It's like trying to make hot chocolate without milk.
January 10, 2010 3:32 PM Subscribe
I am going to make shredded chicken enchiladas tonight. Yums. Problem is, I am going to try to do it without cheese. How can they still be delicious?
I thought I would use some variation on this enchilada sauce. I'm planning to toss in some spinach, and I'm not sure what else. I have flour tortillas, not corn, fwiw.
It is cold out and I refuse to go to the store just for some damned enchiladas. I have a fair amount of ingredients, just not cheese, so gimme what you got. How can I make my enchiladas delicious?
I thought I would use some variation on this enchilada sauce. I'm planning to toss in some spinach, and I'm not sure what else. I have flour tortillas, not corn, fwiw.
It is cold out and I refuse to go to the store just for some damned enchiladas. I have a fair amount of ingredients, just not cheese, so gimme what you got. How can I make my enchiladas delicious?
Response by poster: I do indeed have some mole paste. I may put some in the sauce.
To clarify, I'm mostly worried about the inside either being too dry or being too wet (if I use very much sauce in the filling). Cheese is the perfect solution to that problem; any others?
posted by nosila at 3:47 PM on January 10, 2010
To clarify, I'm mostly worried about the inside either being too dry or being too wet (if I use very much sauce in the filling). Cheese is the perfect solution to that problem; any others?
posted by nosila at 3:47 PM on January 10, 2010
Response by poster: The only dairy products I have are 2% milk and butter.
posted by nosila at 3:48 PM on January 10, 2010
posted by nosila at 3:48 PM on January 10, 2010
Sorry, posted at the same time you did. For the texture, maybe some rice?
posted by xingcat at 3:50 PM on January 10, 2010
posted by xingcat at 3:50 PM on January 10, 2010
I use a mixture of cream of mushroom soup and sour cream with the shredded chicken for the filling. Cream of chicken or celery would probably work too.
posted by tamitang at 3:51 PM on January 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by tamitang at 3:51 PM on January 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Cream of mushroom is often a safe bet in situations like these. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone actually eating it as, y'know, a soup!
What other binders do you have -- other kinds of soup, perhaps, or maybe some breadcrumbs and eggs?
posted by Madamina at 4:05 PM on January 10, 2010
What other binders do you have -- other kinds of soup, perhaps, or maybe some breadcrumbs and eggs?
posted by Madamina at 4:05 PM on January 10, 2010
Response by poster: Sadly, my creamy-soup stash is depleted right now. I think some rice, egg and breadcrumbs might do pretty well with some of whatever sauce I make mixed in for tastiness.
Great suggestions, all! Keep em coming.
posted by nosila at 4:09 PM on January 10, 2010
Great suggestions, all! Keep em coming.
posted by nosila at 4:09 PM on January 10, 2010
Best answer: fried or mashed (then fried) potato. mmm.
posted by carsonb at 4:12 PM on January 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by carsonb at 4:12 PM on January 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Ooh, that's a good idea. Do you have any sweet potato/yam/winter squash/pumpkin? A local burrito place does this, and it's very tasty.
posted by Madamina at 4:23 PM on January 10, 2010
posted by Madamina at 4:23 PM on January 10, 2010
Response by poster: I ate my last sweet potato for lunch. Bummer! BUT, I do have russets, and I think I'm going to give it a go with a little mashed potato as filler. Bonus: I get to eat bites of mashed potatoes. Yeah! I'll post later with a yum-rating.
posted by nosila at 4:25 PM on January 10, 2010
posted by nosila at 4:25 PM on January 10, 2010
Do you have any tahini? Spiced right, it adds the heaviness of a cheese sauce (due to a temporary dietary restriction, I used tahini to make a very good alfredo-like sauce last week. It was pretty tasty and had the right amount of fat to satisfy the creamy cheese need).
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 4:27 PM on January 10, 2010
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 4:27 PM on January 10, 2010
Last enchiladas I made had a line of refried beans smeared down the tortilla before I threw in the chicken. Then sauce over the top like usual and bake. They were delicious and not dry at all. You could use mole there instead of beans I think.
Otherwise I generally just mix some of the sauce with the meat filling (along with whatever else I'm putting in there, generally mushrooms, capsicums, some tomato) then the same sauce over the top. Maybe one third inside/two thirds on top. The only place I put cheese is a sprinkle over the top of the whole thing to go crispy (which isn't necessary) and they're never dry or wet.
posted by shelleycat at 4:28 PM on January 10, 2010
Otherwise I generally just mix some of the sauce with the meat filling (along with whatever else I'm putting in there, generally mushrooms, capsicums, some tomato) then the same sauce over the top. Maybe one third inside/two thirds on top. The only place I put cheese is a sprinkle over the top of the whole thing to go crispy (which isn't necessary) and they're never dry or wet.
posted by shelleycat at 4:28 PM on January 10, 2010
How much 2% milk? Do you have lemon juice or vinegar? You could whip up some queso fresco.
