Doctor Domestic

I have two poblano chili plants in the garden.  They were nearly killed by bunnies, eaten down to absolute nubs.  But then they came back (the poblanos and the bunnies).  I got 2 poblanos a couple months ago but didn’t do much with them.  I kind of thought that was all I was going to get from the poor bunny-eaten plants.  They didn’t produce any fruit for a long time, because the plants were growing…a lot.  They grew very tall (nearly chest-high to me) and quite bushy.  Then they started dropping poblano chiles like dark green Christmas ornaments from their branches.  Perfect little fruits.

A couple years ago I had made a chicken enchilada recipe from an issue of Cooking Light.  This recipe called for a green chili sauce, made with anaheims.  But really, any mildy hot green chili will work just fine.  So this time, I’m used all of my little poblanos to make this delicious sauce and used it for beef enchiladas.  I made a double recipe of the sauce because it should freeze nicely so I can use it again for some other delectable Mexican cooking experiment.

You start by roasting the poblanos.  I use the broiler, but however you like to do it is just fine.  Roast them, then stick them in a bowl covered in foil or plastic and let them sit in their own steam for a while so the skins loosen.  Remove the skins, tops and the bulk of the seeds.

The sauce is made of the usual suspect.  Peppers, onions, garlic, some spices and chicken stock.

While the sauce is coming together, or if you’re not into multitasking, after the sauce is done, cook up the beef mixture.

Because I was up to my elbows in beef and sauce, I didn’t get any photos of the assembly process.  You know how it goes though.  Coat the tortilla with sauce (the poblano chile sauce in this case), spoon in about 3 tbsp of the beef mixture, then roll and place seem side down in the dish.  End it with the cheese.  Every enchilada needs a gooey cheese coating.

These were pretty good overall.  Need some added spiciness and I would switch out the cheddar for monteray jack.  In all honesty, I wanted to use jack cheese, but I forgot to buy it at the store, and I had a block of cheddar on hand.  What can I say, laziness is the mother of invention…or something like that.

I’m debating weather or not to add a photo of a serving of these.  What the heck.  It looks like its pre-digested, as do all of my enchiladas.  But that’s normal right?  My helpful hubby suggested that it would look classier if I put a piece of parsley on top.  He’s so smart, too bad we have no parsley on hand.  BLAST!

Recipe for the sauce and the enchiladas after the break.

Roasted Poblano Chile Sauce (adapted from Cooking Light)

6  Poblano chiles

1  tbsp  canola oil

2  cups  chopped onion

2  garlic cloves, minced

1  tbsp  all-purpose flour

1  tsp ground coriander

1/2  tsp  salt

12 oz fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 tbsp honey

Preheat Broiler.  Place chiles on a foil-lined baking sheet; broil 7 minutes on each side, until they are slightly charred and blistery looking. Place in a large bowl and seal tightly with plastic wrap or foil. Let stand 5-10 minutes. Peel and discard skins. Remove and discard seeds and tops, they should pull right out.  Chop chiles to measure 3/4 cup.

Heat canola oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté onion in oil for 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Stir in flour; cook 1 minute. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer 15 minutes allowing the mixture to reduce, stirring occasionally. Using an immersion blender, blend the mixture until smooth (Alternatively, transfer chile mixture to a blender in batches and blend until smooth.  Be sure to place a kitchen towel over the blender to prevent splattering).  Once blended add the honey and stir to incorporate.  Taste at this point and add additional honey or salt if either is lacking.

Enchilada Ingredients

1 recipe Roasted Poblano Chile Sauce (above)

1.5 pounds ground beef

1 small can diced green chilies, the hot variety if you want more heat (I recommend it)

1 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

3 tsp Adobo spice blend (if you don’t have this, use a mix of coriander and cumin)

2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (omit if you don’t want the added spice)

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 cup diced tomatoes (canned or fresh), drained of juice

1/4 cup tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 ½ cup shredded cheese, Monteray Jack recommended (sharp cheddar, or colby jack are fine too)

corn tortillas (I used 11 6-in tortillas)

In a large skillet, sauté beef and diced onion, once cooked, drain excess fat from the beef.  Add the garlic, green chilies spices, salt and pepper.  Stir and cook until fully incorporated.  Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste.  Cook for 10 minutes on medium-low heat until the liquids have reduced.

To assemble:

Coat each tortilla in the roasted poblano chili sauce.  Add ~3 tbsp of the beef mixture.  Roll up and place seam side down in a 9×13 baking dish.  Continue until the beef is used up.  Pour the remaining poblano sauce down over the enchiladas in the baking dish.  Distribute the shredded cheese evenly over the top of the enchiladas.

Bake at 350F for 25 minutes.  Cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Tags: beef, Cooking, Enchiladas