Chicken Enchiladas for the Soul

This recipe is a Dan-the-Man original. We bought all the ingredients for simple burritos but as evening came around, he felt the urge to create something a little sassier. His title for these beauties? Chicken enchiladas for the soul.

If you skim through this recipe, you will notice the 'soul' part comes from the fact that the chicken is slow cooked on your stovetop for about three hours. Don't try to circumvent this: it is really essential to developing the great flavor in this dish. Instead, pick a day when you have the whole afternoon at home so you can enjoy the process!

Ingredients

• olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin seed
• 4-5 boneless chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1/4 cup Mexican spice blend
• 2 cups water
• good quality hot sauce to taste (optional but strongly recommended)
• 1 can pineapple rings, juice strained

• five 10" flour tortillas
• 8 oz. shredded cheddar
• salsa and/or sour cream, for serving

Directions

1. Place a deep skillet over medium-high heat.
2. As pan is heating up, add olive oil and cumin.
3. Once cumin starts to sizzle, place chicken thighs in skillet. Sear thighs for about a minute on each side.
4. Add red wine and stir well.
5. Add Mexican spice blend, water, hot sauce, and pineapple rings.
6. Cover skillet. Reduce heat to low.
7. Let cook, undisturbed, for 3 hours.

To assemble enchiladas:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Strain chicken and pineapple. Return to skillet.
3. Shred chicken with a fork.
4. Warm tortillas in the microwave (about 20-30 seconds for the pile).
5. On a clean surface, lay out your tortilla. Scoop some chicken-pineapple mixture onto the lower half of the tortilla. Sprinkle cheese on chicken, then roll up tortilla, burrito-style.
6. Place each in a lightly oiled 13x9 pan.
7. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese browns.
8. Serve with salsa and/or sour cream for dipping. We enjoyed ours alongside yellow rice.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

photo by Alison Tyne

I had a great time recently with my friend, the wonderful artist Alison Tyne. We spent a few days together discussing photography, businesses, and of course, food. Poor Alison had never before had a buffalo chicken sandwich! Luckily I was there to remedy the situation.

This recipe is a nice one if you are feeling lazy or just too tired to create a complex meal. It's easily adaptable for vegetarians through the use of soy chick'n nuggets (pictured).




Ingredients - per sandwich

• 1 breaded chicken patty (or 4 soy chick'n nuggets)
• hot sauce, such as Frank's Red Hot
• 1 fresh sandwich roll
• blue cheese or ranch dressing
• 1/2 stalk celery, sliced
• (see note below)

Directions

1. Cook chicken patty according to package directions.
2. Pour hot sauce into a small bowl. Dredge the patty in hot sauce and place on bun.
3. Top with salad dressing and sprinkle with celery. Serve immediately.

Note: Norm makes a good point in the comments for those who don't like their sandwich full-strength. You can control how hot the sauce is by adding a little melted butter to your hot sauce, which will chill it out but still leave a little pizazz.

the Red Curry Challenge

Today I found this amazing recipe on The Tasty Kitchen and immediately brought it home to make. However I ran into a problem that poses a question I must work around somewhat frequently: How do you cook ethnic cuisines when living in an area without adequate supplies? 

I intended to try the recipe exactly as it was printed, but neither grocery store in the area carried sweet Thai chili sauce (okay, this is understandable) or flat rice noodles. Seriously? My pathetic Italian heart was broken. 

Rather than giving up, I asked the omniscient Internet for assistance. By using a couple recipes for food and method replacement inspiration, I was able to come up with the delicious Red Curry you see before you. 

Don't mind all the julienning - it just refers to long, skinny pieces so the vegetables cook fairly quickly and carry the flavorful sauce on them. Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 5)

• 1 can full fat coconut milk
• 1 hearty Tbsp red curry paste
• 1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 large chicken breasts, cubed
• 1 onion, julienned
• 1 red pepper, julienned
• about 1 1/2 cups carrots, julienned (I used baby carrots)
• 1/2 cabbage, julienned (I used a Savoy cabbage)
• salt and pepper
• rice (2 1/2 cups dry rice would be enough to match the amount of veggies)

Directions

1. Cook rice according to package directions.
2. Heat a large pan to medium-low heat. 
3. Scoop the solid coconut milk out of the can and add to pan.
4. Add in red curry paste and freshly grated ginger. Stir well.
5. Add chicken. Cover and cook until chicken is done.
6. Add onion, red pepper, and carrot. Cover again and cook until red pepper has lost a bit of its crunch (5 minutes or so).
7. Add cabbage, stir well, and cook uncovered for another 3-5 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and transfer to a big serving bowl if you have one. Let sit for about 5 minutes, giving it time to thicken.
9. Serve on rice, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Comments

The process was much easier than I thought, and the final product was very good although I might try adding a little more curry paste next time as I enjoy spicier things. I enjoyed the creaminess of the coconut milk that carried throughout the dish and the fact that the cabbage was just a little crunchy. Next time I might add a little salt at the beginning when adding the curry paste - it would be easier to taste if it's enough, although my guests were happy to salt their own dishes.

This dish could easily be made vegetarian by replacing the chicken with tofu or another vegetable protein. It is naturally dairy-free and gluten-free (red curry paste is gluten-free).