Sunday, January 5, 2014

Tacos de Crema

These have been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. Most would call these enchiladas, but growing up mom always called them Tacos de Crema, so Tacos de Crema it is!! These are always a hit too!!




Ingredients:
2 dozen tortillas
2 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded*
2 pasilla peppers
8 oz. tomato sauce
16 oz. sour cream
16 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
vegetable oil
*can also used store bought roasted chicken, just shred it.

Turn oven to 325 degrees.

Sauce:
Roast the pasilla peppers over the open flame on your stove. Turn them constantly until the entire peppers are black. You may have to use tongs at times to hold pepper over the open flame from time to time to ensure every spot of the pepper is black. Warning...it  begins to smell delicious now!!!
Once completely roasted, place both peppers in a plastic bag or ziploc bag and let sit for about 10 minutes. The bag will steam up and ease the removal of the black skin. Without opening the bag, with your hands rub the pepper (over the bag) to slip the black skin off. Remove the peppers and dispose of bag. Cut the stem off and place the peppers in a blender.
Add the sour cream and tomato sauce to the blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Take a whiff of the sauce .....and imagine just how delicious these tacos will be. Place the sauce in a shallow bowl for dipping of tortillas in a later step.

Tortillas:
Warm oil in a pan over medium heat. Sautee one tortilla at a time for about a minute on each side. They should still be soft and foldable, you don't want them fried. Place them on a plate with paper towel to soak up the oil.


Assembly:
Grease a baking dish or cookie tray, you may need two.
Set up a production line to ease assembly. Dip a tortilla in the cream sauce and place it on the baking dish. Add some chicken and cheese. Roll the tortilla like an enchilada, and align it against the edge of your baking dish with the seam down to prevent it from opening up. Repeat until all tortillas are gone....your fingers will be messy through this process, but it'll be totally worth it! It is best not to layer tacos on top of one another, only side by side, as they will stick to each other during the baking process. 
Pour additional cream sauce and mozzarella over the tacos. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

Serve with refried beans to complete the dish.

Just thinking about it is making me crave these, but I'm out of pasillas. Note to self, ALWAYS have pasillas in the pantry!! They can be used to make salsa, in refried beans for added flavor, in potatoe dishes...oh the possibilities. Pasillas are the best!