Wednesday 14 November 2012

Enchiladas - Recipe

Yesterday was time for something we hadn't had for a long time, enchiladas! I was on my way home from work and it started to get late as I had a skypedate with my friends in Sweden. So, I had to come up with something that I could make very quickly. I went to Sainsbury's and picked up some corn tortillas and chicken breast. I had some enchilada and fajita spice mix at home that was previously bought in those ready made kits from Old El Paso. Husband helped me out so we did it in no time. Here is my twist on simple enchiladas!
Ingredients:
1,5 big chicken breasts, sliced 
1 red bell pepper, sliced
3 big mushrooms, chopped
10 cm of a leek, sliced (wash properly as dirt is hidden behind the layers)
6 cm of an aubergine, sliced
sweet corn, small can
2 tsp fajita spice mix
1,5 tbsp enchilada spice mix
3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup grated cheese
2 cups tomato sauce
8-10 corn tortilla bread

Process:
1- Slice and chop up all the ingredients. Heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan and fry the chicken until the water that comes from the chicken dries up. Add half of the enchilada spice over the chicken and fry well together with the sweet corn.


2- In another pan add 1 tbsp of olive oil and fry the vegetables with the rest of the enchilada spice mix. When both the chicken and vegetables start to get golden brown add them together and let the flavours marry for a bit. Add 1 cup of the tomato sauce and mix well.


3- Now, put some of the filling on top of a tortilla bread and roll it together and put it in an ovenproof dish. Repeat the process with the rest of the tortilla breads.


4- Mix 1 cup of tomato sauce with the fajita spice mix and layer it over the tortilla rolls. Sprinkle the grated cheese over them. Bake them in the oven for 30-45 minutes on 180-200 degrees depending on oven.


I used the Old El Paso spice mix for enchiladas in the filling and fajita in the tomato sauce as it gives it a smoky and delicious taste to them. I know enchiladas are usually made with little veggies, but I love my twist with different veggies as they add new flavors and variation. Hope you give it a try!

Enjoy!


Moroccan Chicken & Chickpea Tagine - Recipe

After reading the food article How to cook an authentic Moroccan tagine by Rebecca Davies in the "The Telegraph" I was so inspired to make something similar today. It was such a coincidence as I just saw a food program few days ago about Moroccan Food on the bbc channel. As chicken was bought yesterday, I had just about the right ingredients at home to make a chicken and chickpea tagine. This recipe is a mix of various recipes I found online, so this is by no means an authentic recipe, just my variation :)

The taste was absolutely amazing and I will definitely try more Moroccan food inspired recipes from now on. In the past I have been reluctant in cooking anything Morrocan, as I thought it look to complicated. But I have to say that after reading and watching the food network channel, especially watching Jenny Morris Cooks Marocco I have been greatly inspired to try more recipes with inspiration from this flavorful and colorful country. Jenny Morris is so warm, informative and engaging in her programs, I simple love watching her cook and share her recipes. 

Now, back to my Chicken & Chickpea Tagine recipe!

Ingredients:
A mix of chicken pieces (two drums, 5 wings, 1 breast)
1 cup butternut squash, diced
1/5 leek, chopped,
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
1.2 yellow bell pepper
1 can of chickpeas, rinsed
1 can of chopped tomatoes
2-3 cups of chicken stock
2 tbsp of honey
1/5 cup of dried sultanas
3 tbsp olive oil
1 1/5 cup of couscous
2tbsp oliv oil

Spice mix: 1/5 tsp of turmeric, ground ginger, ground garlic, all season salt, pepper mix, paprika, cumin and coriander. 1/4 tsp cinnamon  1 tbsp of parsley. 4-5 slices of preserved lemon. (Feel free to add more/less of these above mentioned spices, to taste).



Process:

1- Dice and slice up all the vegetables and the chicken breast for even cooking.




2- Put the chicken in a pot and put enough water to cover it and bring to a boil. Remove the water once the chicken is cooked through, usually after few minutes. Add all the spices except lemon and 3 table spoons of olive oil and mix well so that the chicken pieces are well marinated. At this point it should smell heavenly from the pot :)

3- Add all the vegetables and the cans of chickpeas and chopped tomatoes. Add 2-3 cups of chicken stock and bring it to a boil on high heat. 
  



4- Add the sultanas and bring down to a low-medium heat and let it simmer for 30-45 minutes until the water has gone down to half of the size and everything is well cooked and the flavors well infused.


5- Before I let the tagine simmer away I took a half cup of the soup from it. I added the soup to 500 ml of boiled water to add flavor to the couscous once it was time to make it. I added the water over the couscous, as you only need to add hot water and olive oil to it and let it become fluffy for about 10-15 minutes. Then the dish is ready to be served!



Enjoy!