Tonight I made THE Pioneer Woman's White Chicken Enchiladas. When I made my meal plan for this 2 weeks last Saturday, I had planned to make Easy Chicken and Dumplings for tonight. I picked up chicken breasts on my shopping trip for just this purpose. Then last Monday I saw this post on Ree, the Pioneer Woman's blog. Forget chicken and dumplings, I'm making this! With shredded chicken, heavy whipping cream, onions, green chilies, AND a jalapeno in the filling plus sour cream, more green chilies, and 1-1/2 cups of Monterrey Jack cheese in the sauce, I couldn't resist. I knew that it had to be ridiculously good. I didn't do a step by step pictorial on this one. PW's skills put me to shame. Just check out her blog if you'd like to see pictures of this project. As always, they are beautiful.
Here they are, fresh out of the oven.
And served up with some Rice a Roni Spanish Rice. Yep, from a box. The PW served hers with real homemade Mexican rice. You can check that out at The Pioneer Woman Cooks too. The enchiladas were challenge enough for me tonight, thank you very much!
Okay, the verdict: Obviously really good. Delicious. The crazy thing is...and I really can't believe that I'm about to type this...I still like my Chicken Enchilada recipe better. The one that I've been making for years. Maybe it's because I'm used to it? Maybe it's because I like the use of coriander in my sauce versus the paprika in Ree's recipe? Maybe it's that I feel less guilt when I eat my version with no cream, no sour cream, less cheese. Maybe it's that mine comes together just a little quicker with less ingredients and less chopping? I'm not sure what it is. Please don't misunderstand, I still loved PW's chicken enchiladas. What's not to love? I'm just surprised that I still like my recipe more, that's all.
I should note that I did take a couple of liberties with PW's recipe. I used just chicken breast, rather than a whole cut up chicken. I used cafe style enchilada tortillas made with corn flour...not regular wheat flour tortillas, but not full on corn tortillas... and I didn't fry them first. And last, I didn't shred my own cheese. I just bought it pre-shredded from a bag.
You know what I will take with me from PW's chicken enchiladas and apply to mine? The addition of fresh cilantro on top! That totally made the dish for me. I'm not sure why I haven't been topping my enchiladas with fresh cilantro all along.
Adios, amigos! Have a good night!
I haven't tried PW enchiladas yet. I like the idea of yours being less work! I also like the corn and flour tortillas you used.
ReplyDeleteI always seem to go with a red enchilada sauce when I make mine. I'll have to give hers (and yours) a try.
You probably like your's better because they are better!!! Nothing against PW's or anything, and go ahead and color me crazy, but I pretty much KNOW you're a great cook! It's fun to try her stuff though, it's pretty good country cookin' and she's quite the celebrity!!
ReplyDeleteI keep seeing enchiladas and I'm starting to have a honkering for them! I think I'll have to go for the no cream variety just because I have to cut calories somewhere, and it's not going to be in my desserts. LOL
ReplyDeleteYou dish sounds creamy and delicious! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteThey look lovely Krista. Nothing wrong with liking your own better. I love PW but I prefer the texas sheet cake I make more than hers. She is an awesome inspiration and her food is wonderful, so is yours.
ReplyDeleteOooh, they look wonderful! But with all that cheese, of course it'll be delicious.
ReplyDeleteit looks great, and all those extras should have made it unbeatable. But cooking to taste means just that, fun to try new stuff, even if it just reinforces our tried and trues...
ReplyDeleteBut I would love the idea of heavy cream too
Krista, you are just too cute. There is nothing wrong with liking your own recipe better. I feel that way about some of the foods I cook as well, grins.
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