Cooking - Easy Enchiladas

Enchiladas are delicious, and slightly better for you than most mexican foods.

Now I know you can buy kits for things like this, but why would you? I assume most of you have a basic spice cupboard and the ability to get fresh veg and meat, so don't bother.

The only special thing you need is tortilla wraps (traditionally corn wraps, but as you'll see below, I am not using these). Now you can buy these from most major supermarkets, however, it seems like more fun to make your own, and if you have the time, go for it, I've be meaning to do it for a while now, however, due to kitchen restraints at this point in time, store bought it is (recipe to make your own here: http://goo.gl/LaTH).

So then, if any of you are in the dark at this point, enchiladas are chicken and veg, fried, and rolled in tortillas, placed side by side in a baking tray, smothered in tomato sauce, with cheese on top, and baked to finish them off.

Oh yeah, remember to use free range chicken, though that goes without saying really.

So, an account of how to do it, and I promise it's easy as pie (remember to be tasting all the time and adding more salt and pepper IF needed, only don't lick raw chicken, not a great idea).

1. Chicken and veg: (you can marinade the chicken if you like, up to you, if you choose to, oil, lemon juice, crushed garlic, chilli powder, paprika and a dash of tabasco will do the trick) fry the chicken in bite sized piece until browned, do the same with some peppers, onion and mushrooms (remember that mushrooms don't take long to cook at all, and are better in a dryer pan than soaking in water).

2. Tomato sauce: leaving the fried ingredients to cool, open a tin of tomatoes, add a finely chopped chilli, some crushed garlic, paprika, chill powder, tabasco (preferably the new chipotle variety), salt and pepper, a little ground cumin and some tomato purée. Heat this gently to a simmer and allow to reduce a little, remember to add a little more water if it looks too dry. Taste, and adjust as necessary, we want a little spice and heat, but still some sweetness coming through from the tomato, you can always add heat with some hot sauce, but not take it away as easily!

3. Make: divide the chicken and veg amongst the wraps, roll them up and pop them in the baking tray (which you should rub with a little oil beforehand). Now smother them with the sauce, nice and evenly, then grate a little cheese over the top to give a nice topping.

4. Bake: in the oven at maybe 180C for 20-30 minutes, until the cheese is all golden and delicious looking, bear in mind that everything in the wraps is already cooked and this is just bringing it all together so nothing will be raw if you undercook it.

5. Eat: my favourite part, share the delicious with family friends and loved ones.

Happy cooking guys!

edit: photo not to follow, my camera is out of battery and I didn't bring the charger, bad luck, promise lots of nice pics in future posts.