Querétaro-style Enchiladas (Enchiladas queretanas)
Here is a recipe for enchiladas, that will allow you to recreate at home the unique traditional enchiladas we can find in the state of Querétaro; I have seen variations of this dish which included crumbled chorizo, which seemed to be a tasty and interesting idea, but most recipes for these traditional enchiladas are pretty similar. This dish is considered as ‘light’, so people have it as breakfast, lunch or snack in Mexico.
The enchiladas from Querétaro
Ingredients for 6-8 guests:
* 24 Corn Tortillas
* 3 chicken breasts
* 1 egg, beaten and raw
* 4 ancho chilies
* A little milk
* 2 Red tomatoes
* 2 medium potatoes
* 2 carrots
* 1/2 lb. (250 g) of grated cheese
* a few sprigs of fresh cilantro, chopped
* Oil for frying
* Salt to taste
* Pepper to taste
Preparation:
1) The first thing we do is cook the chicken breasts in a pan, with enough water to cover the 3 breasts. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper, to taste; and if you have an extra slice of tomato or onion add it to the water to add more flavor, boil the chicken until cooked.
2) Leave the breasts to cool down and we will shred the chicken meat, after pour it all in a bowl.
3) Take a deep pot, fill it with water and salt; then, in boiling water cook the potatoes with the carrots. Also quickly boil the 2 tomatoes until their skin shrivels so we can easily peel them. Once cooked, mash one potato in a bowl, dice the other; slice the carrots finely.
4) Again in another pot, cook the ancho peppers in a little bit of milk; we will simmer them over low heat and finally when they have become tender we will blend them with the garlic, the egg, the 2 tomatoes and some salt and pepper to taste. This liquefied mixture will be our salsa into which we will dip our tortillas; we will then fry them in a saucepan.
5) Pour a little bit of oil in a pan and turn on the heat, when the oil is hot we dip the tortillas one by one in the salsa, to fry them after in the pan for a short time or about 5 or 6 seconds.
6) We then fill each tortilla with the shredded chicken breast meat, potatoes, carrots, roll the tortillas up, arrange 3 or 4 per plate then sprinkle some cheese and some chopped cilantro over.
