Nathan's Homemade Enchiladas

Now readers, I have something to tell you.

You may have guessed. Todays food post...does not involve an excess of sugar; *gasp* *shudder* *squeal* *flinch*

Alas do not despair, for I have something equally tantalising for your tastebuds to feast upon...so do read on, I promise you will not be disappointed.  

While I may be the baker of the household, I’ve gotta give props to my other half for being the best bomb-diggity cook my kitchenware has ever seen. He continues to dazzle me with his ability to make even the simplest of dishes taste like honest-to-god restaurant food and last Monday’s dinner was no exception.

So every now and again Nathan and I will set each other challenging meals or desserts to make – this can range from things we’ve never made before, to things we have just thought up. As a big Mexican-food lover, I had been hankering for some Enchiladas for some time – and Nathan, despite never even having tried a portion of that meaty-wrapped-baked goodness, rose to the challenge and cooked us up an exquisito feast to rival any El Paso packet you’ve ever had.

So how did he do it? Let me fill you in:

Ingredients

400g Diced Chicken or Turkey Breast

1 can of chopped tomatoes

1 Tablespoon of tomato puree
One chopped onion

One chopped sweet red pepper

Half a can of baked beans
Chopped mushrooms

Dash of Salt

Dash of paprika

Dash of cayenne pepper

1 Tablespoon of BBQ sauce

1 Crumbled chicken stock cube

A pinch of Nathan’s special spice mix (sorry guys, some things you just have to keep under wraps! In place of this, I recommend you use a pinch of curry powder)

Handful of cheese

6 Wholemeal Tortilla Wraps
Wholegrain rice to serve

Method

Now this dish is super simple to put together; firstly preheat your oven to 180° and then you’re going to want to get a large pan or wok onto your stove, spray in some low cal olive oil (or similar) and whack your hob onto a medium heat.

When that’s heated up slightly you’re going to want to throw in your diced chicken or turkey, if you’ve heated your pan to the right temperature you’ll hear a delicious sizzle as the meat touches the piping pan.

Move the meat around and once it’s browned all over, you can start chucking in the other ingredients! There’s no real order to this, you can literally just add as you go. Add the onions first to get them browning and then we tend to add all the sauce-based ingredients to get the dish bubbling away, so chuck in your chopped tomatoes, puree, half can of baked beans and BBQ sauces, stirring everything together as you go.

Pop in the chopped up pepper and crumble in the stock cube, now start to add your spices! I've said a dash of everything, but I would leave this up to your own tastebuds to ensure the heat is to how you like it! Once all the ingredients are in the pan, stir to ensure the ingredients are mixed throughout, then turn down the heat a little and let it simmer and reduce for about 5-10 minutes.

While it’s simmering you can prep your rice, I recommend wholegrain rice as it’s much better for you and has a lovely nutty taste that white rice just tends to lack, we do ours over the stove but just follow the instructions on whatever pack you got, whether it’s in the microwave or on the stove, whatever your tastes desire!

Once the concoction in the pan has reduced slightly so it’s thicker but is still swimming in sauce, you’re ready to go! Grab your wholemeal tortillas and begin spooning the meat and sauce into the middle of the wraps – portion it so you have a slightly generous amount left at the end – this is going to act as your topping! Wrap up the tortilla with the filling inside like a burrito and place into a baking dish, with the edges of the wrap face down so they don’t unravel.

Repeat this until all your wraps are filled, and pour the remaining sauce over the top of the filled tortillas. Sprinkle le cheese and voila! Your Enchiladas are ready for the oven.

Place your tastily assembled tortillas into the oven and set the timer for 20 minutes. When the timer goes off, you’re looking to see if the cheese has melted deliciously and mixed with your enchilada topping – if it makes your mouth water, it’s probably ready!

Let it rest for 5 and get a bed of rice waiting on your plates. When it comes to serving, just cut as best as you can – these fellas might be deliciouso but easy to divide they are not, they just want to stay connected to their tasty friends! I recommend a sharp knife, and two spatulas – you need to work as a team!

Once you’ve given yourself a hearty portion, settle down and savour every scrumptious mouthful.

And thank me later!

I hope you enjoy making and devouring this little plate of heaven as much as I enjoyed re-living it just now.

Happy Enchilada-ing!

See you soon xxx