Chicken Breast Green Enchiladas

Going to the store these days is a trip. Not a road trip with lovely sights to see but a trip into downtown traffic on a rainy day at Friday rush hour. Over the past few months I have learned just to roll with the trip. Make no plans, no time allotment, no destination. Then and only then does traversing the grocery store become manageable.

Take yesterday's trip. The general trip was to get all the items needed to make Green Chicken Enchiladas, A Staple. Basing upon the last several weeks worth of trips, this should have been an easy trip. But as you can imagine, it was not. To start there was not any fresh cilantro, not a big deal as I have dried. Then there was not any sour cream, also not a deal breaker as it only used as a topping and can be substituted with Mexican crema which they did not have either. Yet, still not a deal breaker. The real kicker to the trip was the lack of whole chickens. The local grocer sells four brands of whole chickens and there was not one to be found. Not even a non-GMO, certified, $7.99 a pound organic chickenlet. Chickenlet as these chickens are only about two pounds max, less than half of the standard whole chicken currently. What they did have was a package of four bone in breasts each larger than my hand. Seriously, chicken breasts larger than what was removed from my BBQ Turkey last year. Well, want in one hand, get in the other. At least they had chicken, right? Luckily they had my beloved Herdez Salsa Verde and cheeses.

Modification Made:
Following the same procedure for staple chicken cooking, the breasts were boiled with just enough water to cover along with an small finely diced yellow onion, a whole jalapeno cut in half, tablespoon of dried cilantro, a tablespoon of chili powder, a teaspoon of comino, and a Knorr Tomate de Pollo cube.

Once chicken cooked, it was deboned and added back to the stock to allow simmering until stock cooked away. Seasonings were tasted and adjusted.

Enchiladas were rolled, covered with salsa verde and Monterey Jack cheese, and popped in the microwave until the cheese melted. Queso Fresco was crumbled a top along with a dollop of guacamole and a spoonful of homemade red salsa. Dinner served.

Scaled for Likability: Good
I am blaming this not failed dinner but not winner dinner either on the chicken manufacturers. Chicken breast the size of large adult male hand is going to be nothing but manipulation and water injection. Breast meat was dry, tough, and stringy. All the elements of old yard bird hens not cage confined raised chickens picked at their "prime".

So sad. All I wanted was homemade comforting Chicken Enchiladas.

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add po...

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almos...

Sour Cream & Chive Scalloped Potatoes

Can't believe the Month of the Potato is over. There are so many more potato recipes saved. Guess I will have to work them into another month. Last week's scalloped potatoes were one of the best new recipes during the month of potatoes. With today being the last day in the Month of Potatoes, I decided to go out with a bang by cooking another batch of scalloped potatoes but this time sour cream and chive. The Best Scalloped Potatoes , or so they said. Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half. Mayo was omitted and one entire package of chives were chopped and added to sauce before pouring onto layers. Scaled for Likability: Good Betty Crocker Sour Cream and Chive Box Scalloped Potatoes were the standard for this recipe. These were a family favorite for years but have long since been discounted. Bummer. Trying to replicate this seemed easy enough. Alas, it was not. These had a nice texture but were too oily from the cheese ...

Eating Waffles

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