Daring Cooks' Challenge May 2010: Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchiladas

Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.

I was really debating on whether or not to do the May challenge because our little family has a lot going on this month (all good things), but I was really interested in making my very own enchilada sauce. I’ve made enchiladas before, but I’ve always purchased canned sauce or asked my mother-in-law to make me her delicious enchilada sauce (she’s a remarkable cook), so at the very last moment I decided that I would cut the recipe in half and take the challenge. We live in Southern California and tomatillos and Anaheim chilies are never hard to find, but I did realize that I have rarely actually used either one of those ingredients in my cooking, so I was really excited to try this recipe. The enchiladas turned out really good, the sauce was delicious and a lot easier to make then I expected and mild enough for JD to sample. I really enjoyed this challenge and plan to make my enchilada sauce from scratch from now on!

Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (I used baked chicken breast, shredded)
• 3 Tbs. olive oil; more as needed
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 12 small (5-1/2- to 6-inch) corn tortillas
• Green Chile Sauce, heated
• 6 oz. grated Monterey Jack cheese (I used Mexican blend shredded cheese)
• Chopped fresh cilantro and sour cream for garnish (optional)

Heat a gas grill to medium high or build a medium-hot charcoal fire. Coat the chicken with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Grill the chicken breasts until just cooked through, 4 to 5 min. per side. When cool enough to handle, slice into thin strips. Heat the oven to 450°F.

In a small skillet, heat the 3 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat until very hot (dip the edge of a tortilla in to check; it should sizzle straight away). Using tongs, set a tortilla in the hot oil and cook until soft and lightly brown on each side, 15 to 20 seconds per side. Transfer to paper towels to cool and drain. If the pan gets dry, add another tablespoon of oil.

In a baking dish large enough to accommodate four separate stacks of tortillas (a 10x15-inch Pyrex dish is good), ladle a thin layer of sauce. Lay four tortillas in the dish and ladle about 1/2 cup of sauce over them. Divide half the chicken among the first layer of tortillas and top with another 1/2 cup of sauce and a third of the cheese. Stack on another four tortillas, and top with the rest of the chicken, then more sauce and another third of the cheese. Finish with a third tortilla layer, and top with the remaining sauce and cheese. Bake until the sauce has thickened somewhat, about 20 min. The edges of the top tortilla in each stack will turn golden, but if they look like they’re drying out too much or burning, occasionally spoon some sauce over them. Let rest for 5 to 10 min. before serving. To serve, transfer each stack with a spatula to a dinner plate. Spoon any sauce left in the baking dish over the stacks and sprinkle with chopped cilantro if you like.