Bread and Wine: Annette's Enchiladas

If there's one thing I can appreciate about Bread and Wine (and there are many things) it's the sheer number of Tex-Mex recipes included. Ever since I became pregnant with my son (and he's 19 months now) I've craved Mexican-- red rice, black beans, cheesy enchiladas, piles of salad with scoops of sour cream and avocado. Jalapenos finely chopped and sprinkled over everything. If it's spicy, crunchy, crisp and can be entirely creamed with different varieties of butterfat, I'm there.

So to say that I adore this recipe is putting it mildly. It's all of that (without the salad, which you can add) and easy enough to make. It also makes a full 9x13 deep dish pan of casserole, so there's plenty for company, or just late night writing sessions (excuse me while I finish this bite over here).

The Recipe: Annette's Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients: Sour cream, green enchilada sauce, green chilis, cooked chicken, Monterey Jack cheese, chicken broth, cilantro. 

To date I've made this recipe four times I think, each time with the intent to photograph and document my experience, but #life and #slacker. Hence I was so happy to make it tonight. My parents were coming over for dinner and the frigid weather demanded a substantial Something for supper. I went ahead with Shauna's plan for a "Fiesta" dinner menu at the back of the book which incorporated three recipes from it: the enchiladas, Esquites, and Dark Chocolate Sea Salted Toffee. I made all three today, but they'll get their separate blogs in order. Needless to say it was a busy, messsssy day of cooking, but it was a  fun process and eating the results was even more so!

One of the nice things about this recipe is that is truly a casserole. I love a pan of  rolled enchiladas as much as anyone, but obviously they take an extra minute. This recipe is more like lasagna with its layers of corn tortillas, sour cream and enchilada sauce, cheese and chicken.

I will say that each time I've made this recipe, I followed Shauna's layering tips exactly but I could never achieve that comfort food texture I was looking for. Like, I wanted a nice, comfortable, gooey bite that wasn't happening.So this time around I made the recipe work for me. I used more tortillas (I had thin ones and I really wanted to taste a thicker texture) and of course more cheese. I mixed the chicken in (baked chicken, with olive oil and salt) IN the sour cream and enchilada sauce mixture and just evenly layered it with a full covering of cheese and tortillas.  

I'm not exactly sure why, but the results were magical. What had been a good dish before became what I was looking for. My kids even gobbled up their servings (piled with black beans, rice, and guacamole!), so following my, ahem, gut, was apparently the right thing to do!

I served it with salad, salsa, guac, sour cream, black beans and rice, a little like chili or even like the plates you see in Mexican restaurants with all that stuff on the side. It is delicious. The end.

The Chapter: "Love and Enchiladas"

The recipe comes after Shauna's reflections on her best memories of the house church she and her husband attended in Grand Rapids, and the love and  memories shared around the table. It's really an ode to what relationships and food give us--nourishment and memories in heart, souls and our bodies. It is an acknowledgment that all of life is really sacrament of something; the best stuff recalling to our minds and senses love, truth, and fellowship.

I can't think of more appropriate people to share a meal and memory with than my parents. It was kind of perfect really. Nathan has been out of town for work and I had invited my parents over for an evening of playing with the kids and supper, anything that could help a three year old and 19 month old not mind for a little while that their Dad isn't there.

My parents, as always, graciously obliged, showing up with love and snuggles for little pajama-clad bodies, wiggly and giggling. My truck's battery had died this morning, so my father got to play shining knight and take care of my battery replacement before settling into playtime with the kids. My mom picked up the groceries I had waiting from an online order.

It was a day I very much needed their help, another day when my o- mom-meter was dialing down and I need a little extra help and love that the kids can't quite give me yet. But beyond today, I can't count the number of times my parents have freely offered their help, no strings attached (well, except to the see the grandkids again...soon), and how they continue to show me what family is, even though I've been long gone from under their roof for so long.

I love cooking for my parents now after all they years they gave me around meals at our table growing up. And while I realize that we can continue to feed those memories and connections with just about anything, there's nothing like that sacred, special, silly, and downright messy place of the kitchen table for connecting. 

And there might as well be hot, bubbling, cheesy enchiladas on the table when it all happens.