Green Enchilada Sauce
... and what to do with it.
I love enchiladas in every shape, color and variety. I also love making them. The green variety is always what I make at home. In previous newsletters, I have shared how I turn jars of salsa verde form Trader Joes into enchiladas - which is delicious. But this week I found myself with green frying peppers, poblanos, and tomatillos from the farmer’s market. My brain instantly went to enchiladas. At the bottom of this email I’m sharing my recipe for Green Enchilada Sauce. Paid subscribers can access it. It makes enough sauce to make 1 batch of enchiladas for about 4-6 people.
Enchilada Bake
I recently has a recipe development assignment that tasked me with developing a recipe for an enchilada bake. Which is, admittedly, a very inauthentic take on enchiladas. Basically, it’s all the things you would find in enchiladas without the rolling of each tortillas. It’s utterly delicious and a great use of the green enchilada sauce that is at the bottom of this email. It serves 4-6 and here’s what I did:
Browned 1 pound of ground meat in a pan (I happen to try out bison becuase they were selling it at the farmers market. It was delicious. But beef, chicken or pork is perfect)
Drained and rinsed 2 cans black beans
Opened a 6 ounce bag of shredded cheese
Toasted 12 corn tortillas over a gar burner until just charred on the edges, then cut them in half.
Set aside some sour cream and sliced radishes for garnish. Sliced avocado would also be lovely.
Layered in a large baking dish or pan: one third enchilada sauce. half the tortillas. half the beef. half the beans. half the cheese. one third enchilada sauce. remaining half the tortillas. remaining half the beef. remaining half the beans. remaining third enchilada sauce. remaining half the cheese. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes, until melty. Garnish with sour cream, sliced radish and chopped cilantro.
What I’m Loving This Week:
Figs: I’m incredibly lucky: my next door neighbor has about 35 fig trees and he lets me just pick as I please. Before I tried his figs, I was pretty sire I wasn’t a fig fan. Turns out I just really love figs that are ripened on the tree. Spoiled. My goodness are they good!
Big Little Recipes by Emma Laperruque: I recently discovered this cookbook because Emma and I live in the same town. I write a monthly food column in our local magazine and for this month I’m featuring one of her recipes. Last week I made her Walnut Flourless Brownie out of the book. Well, YUM. The whole food is recipe that make the most out of minimal ingredients. It’s great and these brownies alone are worth buying the book.
Makes 5 cups (enough for 1 enchilada recipe)
8 oz. green chilies (a mix of sweet frying peppers, cubanelles, poblanos and jalapeños - depending on how spicy you like)