Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Green Chile Chicken Daiyalada Pie

This is a stand by recipe now.  The chicken can be prepped a day or two before just save the poaching liquid separately.  We like the flavor we get from cheap Mexican beer, but chicken broth works fine for poaching.  Make extra chicken and have tacos or chicken salad with flair.

As always, this recipe works with real cheese.

Green Chile Chicken Daiyalada Pie

Layers of corn tortillas, non-dairy cheese, seasoned shredded chicken, and green chile enchilada sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 - 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast boneless skinless
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seed
  • 1/4 tbsp black pepper
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2  large onion, sliced
  • 6 fl oz mexican beer
  • 1 28 ounce can  green chile enchilada sauce (we like Las  Palmas brand available at MexGrocer.com)
  • 1 serving cooking spray
  • 1 cup chopped onions finely minced
  • 2 8 ounce packages Daiya shreds (we like mix of cheddar and mozzarella [Edit: 05/13/2013- Pepperjack is very good in this recipe!])
  • 24 corn tortillas

Directions

  1. In a large, heavy skillet heat oil over Medium high heat. Add cumin seed, chicken and onion slices. Sprinkle with black pepper. Reduce heat to medium.
  2. When chicken is "white" around the edges turn it over and add the whole garlic cloves. Cook another few minutes until that side is no longer pink. Add beer, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook at least 20 minutes.
  3. Remove chicken to a shallow bowl or plate and chill.
  4. Bring remaining liquid to a boil and scrape skillet to gather all the flavors. Mash the onion and garlic into the sauce. Reduce the liquid by about half of the original 6 ounces. Add the entire 28 ounce can of enchilada sauce to the skillet and remove from the heat.
  5. Spray a 13 X 9 baking dish/pan with cooking spray. Shred the Chicken using two forks or your fingers. Pre-heat oven to 350 F
  6. Layers start with about 1/3 cup of sauce in the bottom of the pan. then 6 tortillas, "cheese", onions, chicken, another 1/3 to 1/2 cup of sauce. Finishing with 1 cup or more sauce spooned carefully around all the edges and over the top so that there are no dry spaces and topped with cheese. (all the chicken and onion should be inside) Staggering the gaps by breaking tortillas in half while sill only using 6 per layer is a good idea.
  7. Cover with foil.
  8. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes until the center reaches 145 F.

Notes:
  • We ran out of Cumin seed so I added 1 teaspoon of ground cumin with the garlic. It was a bit less smoky but still good. 
  • I've also added coriander, oregano, and/or dried chili flake (red pepper) with the garlic.  .  Usually just a 1/2 teaspoon to 1 1/2 teaspoons. 
  • A blender, stick or jar,  can be useful to combine that poaching liquid with enchilada sauce.

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