
• Stained Glass Heart Cookies by A Baker's House
• Sweet Heart Cookies by 2 Cookin' Mamas
• Yin Yang Cookies by Food Lust People Love

We get together once a month to bake cookies with a common theme or ingredient so Creative Cookie Exchange is a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts at The Spiced Life). We post the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!

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Parma-wrapped Fish with Mediterranean Sauce #FishFridayFoodies

Add extra flavor to your fish by pan-frying it wrapped in Parma ham, then sit it on a succulent bed of spicy tomatoes and olives, perhaps with pasta underneath, for a beautiful and satisfying meal.

I’m not sure if the two things go hand in hand for everyone, but we are beach people and we love seafood. There's nothing we enjoy more than traveling somewhere where the catch is fresh and putting it straight on the grill or into a pan! In fact, our favorite fish dish, ceviche, doesn’t even require heat!

So when my friend, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm, asked me if I’d like to join a group she was forming, with the aim of putting more seafood on our tables in the name of health, I thought, sure, and yes, please! We do already eat quite a lot of seafood here - easily once or twice a week – so I’m looking forward to seeing all the great recipes my fellow bloggers will share for Fish Friday Foodies.

The Parma-wrapped fish in this particular recipe is so good that we had it twice in one week! Once one its own, and then with this chunky sauce.

Ingredients to serve two
For the fish:
Sea salt
Black pepper
2 thick sustainable white fish fillets, skinless, 7 oz or 200g each
4 slices Parma ham
Olive oil

For the sauce:
1 small red chili pepper
1/2 large purple onion
1 large clove garlic
2 large tomatoes
Olive oil
Sea salt
Black pepper
1/2 cup, sliced, or 65g black olives
Good handful fresh basil leaves – keep aside the tiniest ones for garnish

To serve:
About 4 oz or 113g dry pasta of your choice, cooked as instructed on package.

Method
Mince your garlic and chili pepper and chop your onions and tomatoes.

In a large non-stick saucepan, sauté the garlic, pepper and onion in a good glug of olive oil, over a low flame, until soft.

Add in the chopped tomatoes and give them a good sprinkle of salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft just starting to break down.

While the tomatoes cook, season your fish fillets with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then wrap them in the Parma ham.

Add the olives to the saucepan and cook for another 5 or 10 minutes.

Pile the chunky sauce into a bowl and set aside.

This is also a good time to boil and drain your pasta, according to package instructions!

Drizzle some more olive oil into the saucepan and turn the heat up. Cook the wrapped fish for about 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through on the inside and crispy on the outside.

Actual times will vary depending on the thickness of your fillets.

While the fish is cooking, stack your basil leaves one on top of the other and roll them tightly, then slice them finely. This is what the fancy chefs call chiffonade.

When the fish is done, remove it to a warm place and return the sauce to the saucepan and reheat it till bubbling. Remove from the heat and stir through the basil.

Divide the pasta between two shallow bowls, spoon on some sauce, then perch the fish on top. Drizzle with a little good quality olive oil. Add a bit of the sauce and tiny basil leaves for garnish, if you have some.

Enjoy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of every month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517@gmail.com.

Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

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