Archives for March, 2012

Chicken Enchiladas with Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa Recipe

Posted on Mar 15, 2012 under Archives, Recipes | No Comment
Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken Enchiladas

This week I am writing an article on Baja Fresh for my column on AOL.  I started to wonder why I never cook Mexican food at home and decided to try out this yummy enchilada recipe with roasted tomatillo chile salsa.  I had a bunch of extra roasted chicken on hand and this was a perfect way to use it up.  The recipe came out great, here it is:

Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa

1 pound tomatillos, husked

1 white onion peeled, sliced and quartered

2 jalapenos

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves

1/2 lime juiced

ingredients for salsa

ingredients for salsa

Preheat onion to 400 degrees.  For the salsa, place tomatillos, onion, garlic and jalapenos on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes.

Roast the veggies for the salsa

Roast the veggies for the salsa

Roasted veggies

Roasted veggies

Transfer the roasted vegetables and juices to a food processor.   Add cumin, salt, cilantro and lime juice and pulse mixture until well combined but still chunky.

salsa

salsa

Enchiladas

Olive Oil

1/2 medium onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 cup flour

2 cups chicken stock

chicken, about 3 chicken breasts shredded

5 flour tortillas

1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

ingrediants for enchiladas

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

chopped onion and chicken

chopped onion and chicken

Add onions and cook until soft and caramelized, about 7 minutes.

caramelize onions and garlic

caramelize onions and garlic

Add garlic and cumin and cook another 2 minutes.  Sprinkle flour and stir and gradually add chicken stock to make a veloute.  Continue stirring until liquid thickens.

Veloute

Veloute

Turn off the heat and add half of the roasted tomatillo chile salsa. Fold in the shredded chicken.

salsa with chicken

salsa with chicken

Change oven temperature to 350 degrees.  Take a large baking dish and place a little of the salsa on the bottom.   Put a scoop of the shredded chicken salsa mix on top of the tortilla and top it with cheese.

Fill tortillas

Fill tortillas

Fold the tortilla and roll like a cigar. After all the tortillas are filled in the dish, pour the remaining salsa over them and top with cheese.

enchiladas in dish1

Ready for the oven

Ready for the oven

Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes until bubbly and cracked on top.

Finished enchiladas

Finished enchiladas

I added sour cream and avocados to my finished enchiladas and made a pot of rice seasoned with tumeric.

Dinner

Dinner

Whiskey Wednesday’s at the Next Door Lounge

Posted on Mar 03, 2012 under Uncategorized | No Comment
Inside Next Door Lounge

Inside Next Door Lounge

The Next Door Lounge would be an appropriate setting for the gangsters from the Prohibition era when speak-easies were the unlawful bars that sprang up across America.

It’s not really clear whether the owner’s want you to know it’s there.  Don’t look for a sign, there isn’t one but there is a big key on the door and a doorman at the valet stand asking you for the secret password.

Outside Next Door Lounge

Outside Next Door Lounge

I, along with my friend Dalbert, visited the new 1920’s inspired bar and lounge to participate in one of their new “Whiskey Wednesday’s” tastings.  Each Wednesday until April 11, a different collection of whiskey and scotch can be sampled.  During the samplings, a particular spirit genre is showcased and explained.  Flights of four pours are offered from some of the world’s most prominent distilleries including Bulleit Rye, Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal and Buchanans.

inside 2 long NDL

We entered through a velvet curtain to find a bunch of living room vignette seating areas with oversized leather couches, high back chairs and antique cocktail tables.   A black and white film with subtitles projected along the dining room wall and diners sampled cocktails and small bites on two large communal dining tables.

Movie screen at Next Door Lounge

Movie screen at Next Door Lounge

We were seated at one of the long tables for our tasting.  We attended the North American Whiskey sampling, including Bulleit Bourbon, Bulleit Rye George Dickel and Crown Royal Cask.  Each week varies with other tastings focusing on Blended Scotches, Whiskey’s of the World and Single Malt Scotches.

Whiskey

Whiskey

Our tasting and pouring guide Natalie informed us that although many believe that you shouldn’t mix whiskey with water, adding H20 actually enhances the flavor of whiskey.  So we tried all flights first straight up and then with water.

whiskeys

She also informed us to keep the whiskey on our tongue for the number of seconds that each whiskey took to produce (10 year whiskey, don’t swallow for 10 seconds) to maximize the flavor of the spirit.

Our first sample was the Bulleit Bourbon, our fave of the night, a sweet 28% rye whiskey (rest is corn) with hints of vanilla.

Next came the Bulleit Rye, our least fave of the four, 95% rye very strong, spicy and peppery.

Third was the George Dickel smooth Tennessee Whiskey with a piney woody taste.

Last was Crown Royal Cask, a Canadian whiskey blend aged in Cognac barrels.  This was the least strong and was our second fave of the night.

tasting guide Natalie, Dalbert and me

tasting guide Natalie, Dalbert and me

After the tasting, our group was able to enjoy a special cocktail created from each taster’s favorite scotch or whiskey.  We also enjoyed South of the Border pizza – with grilled chicken, corn, green pepper, red onion, mozzarella, avocado and chipotle aioli and steak and arugula pizza with steak, arugula, herbs, sour cream and horseradish.

south of the border pizza

south of the border pizza

Steak and arugula pizza

Steak and arugula pizza

We learned a lot about whiskey and scotch and got to sample a nice flight.  I highly recommend visiting the Next Door Lounge for a step into the past, and a damn good cocktail, the next time you are in the Hollywood area.  Whiskey Wednesday’s are $30, every Wednesday until April 11, call 323/465-5505 for reservations, located at 1154 North Highland in Hollywood.

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