Chicken and Molé Enchiladas
This recipe for Molé Enchiladas uses healthier ingredients and cooking techniques, keeping the same bold flavor as the traditional recipe, but with fewer calories, fat, sodium, and cholesterol.
Ingredients
non-aerosol cooking spray1½ lbs. chicken breast and/or trimmed thigh meat cooked in Molé Sauce, if desired
16 organic or regular stone ground corn tortillas
1 medium white onion, thinly sliced
½ cup (2 oz.) fresh Cojita cheese part skim milk grated
12 tbsp. Crema Mexicana , Mexican table cream
Molé Sauce
5 cups water, divided into 4 ½ cups and ½ cup
¼ cup plus 2 tbsp. unbleached white or whole wheat flour
2 tbsp. reduced sodium chicken soup base
1 large yellow onion
2 to 3 fresh garlic cloves, peeled
¼ cup raisins
3 to 5 tbsp. preferably fresh ground chile powder (no salt added)
2 tbsp. best quality smooth peanut or almond butter
4 tbsp. dutch processed cocoa powder
3 tbsp. sugar
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. granulated garlic powder
¼ tsp. ground anise seeds
¼ tsp. ground coriander seeds
¼ tsp. ground cardamon – optional
¼ to ½ tsp. salt
Cook’s Note: Use a coffee grinder to grind dried whole chilies in to chile powder. Not only is it fresher and more flavorful, you can also better control how spicy it is by the types and the amounts of chile pods, seeds, and veins you grind into your chile powder.
Dried chiles range in heat from the mild New Mexico and California chiles, to the mild-medium hot ancho and sweet darker mulato chiles, to the very hot pasilla and chipotle chiles.
Dried chiles range in heat from the mild New Mexico and California chiles, to the mild-medium hot ancho and sweet darker mulato chiles, to the very hot pasilla and chipotle chiles.
Directions
I. Pour 4½ cups cool or warm water or defatted chicken stock into a 4‑quart saucepan. Adding a third of the flour at a time, rapidly whisk into liquid until smooth; whisk in chicken base and set aside.2. Using a blender or food processor, combine onion with garlic and raisins and process until smooth. Add all remaining ingredients and process 2 to 3 minutes into a smooth paste.
3. Whisk paste into liquid/flour mixture. Add ½ cup stock or water to processor or blender and process to remove remaining ingredients from container; add to sauce.
4. Cook sauce over medium heat, whisking until sauces reaches a low boil and begins to thicken. Reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes, whisking often.
5. Adjust seasonings, adding more salt, chile, or cocoa powder, etc. if necessary and remove from heat. Cover sauce and set aside until ready to reheat.
To Prepare Enchiladas:
I. Remove fat from breast and/or thigh meat with sharp knife. Stirring frequently, bring sauce back to simmer over medium-high; add meat, reduce heat to low and simmer 30 minutes or until meat is tender. Remove meat from sauce and set aside to cool before cutting or shredding into small pieces.
2. Pour 3 cups sauce into a 13‑ by 9‑inch baking dish. Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and preheat on medium for 2 minutes. Cook 2 tortillas at a time, 30 seconds per side. Covering with a towel, stack tortillas to keep from moist. Re-spray skillet every few tortillas.
3. Preheat oven to 350 F. Add one tortilla at a time to dish, coating both sides in sauce. Place a ½ cup meat along center of tortilla and roll up, seam-side down, side by side. Repeat, adding more sauce as needed. As dish fills, dip tortillas in pan of sauce and make on top of others. Pour 1 to 2 cups sauce evenly over enchiladas. Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes, or until sauce is bubbling.
4. While enchiladas bake, re-heat remaining sauce over medium, stirring often. Remove enchiladas from oven. Remove foil and top each with a little more sauce followed by onion slices and cheese. Return pan to oven uncovered for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve creama Mexicana and extra sauce on the side.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information: 1 enchilada plus 1/2 cup sauce at 175 calories; 5g fat; 23g carbohydrate; 2g fiber; 12g protein; 30mg cholesterol; 700mg sodiumOriginal Nutrition Information: 1 enchiladas plus 1/2 cup sauce 302 calories; 20g fat; 28g carbohydrate; 2g fiber; 20g protein; 95mg cholesterol; 952mg sodium
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