Chicken Enchiladas Smothered in Sour Cream Sauce and Borracho Beans

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This classic Mexican meal is a great addition to any day!  These delicious enchiladas that are filled with seasoned shredded chicken and topped with sour cream sauce, pairs wonderfully with borracho beans.  Both of these recipes come with their fair share of work, but the result is well worth it!

Ingredients for borracho beans:

• 1 pound of pinto beans (the kind that you can buy in a bag that are dry and uncooked)
• 1 small sweet onion
• 1 fresh jalapeno
• 1 1/2 teaspoon jarred garlic (3 cloves minced)
• 2 small roma tomatoes
• 4 strips of cooked bacon, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon bacon drippings
• 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
• 3/4 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 12 ounces chicken broth

Steps:

Empty bag of dry pinto beans into a colander, and rinse beans thoroughly.

Pour 8 cups of water into a large stock pot.

Bring the water to a boil.

Pour the beans into the boiling water, and reduce heat to a simmer.

Simmer beans for 2 hours, adding hot water if needed (if water level gets too low).

After 2 hours drain the beans in a colander and rinse well with cool water.

While the beans are cooking, cook the bacon.

Place the cooked bacon strips on a plate with a paper towel on it.

Pour 1 tablespoon of drippings into a glass container and save for later.

When bacon has cooled, crumble 4 slices into a small bowl and save for later.

Use a food processor or blender to puree the tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno together.

Add the salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, crumbled bacon, bacon drippings, chili powder, and garlic to the pureed vegetables.

Pour cooked and rinsed pinto beans into a stock pot.

Add the vegetable mixture to the beans, then pour in the chicken broth.  Mix well.

Simmer over low-medium heat, covered, for 2 1/2 hours.  Stir occasionally.


Ingredients for chicken enchiladas:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shreaded
• 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 8 ounces of sour cream
• 1 can of original rotel
• grated cheddar cheese
• canola oil
• 12 corn tortillas

Steps:

Boil the chicken breasts in a large stock pot with enough water to cover the chicken by 1 1/2".  Boil over low heat for 40 minutes.

While the chicken is boiling, combine the sour cream, soup, and rotel together in a sauce pan.  Mix well.

Heat the sour cream mixture over low heat, stirring often.

When the chicken is done boiling, remove from water and place on a cutting board to cool.

Once the chicken has cooled enough to be touchable (20-30 minutes), pull apart the chicken shredding it with your fingers.

Place the shredded chicken into a pot.

Pour a mixture of 1/2 cup water and taco seasoning over the chicken.

Heat over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally to cover shredded chicken with seasoning.

Cook until water has evaporated leaving the chicken covered in seasoning.

While the chicken is cooking, pour 1-1 1/2 tablespoon of canola oil into a skillet, and heat over medium heat.

Once the oil is hot, fry the corn tortillas for 30 seconds on each side (this will make the tortillas easy to roll without breaking).

 


















Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a glass baking dish, cover the bottom with 1/3 cup sour cream sauce.

Spread a teaspoon of sour cream sauce onto a tortilla.

Add chicken and cheese.

Place each rolled tortilla into the glass baking dish.

Sprinkle a small amount of cheese onto of the enchiladas, and smother with sour cream sauce.

Bake in pre-heated oven for 30-40 minutes.

Serve this meal with your delicious borracho beans, rice, guacamole, and chips.

Enjoy!
      ~ Chef Megs

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Sour cream not your style?  Check out my recipe for cheesy chicken enchiladas topped with a homemade red enchilada sauce.

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Chef's note: For some more enchilada inspiration, please visit this great blog to see Enchiladas Guadalajara Style

Lechon Asado con plátanos--Cuban Pork Roast With Plantains

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This dish was inspired by the meal that Chef Matt enjoyed in Key West at El Meson De Pepe (full review for this wonderful restaurant can be found at The Goode Life .)

