Tasty Enchiladas/Enchiladas Sabrosas

“I love comfort food.  I love food! Mexican food is one of the many types of food that my family loves and I’ve always eaten.  Thanks to my abuelita (grandmother in English) Ofelia my step-dad has the Mexican blood flowing through his veins. And it shows in a lot of his cooking. So it’s no wonder that everytime we discuss where to eat my dad is always saying, “Mexican!!

Here in Bogotá, there aren’t many options for Mexican food.  There’s your run-of-the-mill restaurant that has the tacos and burritos but it just doesn’t say home for me. So I decided to make some real HOMEMADE enchiladas.  I was going to make the tortillas from scratch too, but was pushed for time. Thankfully my husband loved it, although he’s not a fan of Mexican food. Can you believe that? I know, I almost cried when he told me that, but 3 minutes later he was asking if I had made more. *The beans in the picture are frijoladas that my husband made (his personal recipe) and the yellow rice was my creation as well.

 

Ingredients:

1lb chicken breast

thyme

rosemary

salt and pepper

4 tortillas

For the Salsa:

4-6 roma tomatoes

1 large onion (red or yellow)

cilantro

For the cheese sauce:

1 cup milk

1 cup white cheese (preferrably a spanish type of cheese)

salt/pepper

2 teaspoons cornstarch (or flour) to thicken

 

Directions:

1. Preaheat oven 375ºF/175ºC
2. On medium-high heat bring a large soup pot with the chicken breast to a boil. Add your seasonings to the water.
3. Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove it from the pot and let it rest.
4. While the chicken rests, take your tomatoes and cut them into small pieces along with the onions. Place into a mixing bowl.
5. Finely chop your cilantro and add it to the onion/tomato mix.
6. Bring to a boil the milk in a medium saucepan reserving 1/4 cup to mix with the flour. Once boiling lower the heat and add the cheese. Then mix the remaining milk and flour and pour into the pot.
7. Start by assembling your enchiladas by placing the chicken and salsa onto the tortillas. Drizzle with a little bit of the cheese sauce.
8. In a small dish, pour half the cheese sauce onto the bottom of the dish.  Roll up your tortillas and lay them in the cheese sauce in the dish.
9. Drizzle the rest of the cheese sauce on top of the enchiladas.
10. Bake for 10-15 until the tortillas turn golden brown.
11. Sprinkle some of the remaining salsa on the enchiladas and serve.

*You can cut down on cooking time by purchasing pre-cooked chicken breasts and slicing it into small pieces instead of cooking a whole chicken breast*