17 March 2009

Chicken Enchiladas with African Spices


After Sunday's culinary trip to Ethiopia, I have been mesmerized by the flavors and also devising ways to use up some of the berbere I created for the dishes.  I'll need to make more berbere (recipe here) for this Sunday's trip to Ethiopia after this dish, but it was so worth it!  This dish was also inspired by my recent trip to Santa Fe and the desire to recreate some of the delicious dishes I had while I was there.  My friend Cindy shared her mother's recipe for New Mexican Enchilada Sauce and I adapted it to fit in some African flavors.  This wasn't a quick dish, but very few things worth having are quick, right?


Chicken Enchiladas with African Spices by Joie de vivre

Ingredients:

5 chicken legs
About 8 small corn tortillas (I made mine for better and fresher flavor)
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

For Enchilada sauce:
3 Tbls. unsalted butter
2 Tbls. all purpose flour
1/3 c. berbere (recipe here)
2 c. water
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. cumin

Directions:

1.  Begin by making the enchilada sauce.  Melt the butter in a large bottomed skillet over medium heat.  Add the flour and whisk well.  Cook the flour in the butter for about 1 minute whisking continuously.  Add the water extremely slowly, whisking continuously to avoid lumps.  Add the berbere, oregano, and cumin and cook the sauce over low heat for about 10 minutes.
2.  Add the chicken legs to a 4-5 quart crock pot insert.  Pour the enchilada sauce over the chicken legs.  Cover and set the crock pot to LOW.  Cook the chicken legs on LOW for about 4 hours, stirring once after about 2 hours.
3.  Once the chicken is cooked, remove the meat from the bones and place it in a medium sized bowl.  Shred the meat with two forks.
4.  Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
5.  Into an 8 x 8 inch Pyrex baking dish, spoon about 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce from the crock pot.  Cover this with a layer of about 4 tortillas (enough to cover the bottom of the dish.  Spoon about 1/4 cup more enchilada sauce over the top of the tortillas.  Over this, layer 1/2 of the chicken.  Put 1/2 of the cheese over the chicken and spoon another 1/4 c. sauce over the cheese.  Repeat the layers.  Tortillas, sauce, remaining chicken, remaining cheese, and the remaining sauce.
5.  Place this dish into the pre-heated oven for about 20-30 minutes until the cheese is melted through and bubbly.  Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

25 comments:

Cathy said...

Looks delicious! I love the flavour that berbere gives to food and can just imagine it in an enchilada sauce. My mouth is watering thinking about it.

FOODalogue said...

Seems like a perfect place to use the berbere.

Finla said...

I have never had Enchiladas, and this recipe sounds really yumm.

Nicole said...

Oh yum! Looks great. Love big spice. I made a jerk chicken pasta last night.

Wandering Coyote said...

That's a very cool idea! Fusion rocks, doesn't it?

Chef E said...

I am also in love with the berbere I too made! What a nice idea to use it for this...I bet some lamb chops could work too! Oh how hungry you have made me...its lunch time east coast time...

Karen said...

The spices in the berbere are just WOW! The fragrance of it cooking must be like heaven!

Sarah said...

Hmmm I love enchiladas what a great way to use african flavors!

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

I just received the “Fabulous Food Blog” award and I’m passing it on to you. Please see my recent post on My Carolina Kitchen, http://mycarolinakitchen.blogspot.com/ to view the rules associated with this award.

You have a fabulous blog and deserve the “Fabulous Food Blog” award.
Sam

Donna-FFW said...

The variety of your cooking is just inspiring! I wish I had some of your creativeness! It looks delicious!

Varsha Vipins said...

wowowl...delicious..!!! I can just feel the rich taste n flavor..yummmm!!

Robin said...

Great adaptation. The flavors really stand out in this dish!

Pam said...

What a nice take on enchiladas - the flavors sound fantastic.

Reeni said...

I bet this smelled fabulous cooking! What a great idea, it looks wonderful!

MaryBeth said...

Looks totally delish....I could go for some.

Anonymous said...

These spices and the berbere sounds awesome in the sauce for enchiladas. What a creative dish!

Thanks for visiting today, always appreciate it :)

Kiezie said...

This looks wonderful!! I have had my share of Tex-Mex this past few weeks but man, oh man, now I want to change my dinner plans!!

Stash said...

i am really enjoying this series. for the first time in awhile i feel like an idiot- which is great!

Bits said...

I just love your dishes... looks yummy and great!

Meeta K. Wolff said...

oh this is a lovely flavored enchilada recipe. perfect!

Esi said...

This is a nice twist on enchiladas.

Tangled Noodle said...

Thank you for a new use for the berbere - I love my little tub of it and when it's done, I'll make my own with the recipe you've provided!

Kinton said...

berbere?
GENIUS!

Mediterranean Turkish Cook said...

What a great combination! I like creativity in the kitchen.

Karen Brown Letarte said...

What a great idea to use the berbere for the enchiladas! I bet it was delicious! :) K

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