We have a great fondness for Tex Mex food in this house, especially enchiladas.  Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas are a real favourite!

 

Whenever we have leftover roast chicken, turkey, pork, or even beef, I will often make enchiladas or tacos or something Tex Mex with it.  

In fact when my children were growing up if I didn't make Turkey Enchiladas after Christmas, there was hell to pay! I think they loved them more than the Turkey dinner itself! 

 

That was merely a means to an end and the end was . . . Enchiladas!

 

Cooking Tex Mex has always been a bit of a challenge here in the UK as you can't always get the ingredients you need.  

I am happy to saw that is improving somewhat, which is great. You still can't get canned green chilies however, but I live in hope.

 

In the meantime I use fresh chillies and roast them myself. They are somewhat expensive however to buy. 

I keep telling myself that one year I am going to grow my own and then roast the lot and pop them into the freezer!

  

This was not a good year for that  . . .  what with virus and all  . . . getting seeds for the garden were next to impossible to find if at all.  

I did get some for parsley, basil, chives and lettuce.  But unfortunately the slugs have eaten everything but my chives! C'est la vie!

 

Back when I was raising a family I used to make large trays of Enchiladas.  Now there is only the two of us, its just not practical. 

Oh sure you can freeze them, but we have them so rarely it just makes sense to downsize these old favourite recipes of mine.

 

So yes, this is a small batch recipe for Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas!  And let me tell you, they are sooooooooome good!!

 

Traditionally I think they use corn tortillas for enchiladas, but corn tortillas are also something you have trouble getting ahold of here in the UK.  

I generally use flour tortillas and we are okay with that.

 

I use the Gran Luchito Green Enchilada sauce. It works perfectly. 

 It has a nice zippy flavour and is chock full of fresh tomatillos, jalapenos, garlic and coriander. Its the real deal, and goes beautifully with chicken.

  

1 jar of it is the perfect size for these. 

 If you were making a larger amount you would need more.   I really love their products.  They are bang on when it comes to Mexican flavours.

 

I make the filling with plenty of chopped cooked chicken, grated cheese, some spices and seasonings and of course a bit of that sauce. 

  

The rest of the sauce gets layered on the bottom of the filled tortillas and then drizzled over top before baking. Of course I scatter cheese on top as well. 

 Oh boy but these are some good served hot with sour cream and a splash of green tabasco!

 

I used street taco sized tortillas for these. They are only 6 inches in diameter and work perfectly when it comes to feeding two people on their own!  These always go down a real treat! 

 

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The other day I made us some tasty Mexican Scrambled Eggs for our lunch/supper.  We both enjoy Tex Mex flavours, and do enjoy a meal such as this every now and then. Quick each and incredibly delicious as well as being quite colourful! 

 

I decided to make my own tortillas for this.  I have a recipe of my own that I have been making for many years now. I started doing this back in the 1980's when mexican ingredients were not all that readily available.  You can get that recipe here.

 

My family loved my enchiladas and I started making my own tortillas so that I could make them enchiladas from my leftover turkey and other roasts. I had seen this recipe however on Pinterest from Cafe Sucre Farine.

 

I really wanted to try it.  They looked really good and I know that blog has a great reputation for producing good food.

  

I decided to use their recipe to make tortillas to serve with my Mexican Eggs.

    

The recipe was really easy to follow, although I always have had a problems rolling out perfect circles no matter what method I try to use.  I suspect that only a tortilla press will give me perfect circles.  These tortillas however, excellent. I highly recommend.  I have shared the British measurements here.

 

They were perfect to serve with the Mexican Scrambled Eggs.  I like toast with my eggs. I am an egg and toast person.

 

Mexican Scrambled Eggs however deserve a different kind of bread to accompany them and soft flour tortillas are the way to go!

 

This is the perfect lunch dish (or breakfast) for two people, with plenty of colour and flavour.

 

Two kinds of peppers, red and green  . . .  chopped red onion  . . .  a bit of pickled jalapeno for heat and some chopped fresh tomato. I used quartered cherry tomatoes.  Softened and mixed with perfectly scrambled eggs.

  

I like to serve them with some jack cheese melted on top, a dollop of sour cream and then a garnish of chopped spring onions or chives.  These were fabulous.

 

I don't think you can go wrong if you are looking for a nice light breakfast or lunch for two. I would even serve these as a light supper with a salad on the side.  These beautiful tortillas also really added a special touch! 

 

 

 

One thing that my family always wanted me to do after we cooked a holiday beast (turkey) was to make enchiladas with the leftovers. I have to say that it was one of their favourite leftover meals. My original recipe I clipped out of a Sunset magazine back in the 1980's and I have to say it was pretty basic and simple.

  

Cooking Tex Mex over here has always been a bit of a challenge. When my friend Eliza came over from Arizona one time, she brought all kinds of tex mex stuff with her.  We made Tamales, Cheese Enchiladas, Mexican Chocolate Tart, and Tacos.  She had green enchilada sauce for the cheese enchiladas, something which I never thought I would see over here in the UK, until now! 

 

TADA!  I discovered this on Ocado last week.  (Ocado is an online supermarket).  I bought myself a few jars and some of the green chili salsa as well!  I  am set to go!

 

Of course I had to make some enchiladas with our leftover turkey from last week! 

