Best FriEndchiladas

Alicia and I recently got to spend some time together before her brother was married in San Diego (Congratulations Sean and Tre!). We cooked and laughed a lot. We have been best friends for about 19 years. The below recipes, photos, and especially some of the videos (Best FriEndchiladas and Tritas) are a testament to the above. Buckle in and stay for awhile, this recipe is not short but is worth the wait and work.

Best FriEndchiladas (Green Sauce Style)

We made two types of FriEndchiladas, a cheese FriEndchilada and chicken FriEndchiladas. We started with the chicken and worked our way to the green sauce. I am going to go in this exact order. First, the recipe for the pulled chicken...

Pulled Chicken

Ingredients (serves 6)

2 lbs organic chicken breasts; boneless, skinless

Olive oil (about 2 TBSP depending on cooking pan)

salt
1 cup chicken
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 TBSP cumin
1 TBSP chili powder
1/2 Vidalia (yellow) onion
2 garlic cloves

Deep sautee pan with lid

1. Salt and set out chicken breasts while chopping onion, cilantro, and garlic

2. Warm olive oil in pan over medium-high heat
3. Brown breasts on each side (do not need to cook thoroughly) for about 5 mins each side

 4. Remove chicken and place on cutting board

5. Lower heat to medium and add chopped onion, may need to add more oil
 6. Add chopped garlic after onions start to turn translucent

7. Add about 1/4 cup of the chicken stock and simmer

8. Using two forks, pull apart chicken to make shredded pieces

9. Add shredded chicken to pan, then add herbs and remaining stock

10. Simmer on low for 40-45 minutes, covered with lid.
11. Check occasionally to stir and add additional stock if needed

The more liquid the better, as the chicken will stay juicy and you can use the the juice to make some yummy rice!

Cojita Cheese Filling

You can use this to make just cheese FriEndchilada's or add some of the filling to your chicken Friendchiladas. 

Ingredients:

 10 Oz Cotija cheese
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1/4 white onion
3 cloves of garlic

Directions:
1. Crumble all of the cheese in a bowl
2. Cut up cilantro, onion, and garlic into small pieces
3. Mix all ingredients together

Green FriEndchilada Sauce

You can adjust this recipe in a couple of ways. One, if you like lime add what the recipe calls for and add less  (1/4 cup) if you just want a hint of it.  We used three different types of roasted peppers but you can use whatever you can find, even if it's just jalapenos.

Ingredients:

3 Lbs tomatillos 

8 cloves garlic 

1 jalapenos 

1 poblano

1 Hungarian wax pepper

2 large yellow onions, chopped 

1 bunch cilantro 

1/2 cup lime juice

Seasalt to taste

Directions:
1. Wash and quarter tomatillos

 

2. Heat the oven to 450 (bring it down to 375 after you are done roasting so that it is ready for baking the Frienchiladas
3. Cut up garlic, onions and all peppers
4. Place tomatillos on a baking sheet with garlic, onion, and all peppers
5. Drizzle everything with olive oil

6. Roast the tomatillos and vegatables for about 15 minutes or until they are brown on top

7. Let the tomatillos and vegatables cool
8. Place all of the roasted vegatables, lime juice, cilantro, and salt in the food processor and blend

How to construct the FriEndchiladas

Ingredients:
1 package of corn tortillas
Corn oil
2 9x12 baking pans

Directions
1. Prepare a plate with papertowels to keep the tortillas warm and to soak up the oil
2. Lightly fry all corn tortillas in corn oil. Watch that they do not get to crisp.
3. Dip the tortillas in the green sauce

4. With a spoon, scoop in whichever filling you choose into the middle of the tortilla

4. Gently roll the tortilla and place in the baking pan

5. The oven should still be heated from roasting the vegatables and set to 375
6. Bake tortillas without sauce for 5-8 minutes (in the baking pan. This is so they stay a little crispy once you add the sauce)
7. Take them out of the oven and put as much sauce on as you desire
8. Cover the entire pan with cojita and cheddar
9. We added left over roasted pablano's to the top but you don't have to
10. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cheese starts to brown

We hope you had a couple of laughs. If you enjoy margaritas and some goofiness check out the Trita post where Ben (Alicia's husband) shows off his acting skills.

If you make FriEnchiladas, please email me a photo. 

To see more photos click here.