First time blog and Spicy Avocado Enchiladas

OK, well I'm a product of the 80s, grew up in the 90s, and I vividly remember when getting on the internet meant 20-minute hold times for connection and that no one else could talk on the phone while you spent 2 hours trying to visit three websites. That was back when all I cared about was correctly tying the framing of our bamboo fort and racing the streetlights home.  If you said “blog,” I’d probably have laughed at you and said, “You mean ‘pog,’ like playing pogs?”  Even a couple of years ago, when everyone seemed to be on the blog bandwagon, I yawned at the idea and silently chuckled at the thought of some Cosmo girl sitting in her city loft with her Caramel-Spiced Macchiato blogging away about her Cosmo life.  But here’s the deal:   Since the invention of Pinterest, I’ve come to realize how absolutely wrong I was about blogging, and how wonderful of an invention it is to us moms and wives who long for easy, taste-tested recipes with tutorials and pictures to go along with them!  So that’s what this is about.  It’s a way for me (I’m probably going to be the only reader anyway, and I’m ok with that  ;)  to try out, organize and record recipes that I’ve attempted, what went wrong/right with them, where I got them and how I’ll change them next time.  It’s more fun than the word document I’ve been keeping up with for years, and waaaay more fun than that huge box of barely legible, torn out magazine recipes I think I still have in the attic somewhere.  So here goes!

 

 

Spicy Avocado Enchiladas

 

I’m honored to be able to make this my first blog recipe.  I love every word in that title, especially the second.  I found this on the internet, probably Pinterest, and I made it last night for dinner.  It. Was. Divine!  I’ve made many ‘a sour cream enchiladas in my day, and I tell you, this was my favorite white sauce I’ve ever had.  It was spicy, creamy and oh so good atop those tasty, chicken filled enchiladas.  Here’s the original recipe:

 

Recipe Note: To make these as Spicy as their name, leave in the seeds in the Serrano Pepper and use a "medium" Salsa Verde. For those without the love of heat, seed the Serrano Pepper and use a "mild" Salsa Verde.

Ingredients:

for the sauce:
1 tablespoon butter
1 Serrano pepper, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup medium salsa verde
1/2 cup fat free sour cream

for the enchiladas:
3 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts (about 4 breasts)
8 oz Cabot Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded & divided
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 avocados, peeled and chopped
8-10 flour tortillas

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a medium sauce pan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Saute serrano pepper and garlic, for 1 minute. Stir in flour, constantly stirring, and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in the chicken broth, cumin, salt and pepper and bring to a low boil. Once boiling, whisk in the sour cream, salsa verde and cilantro. Remove from heat.

Spray/grease a 9×13 baking dish. Add 3/4 cup sauce to the bottom of the pan. Add chicken, Cabot Monterrey Jack Cheese, onion and avocado to the center of each tortilla and roll, placing seam-side down in the dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas. Top with leftover cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes or until bubbling. Serve immediately.

 

 

Here’s how I changed it and what I’ll do differently in the future:  First, I left the seeds in the Serrano pepper.  Won’t do that again.  Hotchya Momma!  I may even only use a half of a seeded pepper, since it was so dang hot.  I used a salsa that I found at Wal-Mart that I’d never seen before and pray I see again called “Jardine’s Jalapeno Salsa Verde.”  It was super tasty.  I used two tablespoons of butter to sauté the peppers and garlic instead of just one.  I used regular sour cream instead of fat-free and I didn’t use Cabot cheese, because I couldn’t find any.  I just used Great-Value Monterrey Jack and I even used a tiny bit of cheddar too (I try to find any excuse to add cheddar to a recipe).  I marinated, grilled and shredded the chicken (I always keep marinated, grilled, shredded chicken in my freezer to pull out for recipes.  You can grill 10 lbs at once and keep it all frozen, saving yourself many hours in the kitchen repeating steps).  Oh, and most importantly, I used a TON of avocado!  Like, probably 6 avocados for 8 total enchiladas.  VERY yummy and next time I'll even use a little less chicken and maybe add some black or pinto beans!

 

Enjoy!