It's not melty, but it is delicious!
posted by Sallyfur at 4:39 PM on January 10, 2010
It's not melty, but it is delicious!
posted by Sallyfur at 4:39 PM on January 10, 2010
Actually, instead of traditional oven cooked enchiladas, since you don't have the cheese, why not make something like taquitos instead? Put the shredded chicken in a tortilla, roll it tight, secured it with toothpicks. You can deep-fry it, put a little bit of oil in the pan for a shallow fry, or even dry cook them, and the flour tortillas will crisp nicely either way. Then you can use the enchilada sauce as a dip, or lay them out on a plate, heat the enchilada sauce on the stove, then ladle it over the taquitos.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:27 PM on January 10, 2010
posted by Ghidorah at 5:27 PM on January 10, 2010
You probably already ate by this point, but these enchiladas with pumpkin sauce don't have anything inside the enchiladas but chicken and scallions. (I haven't made them, but someone linked to the recipe in a recent thread.)
posted by cabingirl at 5:40 PM on January 10, 2010
posted by cabingirl at 5:40 PM on January 10, 2010
Response by poster: I did already eat. For the filling, I used sauteed onions/garlic, shredded chicken, mashed taters, spinach and sauce.
I made the sauce I linked above, which is really great! It's a mole-inspired sauce with a chunk of chocolate added at the end.
The enchiladas are delicious! The mashed potatoes are really unobtrusive but give it a really nice texture. I think I like it better than cheese, actually, because you can taste the ingredients and the sauce and it's not at all greasy. My lunches this week will be yummy and relatively good for me. Success!
There are a lot of other great ideas up there...I'll give them a try sometime. Thanks everyone!
posted by nosila at 6:13 PM on January 10, 2010
I made the sauce I linked above, which is really great! It's a mole-inspired sauce with a chunk of chocolate added at the end.
The enchiladas are delicious! The mashed potatoes are really unobtrusive but give it a really nice texture. I think I like it better than cheese, actually, because you can taste the ingredients and the sauce and it's not at all greasy. My lunches this week will be yummy and relatively good for me. Success!
There are a lot of other great ideas up there...I'll give them a try sometime. Thanks everyone!
posted by nosila at 6:13 PM on January 10, 2010
Response by poster: By the way, I didn't fry the potatoes after mashing them because I was looking for some creaminess.
posted by nosila at 6:14 PM on January 10, 2010
posted by nosila at 6:14 PM on January 10, 2010
Best answer: There's a style of enchiladas you see in Mexico and the rare Mexican restaurant in the U.S. that has little or no cheese. The point with enchiladas is the tortilla fried in chili sauce. It means "chillied tortillas".
So, first, make your chillied tortillas. Simmer the enchilada sauce in a skillet. Put some oil in another skillet. Dip a tortilla in the sauce and the slide it into the hot oil, and fry it about 20 seconds/side, just until it's soft and chewy. Put it on a plate, folded in whatever arrangement looks attractive to you. That's an enchilada! You probably want two of them per plate.
Now, you can top that enchilada with your shredded chicken, some rings of white onion, and some shredded romaine lettuce tossed with just a tiny bit of oil and vinegar. Just pile it all on top of the enchilada.
This is an absolutely traditional Mexican enchilada, and it's delicious.
posted by chrchr at 6:39 PM on January 10, 2010 [3 favorites]
So, first, make your chillied tortillas. Simmer the enchilada sauce in a skillet. Put some oil in another skillet. Dip a tortilla in the sauce and the slide it into the hot oil, and fry it about 20 seconds/side, just until it's soft and chewy. Put it on a plate, folded in whatever arrangement looks attractive to you. That's an enchilada! You probably want two of them per plate.
Now, you can top that enchilada with your shredded chicken, some rings of white onion, and some shredded romaine lettuce tossed with just a tiny bit of oil and vinegar. Just pile it all on top of the enchilada.
This is an absolutely traditional Mexican enchilada, and it's delicious.
posted by chrchr at 6:39 PM on January 10, 2010 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Dang, chrchr, that sounds great! I will do it next time for sure.
posted by nosila at 3:44 PM on January 14, 2010
posted by nosila at 3:44 PM on January 14, 2010
Response by poster: And, uh, for posterity, the post title is a quote from the fabulous 80s BMX movie Rad.
posted by nosila at 7:45 PM on January 20, 2010
posted by nosila at 7:45 PM on January 20, 2010
« Older Why is fruit so much more nutritious than candy... | Why did Oscar Acosta sign his letters to Hunter S... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Elminster24 at 3:43 PM on January 10, 2010 [1 favorite]