Recipes

Enchiladas Suizas (Chicken Enchiladas in Tomatillo-Cream Sauce)

  • Serves

    serves 4-6

TODD COLEMAN

This cheesy, creamy dish originated at a Sanborns cafe in Mexico City in 1950. Its name, "Swiss enchiladas," alludes to its copious use of dairy. This recipe first appeared in our August/September 2012 issue, with Todd Coleman's article Saucy Dish.

Ingredients

  • 1 12 lb. tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed (available at melissas.com)
  • 2 serrano chiles, stemmed
  • 1 cup roughly chopped cilantro
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 12 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted
  • 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • 2 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 cup canola oil
  • 3 cups cooked shredded chicken
  • 1 12 cups cups shredded queso Oaxaca (available at mexgrocer.com) or mozzarella
  • 8 (6") corn tortillas

Instructions

Step 1

Arrange an oven rack 4″ from the broiler and heat broiler to high. Place tomatillos and serranos on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil, turning as needed, until blackened all over, about 10 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes, and then peel and discard skins. Transfer to a blender along with cilantro, sour cream, cumin, garlic, poblanos, and 1 cup boiling water; season with salt and pepper, and purée until smooth. Set enchilada sauce aside.

Step 2

Heat oil in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, grasp tortillas with tongs and fry in oil until pliable, about 1 minute. Transfer tortillas to a work surface. Place chicken in a bowl and toss with 1 cup enchilada sauce until evenly coated. Divide sauced chicken evenly among tortillas, and roll tortillas tightly around chicken. Pour about 1 cup enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ baking dish, and place tortilla rolls in dish, seam side down, creating one row down the center of the dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over rolls, and cover evenly with cheese.

Step 3

Heat oven to 375°. Bake enchiladas until sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted on top, 25 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool for 10 minutes. Serve with plenty of sauce.

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