Fried sweet plantains and yellow rice compliment this Cuban Pork Roast perfectly!

Lechon Asado is a Cuban pork roast that has been marinated to make it juicy and tender.  The roast will take 24 hours to marinade, so prepare in advance.

If you have been searching for a different side dish to go with your meal try these sweet plantains.  They are not difficult to make at all, and they are simply delicious.

Ingredients for Lechon Asado:

• 1 4 pound pork shoulder
• 3 teaspoons jarred garlic (6 cloves, minced)
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup orange juice

Steps:

24 hours before you plan to start cooking your roast ( roast takes between 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours to cook), start preparing the rub, marinade, and the pork.

Combine the garlic, salt, oregano, cumin, pepper, salt, and olive oil.  This can be done by hand using a mortar, or you can accomplish this by putting all of the ingredients for the rub into a blender or hand held food processor.

Remove the roast from the plastic, and with a knife score by cutting slits over the surface.

Thoroughly rub the garlic mixture over the pork making sure that it gets into the slits.

In a gallon sized zip-top bag mix together the lime juice, orange juice, and sliced onion.

Put the seasoned roast into the bag containing the orange juice mixture.

Squeeze all of the air out of the bag, and make sure that it is sealed well.

Massage the roast through the bag for a few minutes, making sure that the juice covers the entire roast.

Place the roast into the refrigerator for 24 hours.  Every couple of hours take the bag out of the refrigerator and flip (in the bag, no need to get your hands messy) and rub the roast for a minute or two, then place back in the refrigerator. 

The following day when you are ready to start cooking, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Take the roast out of the refrigerator.  Remove pork from bag, saving the juice and onions.  I just kept the juice in the bag, resealed it, and kept it in the refrigerator for later.

With a small amount of olive oil, grease a roasting pan.

Place the marinated roast into the pan.

Place into the pre-heated oven on the middle rack.  Make sure to put the pan into the middle of the rack.

Cook the roast for 1 hour, flipping the pork half way through.  Flip the roast by using a large fork. 

After the hour is up, remove the roast from the oven.

Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F.

Once you have removed the roast from the oven, tent the pork roast using heavy tin foil.  Do this by tearing off a piece of foil that is longer than your roasting pan (about 2-3 inches on either side), and fold the foil in half.  Crease the foil and place over the top of the pan.  Crimp the edges so that the foil does not fall off of the pan.

Continue to roast the pork for an additional hour.  Every 15 minutes of the hour, remove the roast from the oven.  Peel back the foil, and using a large fork, flip the roast over, and baste using either a turkey baster or a basting brush.

After the hour is completed remove the roast from the oven, throw away the foil, and flip and baste the roast one final time.

Put the uncovered roast back into the oven, and cook until the internal temperature (use a meat thermometer and insert it into the thickest part of the roast) reaches 165 degrees F (this should take 1 to 1 1/2 hours).  This will make a medium done roast.  However, if you prefer a well done roast (no pink for me please), leave your roast in the oven for an addition 2 to 2 hours and 15 minutes from the time of uncovering, or until pork is not pink when cutting into the center.

Serve this mouth watering pork roast with sweet plantains and yellow rice.


Ingredients for sweet plantains:

• 2 plantains, cut into 1" thick coins
• 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 

Steps:

Cut the ends off of the plantains, then slice the skin lengthwise to peel it off.

After slicing skin, carefully peel back (like a jacket) and remove.

Slice plantains into 1" coins.

Add unsalted butter to a deep skillet, and heat over medium heat.

When the butter has melted, add the plantain coins in a single layer.

Let the plantains fry for 10 minutes (or until the bottoms are golden brown), then flip them with a spatula.

Sprinkle the brown sugar, cinnamon and cloves over the plantains.

Pour the vanilla into the skillet.

Using a spatula cover the plantains with the spices.

Cook until the sugar begins to caramelize.

Serve warm.

                           Enjoy!


~ Chef Megs

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