  

I started by creating a delicious turkey filling. You could use leftover chicken or pork if you wanted to. I shredded it and then added a few ingredients to it.  

 

I sauteed some onion and chopped green jalapeno chilies in a bit of butter and then I added the shredded turkey and some of this Mexican seasoning.  Its quite good.  I like it a lot.  I also added a few other things.

 

Garlic powder (but you could use real garlic), paprika, mild chili powder, salt, pepper and some ground cumin.  Did you know that heating ground cumin in a hot skillet for a few seconds really enhances its flavour?  Its true, and it does!

 

I wanted to add a bit of creaminess and so I added some cream cheese as well and let it all melt and meld together .  That was my filling done.   I don't mind saying it was quite delicious.

  

All I had to do was fill the tortillas then.  I like wheat flour tortillas.  Sometimes I make my own, but more often than not I will buy them for something like this tasty casserole.

 

Six inch tortillas are perfect for this.  I poured some of the green enchilada sauce into the baking dish and then I started filling the tortillas and laying them on top of the sauce.

 

I divided the mixture between 8 tortillas, laying a strip down the centre of each and then sprinkled a heaped TBS of grated Jack cheese on top before rolling them up tightly and laying them next to each other on top of that tasty green enchilada sauce.

 

Once I had them all filled, rolled and tucked into bed, I covered them with a thick blanket of the rest of the green enchilada sauce.

 

And then the rest of the grated Jack cheese  . . .

 

They were then ready to bake and get all scrumptious!  I was practically rubbing my hands together in glee and anticipation.  YES I DO SO LOVE LOVE ENCHILADAS!

 

We enjoyed them hot out of the oven garnished with some sour cream and sliced spring onions, and we were both in Enchilada heaven!

  

Best part I had 6 leftover that I wrapped up tightly and froze for future enjoyment!

 

Turkey Enchiladas are just so tasty.  I remember one year I had made some and had them in the freezer.  My son Anthony had his friend Carly stay overnight and they were sleeping in the basement.  They raided the freezer and ate the enchiladas . . .  Frozen!  If you can believe it!  And as would happen to a very unlucky person my husband wanted to have those enchiladas for supper the next night.  OF course they were no more!  I found the empty tin container underneath the sofa bed when I was stripping it and putting it back together.  My husband was extremely disappointed at his loss and Carly forever became known as Carlita in our house.   At least they enjoyed them, and, really  . . .  isn't that what good cooking is all about!   You really need to try these enchiladas, especially if you are a fan of Tex Mex flavours!

 

This is a deliciously simple supper dish that I have had in my wait queue for a very long time. I don't know why it has taken me so long to post it.  I guess life got in the way! 

 

I enjoy a real love affair with Tex Mex food.  When I first moved over here it was very difficult to find anything Tex Mex, and ingredients to make your own dishes were few and far between. 

 

I used to bring my own chili powder and taco seasoning, etc. back with me when I came back to the UK after Canadian visits.  I learnt to make my own seasoning mixes as well, using what I had to hand.

 

Thankfully it is a lot easier to find Tex Mex ingredients over here nowadays.  I think we have Thomasina Meirs to thank for that.  She won the BBC Master Chef competition back in 2005 and was instrumental in introducing Tex Mex flavours to the UK and the contest with her innovative style and her love of Mexico and its food.

 

Tex Mex ingredients are not as hard to come by these days  . . .  with the exception of canned green chilies and tomatillos.  I still have a hard time finding them.

 

In fact I do my own green chilies.  I buy a bag of green jalapeno chilies every time I shop just about, and roast them and then freeze them in small batches, ready to use when I need them.  There is no substitute for the tomatillos  . . .

 

I make my own Taco Seasoning and my own Enchilada Sauce.  Both are very easily done and I know what is in them, preservative free, and free from any nasty chemicals, additives, etc.  I can also control the amount of salt and sugar.  More  ready made foods contain far too much of both.

 

I make my own flour tortillas also.  You can find my Flour Tortilla Recipe here.   They are very easy to make and tastes a bazillion times better than store bought.  At first you might make some rather irregular shaped ones, but with time you will get better.  Of course you could use a Tortilla press, if you are lucky enough to have one.  I am not.  I simply roll the dough into balls and then roll it out into thin rounds with a rolling pin.

 

This recipe today is like stacked Enchiladas I guess   . . . with separate layers of re fried beans, enchilada sauce and cheese  . . .

 

interspersed with turkey taco meat. You can use ground beef if you want.  We prefer turkey.  For me its a texture thing. For Todd it is a case of eating what's put in front of you, lol.

 

After spending 15 years on his own before we got married, he is just happy to have someone who cooks and does it well.  His meals are never boring.

 

You layer up the beans and the taco meat in the tortillas, along with the cheese and enchilada sauce, finishing with a final layer of enchilada sauce and cheese on top . . . after that it is an easy bake in the oven until the flavours meld together and the cheese melts and its all heated through perfectly . . .

  

I like to sprinkle some chopped olives and spring onions on top when they are done.  I cut them into wedges and serve with up with either additional warm enchilada sauce (OR salsa) and some sour cream to dollop on top.  A salad on the side also goes very well!

 

These are just so, so, SO good!  I hope you will try them out and like them as much as we do!

Up Tomorrow:  Homestyle Baked Haddock