Chicken Enchiladas for the VP Debate

For the US VP Debate, I decided to make some spicy Mexican food and drink some wine.  Seemed like the patriotic thing to do.  Or something.

I haven't made these enchiladas in about a year, but used to make them all the time.  They turned out pretty good.  

Ingredients:

• tortillas
• ground chicken
• frozen red, green, and yellow pepper strips
• onion
• garlic
• can of black beans
• can of refried red beans
• can of diced tomatoes and peppers
• Mexican sour cream
• Mexican melting cheese
• Valentina's hot sauce (water chili peppers)
• Goya Salsita (ancho chili peppers)
• white pepper
• red pepper
• black pepper
• kosher salt
• garlic salt
• celery salt
• Casillero del Diablo - Carmenere 2007

Procedure:

    To start with, I caramelized the onions and peppers in olive oil with some garlic and the spices.  Once that was cooked, I added the ground chicken, which cooks pretty quickly.  When the chicken was getting there, I added some of the red wine and an ounce or two of each of the hot sauces.  Then I added the three cans - tomatoes, black beans, and refried red beans.  This all simmered until it started thickening up as the moisture evaporated.  Then I added a little of the cheese and some Mexican sour cream.  That finished off the enchilada filling.  I then put about two spoonfuls of filling in each tortilla, rolled them up, and put them in a baking pan.  Once the pan was full, I covered all the enchiladas with Mexican melting cheese.  This all went in the oven at 300 for about 15-20 minutes, until the cheese was nicely melted.  Done!

Resulting Deliciousness:

    These enchiladas turned out a lot spicier than I usually make them.  I didn't realize it had been a long time since I ate some good spicy food.  It took a while for my palate to get used to it and be able to taste the flavors over the spice.  Once it did, these enchiladas were great.  The wine went much better with them than I thought it would.  It is a very flavorful wine and it complimented the spicy food quite well.  

Roasted Chicken, Roasted Veggetables, and Quinoa Pilaf

Last night, I cooked some of the best roasted chicken I've ever had.  Check it out...

Ingredients:

• Roasted Chicken
• one whole 5lb chicken
• garlic olive oil (garlic soaked in olive oil for a few days)
• rosemary
• rub
• kosher salt
• cane sugar
• red pepper
• white pepper
• black pepper
• garlic salt
• celery salt
• paprika
• cloves
• mustard powder
• oregano
• basil
• Roasted Vegetables
• potatoes
• carrots
• onion
• celery
• rub
• rosemary
• olive oil
• Cotes du Rhone Terre des Lauzeraies - a French red wine blend
• Woodchuck hard cider 
•  Quinoa Pilaf
• red quinoa
• frozen vegetables
• garlic
• sea salt
• oregano
• basil
• celery salt
• honey

Procedure:

Chicken and Potatoes

    To start with, I put a chicken roasting rack in a roasting pan.  This will hold the bird above the vegetables, keeping it all in the air and letting the drippings hit the rest of the food.  I then filled the bottom of the pan with the chopped up vegetables and seasoning.  Once that layer was ready, I smeared the chicken with garlic olive oil, rubbed on the rub, and set it on the rack.  Onions, rosemary, and half an orange got stuffed into the chicken's cavity and rosemary and garlic were placed on top.  All of this went into the oven at 325 for about 2-2.5 hours, until all of the meat reached at least 165F.

Quinoa Pilaf

    The pilaf is the same as I make all the time, and have posted before - just boil the quinoa as you normally would (same as rice), with a little extra water, frozen vegetables, and some seasonings.

Resulting Deliciousness

    This was some of the best roasted chicken I've ever made.  It was a little dry in a few places like the top of the breasts, but I'm spoiled since I'm constantly brining everything I make.  I wish I could have brined this, but I didn't buy the chicken in advance, so that wasn't really an option.  However, the rub and all the rosemary and garlic made this chicken absolutely delicious.  The skin was nice and crisp, and not dried out.  The vegetables were a little fatty from all the drippings and olive oil - next time I'll look for a bird that's a little less fatty and try not to go overboard with the oil.  The quinoa pilaf was excellent, as always.  I also really liked the red wine that I picked out.  It was on sale for $8 and the Whole Foods wine guy was right that it would go well with poultry.