Way back, in the beginning of time, we used to go to a great, hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant in Minneapolis.
I just looked and, unbelievably, it’s still there.
I wonder if the enchiladas are still as good – or if my memory has vastly improved them.
Regardless, if I want enchiladas here I have to make my own. Strangely, that is relatively easy as every supermarket I have ever been in here in France has an ‘Old El Paso’ section.
Really – a whole section.
The only thing I really want, that I have never found here, is green chilies.
I used to bring them back from the US when I was still working and flying back and forth regularly. But there comes a point when one just has to stop.
Actually, what happened was I was doling them out so sparingly they ended up being way past their ‘use-by’ date…. Eventually, I just got out of the habit – and found Green Tabasco!
If I was making these in the US I would use 8oz of green chilies in place of the red pepper. Here I just sprinkle liberally with Green Tabasco.
The cheddar I used is white cheddar – thus not the usual brilliant orange.
Chicken Enchiladas with Avocado
Total time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, cut into small pieces
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 rib celery, chopped
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 cup (4oz, 120gr) shredded cheddar
- 1 cup (8oz, 240gr) Greek yogurt, divided you may not use it all
- 1 – 2 jars hot or mild taco or enchilada sauce 8 – 10oz each (300ml)
- 4 corn or wheat tortillas
- 1 avocado, sliced
Instructions:
- Heat olive oil in medium skillet.
- Add chili powder, onion, pepper, garlic, and celery. Sauté until onion is tender and translucent, about 7 minutes.
- Add chicken and sauté until chicken is cooked through.
- Remove from heat.
- Add 1/4 cup shredded cheddar, 1/4 cup yogurt, and mix well.
- Put a 2 – 3 tbs taco sauce in a baking dish large enough to hold the 4 enchiladas.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet, over medium heat.
- Warm one tortilla in the skillet for 15 – 20 seconds.
- Spoon one fourth of the chicken mixture onto the tortilla and roll up.
- Place seam side down in the baking dish.
- Repeat with remaining three tortillas.
- Pour sauce over the top – how much depends on your taste.
- Sprinkle with remaining cheddar.
- Cover with foil and bake at 400F (200C) for 20 minutes, until heated through and cheese is bubbly.
- To serve: Put 2 enchiladas on each plate, add half the avocado and half the remaining yogurt.
We are becoming a bit of a fixture on our Thursday walks.
We have a nice, circular, 12.5 km route that we walk every week.
It has enough hills to make it interesting and decent exercise.
Because we have been doing it so regularly, for so long, we have gotten to know some of the farmers and locals who have houses on the road.
For those who have not spent time in rural France (or Spain or Italy, etc.) it’s not uncommon for a house to be within a foot or two of the road with the vegetable garden, fruit trees, clothesline, etc on the opposite side of the road.
These are small roads… not a lot of traffic.
We have also gotten to know the animals.
The turkeys come running when they see us, likely expecting to be fed. And the ducks, and the geese. The chickens run the other way….
The horses like to prance over to the fence for a bit of attention as well:
I admit I’m not very good at catching them with the camera – mainly because the camera is at the bottom of my backpack.
But these two were very patient with me.
As were these two:
Apparently having one light and one dark horse is best.
I’ll try to get the dogs tomorrow….
I wonder if the weather in your area would be suitable for growing peppers from seed.
I wonder what the France seed importation rules are.
I grew peppers at our other house, where we had better soil. I gave up here after the first year. I may have to look into it again…. As to import rules… I think that depends on the mood of the customs agent. lol. I sent 3 identical packages to the US at Christmas. 2 made it, one came back with half the contents missing and a note saying why it was confiscated. I know the real reason (tins of pate)
The supermarkets here (southern Touraine) almost always have fresh long green chillies. It’s red ones I can’t always get.
Orange cheddar is just a US thing as far as I know.
I used to be able to get them in Andorra – then, one time only, I got one that was super hot…. I quite after that. No, it wasn’t a ‘padron’ lol Who knows why someone in the US thought cheddar should be orange… maybe to match Velveeta lol
I must come back for another Thursday walk !
We’ll be waiting…. And if you come when it’s warm we’ll have a pool (maybe)
What?? No green chilis? Not even in a market that caters to Vietnamese people? (Aren’t there zillions of Vietnamese immigrants in France?)
Mmmmmmm… enchiladas…. J’adore enchiladas. And we just happen to have avocados that are exactly ready. And many markets that sell green chilis. We’ve been waiting for an opportunity to use our tortilla press again!
I don’t do hot peppers and green chilies are fairly mild – just a bit hotter than a bell pepper. The stuff in the Asian market would send me to the emergency room lol