Authentic Mexican Enchiladas

Growing up, my sister’s best friend’s family was from Mexico and they loved to cook. Luckily, over the years, we picked up a few of their best recipes. These authentic enchiladas are not what you normally think of when you hear the word enchiladas, but they will quickly replace your old favorites and they are so much lighter and healthier than your traditional enchilada.

I am sharing their exact recipe, but I will admit I usually take the lazy option and buy canned enchilada sauce, so that works too if you want to save on time. The ingredient Queso Fresco might be new to you, we also call it Mexican cheese and it is what makes this recipe so delicious! It can be compared to a something like a feta cheese or goat cheese, but lighter and way better in my opinion. *If you are in the Montreal area and know where to find this cheese please let me know!

INGREDIENTS:

Sauce

5 Guajillo chiles
5 new Mexico chiles
5 Puya chiles
3 Chiles de arbol
2 garlic cloves
2 cloves
1 tbs of cumin
1 tbs of salt
1 tsp of black pepper
1 tbs of chile powder
1 tbs of flour/ cornstarch

Filling

1 cup Queso fresco, crumbled
1 cup Cabbage, chopped
2 lbs. of chicken breast Shredded: boiled in water with salt and pepper and then shredded

You Will Also Need....

Corn Tortillas 
Cooking oil

Salt and Pepper the chicken, In a large pot bring water to boil then turn to medium, add the chicken and cook for 35 min or until completey cooked through.

Removed stems of all of the peppers and place in a pot.  Bring to boil and turn down to medium heat and simmer for 15 min. Set aside.

Shred chicken, crumble cheese, and chop cabbage.

In a blender, add in all of the cooked chiles, garlic cloves, cloves, cumin, salt, pepper,, chile powder, and flour and stock from the chicken (about 2 cups). Blend on high for 3 minutes.

In a sauce pan, beat up 2 tbs of cooking oil. Using a mesh strainer, strain the blended mixture into the sauce pan and stir immediately. This will remove the unpleasant skin from the peppers. Bring to a boil and then turn down to medium low heat and let simmer for about 10 min. Set aside.

In another pan, fry tortillas on cooking oil until cooked but not stiff. Dip tortillas into sauce. Then layer in chicken, queso, and cabbage and then roll into enchilada. 

Garnish with more sauce, cabbage and queso. Enjoy!

Big thank you to Herlinda for letting me share her family’s recipe!