Week 21 - Beer

The theme for Week 21 of the challenge was beer. Although I picked out a recipe for this soon after the challenge theme was announced, I was a few weeks late in doing the beer challenge because... well, life happened. I was on antibiotics for a while which meant staying away from alcohol, so beer week wasn't going to go very well since I like tasting while I cook. So we put it off, but it was definitely worth the wait. 

I decided to adapt this recipe for spicy beer braised lime chicken enchiladas from How Sweet It Is, and it was delicious!

Ingredients:

I made some substitutions to the recipe ingredients to try to use up what we had in the house and also to add onions. The notable changes (the ones that were not just varying amounts) were to (a) swap corn tortillas in for flour, (b) use a shredded taco cheese blend instead of freshly grating monterey jack, (c) use a can of diced tomatoes instead of tomato sauce, and (d) add an onion.

There were a lot of ingredients in this recipe. For the enchilada sauce, you needed:

- 2 tbsp olive oil ($0.40)

- 2 tbsp flour ($0.10)

- 12 oz bottle of beer (I used Trader Jose light, which was basically Corona) ($1.09)

- 14.5 oz can of petite diced tomatoes ($0.85)

- 2 tbsp tomato paste ($0.90)

- 1 tbsp chili powder ($0.50)

- 1 tbsp chipotle chili powder ($1.25)

- 1 tsp cumin ($0.10)

- 1 tsp onion powder ($0.10)

- 1 tsp garlic powder ($0.10)

- 1 tsp brown sugar ($0.10)

- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika ($0)

- pinch of cayenne pepper ($0.05)

- salt and pepper to taste ($0.10)

For the rest of the recipe, you needed:

- 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts ($2.25)

- 1 tsp lime zest (0.05)

- 1 tsp brown sugar ($0.10)

- 1 tsp ground cumin ($0.10)

- 1 tsp smoked paprika ($0)

- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)

- 1 tsp pepper ($0.05)

- 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder ($0.42)

- 1/2 tsp onion powder ($0.05)

- 1/2 tsp garlic powder ($0.05)

- 2 tbsp olive oil ($0.40)

- 1 large yellow onion ($0.60)

- 8-10 oz of beer (almost 1 full bottle, same Trader Jose light) ($1.09)

- 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced ($0.28)

- juice of 1 lime ($0.15)

- 6 oz shredded taco cheese blend ($1.50)

- 8 corn tortillas ($0.50)

It was a long list of ingredients, and the total came out to approximately $13.28 ($5.64 for the sauce and $7.64 for everything else). It wasn't cheap but when you get enchiladas at a restaurant, they can be the same price and only give you 2 enchiladas (plus sides, but the sides don't cost them much). 

Process:

1. Combine lime zest, brown sugar, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, chili powder, onion powder and garlic powder together in small bowl.

2. Slice chicken into smaller tenders (if desired). Rub the spice mix from #1 on all sides of the chicken pieces.

3. Add olive oil to large skillet over high heat. Once oil is hot, add chicken tenders and brown the chicken, about 2 minutes on each side. (A splatter screen would be a good idea.)

4. Remove browned chicken pieces and set aside.

5. Slice onions into thin slices. Add onions to skillet (no extra oil, don't clean out the pan). Allow onions to soften.

6. Add chicken back into the pan.

7. Add the beer, reduce heat to medium, cover. Cook for 20 minutes until chicken is tender. (At this point, the pan was looking a lot like the carbonnade and that made me very, very happy.)

8. While chicken and onions are braising, start the enchilada sauce. Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium heat and then whisk in flour.

9. After flour turns golden brown, add all the other ingredients for the enchilada sauce and stir together. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for at least 5 minutes.

10. When braising is done, use forks to shred the chicken and mix everything together. If there's no beer left in the skillet, use a little water to deglaze it before stirring.

11. Turn off heat. Add 1/3 cup of enchilada sauce, jalapeño peppers, lime juice, and about 1/2 cup of cheese. Mix together.

12. Spray 9x13 inch baking dish with nonstick spray. Add 1/3 cup of enchilada sauce to coat the bottom of the pan.

13. Add a spoonful of filling to each corn tortilla. Wrap each enchilada tightly and put in the baking dish.

14. Add the rest of the enchilada sauce and cheese.

15. Bake for 20-30 minutes (until cheese is golden and melted) at 350 degrees.

Review:

We really liked these enchiladas. The first thing we tasted was the sauce on its own, and it really had a kick to it, thanks to all that chipotle chili powder. It was almost a little too strong. But then when I mixed it up with the chicken, onions, and cheese, it was completely different and so much more balanced. Next time, I think I might use a little less chipotle chili pepper to allow the other ingredients to shine more, but it was still good the way it was. A thought it might need a touch more cheese on top as well, but that was the only other minor critique he had.

This was a good recipe on its own, but I'm really happy with my addition of an onion and replacement of tomato sauce with diced tomatoes. Not only did it add some more vegetables to the dish, but it gave it even more body and fullness. I would definitely make these enchiladas again. They were great!