Tuesday, November 12, 2019

A Retro Mexican Dinner


Dinner tonight: an enchilada casserole with green salsa, chicken, and sour cream.
And a bowl of papaya and mandarin oranges.
My inspiration: this very old cookbook from Sunset.
The original recipe, which I changed a bit to suit my taste.
This is a dish I remember making many years ago when we first moved from California to Michigan. At that time, this Sunset book, published in 1970, seemed to offer the closest approximation to the food we had enjoyed in cheap little Mexican restaurants on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley.

To make this dish as shown here, I used around a cup of salsa verde from a jar and six Trader Joe's corn tortillas. I added some onion, garlic, cumin and oregano to the chicken while I was cooking it. After slightly cooling the chicken, I mixed in sour cream -- rather than whipping cream as the recipe specifies. I used the green salsa to dip the tortillas, and to surround the enchiladas. So the dish was sort of inside-out. I baked the casserole for around 30 minutes. and served it with fresh jalapeño peppers and tomatoes as a garnish.

Of course this dish would be great for leftover chicken or turkey, so I recommend it for post-Thanksgiving consideration.




This blog post © 2019 by mae sander for mae food dot blog spot dot com.
If you read it at another site, it's been pirated.

17 comments:

Angie's Recipes said...

That looks like a really tasty and comforting meal. I seldom cook or have Mexican food...really should do more. Thanks for sharing, Mae.

Jeanie said...

I might have to make this one. It looks delicious. I copied the photo with the recipe but I'd better add your changes to it!

Story Time said...

I actually own that Sunset cook book, a gift from you, I think, around 50 years ago. So thank you--maybe I'll try this recipe.

Mae Travels said...

Several comments on this appeared on Facebook -- one question was:

Do you think you could substitute greek yoghurt for the sour cream?

My Answer: Yes, I think full-fat OR part-fat yogurt would work as the inside filling (what I did, as opposed to what the recipe says to do). Dust the cooked chicken with a little flour first, to stabilize the yogurt in the tortillas.

Pam said...

Wow! Sunset magazine, I forgot about that. When I lived in Louisville, KY, I had a subscription to that for years, and then much later, here in Cary, I picked the subscription again, need to renew it, after seeing this, loved all the goings on, food, etc, there and esp now since grandson lives in AZ. I just don't get Trader Joe's though, many friends love the place, but I'm hard pressed to buy anything there for some reason. Your casserole sounds fabulous, and I would've loved being at your table!

Iris Flavia said...

I never knew of Swiss Enchiladas!
We had a great, very small Mexican restaurant, sadly they went away.
Others are... not so yum here. And Hubby does not like it anyways...

Is Trader Joe's a shop? Here you get the/some products at ALDI only.

If we only had Turkey or Thanksgiving the way you celebrate!

P.S the second Link, Soßklopse, is English, if you are interested. It´s really yummy :-)

Mae Travels said...

@Iris: Trader Joe's is a chain of markets which have very good and inexpensive products. I have often mentioned using these products in a lot of things that I cook. The one that's near my house is not ver big, which means it's easier to shop there than in a big supermarket.

The founder was an American, but he sold it to one of the two Aldi brothers, but not the one that owns the chain called Aldi's. We also have Aldi's but it's a 13 minute drive rather than a 2 minute drive from my house.

mae

Kitchen Riffs said...

Some of those Sunset cookbooks are excellent! And wow, I haven't had Enchiladas Suizas in ages! Decades, I'll bet. They used to be really big on Mexican restaurant menus, but if they're still on them, I've been overlooking them. Fun post -- thanks.

Nil @ The Little House by the Lake said...

It looks so delicious.

Abbe@This is How I Cook said...

I have that same Sunset book! And I still refer to it!

Sherry's Pickings said...

swiss enchiladas? that made me giggle!

Tina said...

I have lots of old cookbooks like this. The photography from then compared to now wasn't always appealing (by today's standards) but the recipes are always great. Love this one.

Beth F said...

I still love the old Sunset cookbooks.

jama said...

Sounds simple and delicious! I remember my mom used to subscribe to Sunset magazine. I don't remember her ever making any of the recipes from it, though. Now I'm craving Mexican food!

Jackie McGuinness said...

I happened on a Sunset recipe the other day. I had forgotten about that publication.
I debated signing up for their newsletter, but didn't.

This recipe sounds good with your additions.

A Day in the Life on the Farm said...

I love those sunset cookbooks. The recipes I have tried are always great.

Debra Eliotseats said...

Congrats on the Foodies Read win! I remember a lot of those Sunset books! Very versatile recipe. Love the leftover turkey idea!