chicken enchiladas with roasted tomatillo-chile sauce with a side of saffron rice

This recipe from Food Network's Tyler Florence was not only fun to eat, but it was fun to make. I appreciated that it used a store-bought rotisserie chicken and even made it a bit easier by picking up pre-made guacamole and using a saffron rice mix.  Since only Chef D and I would be eating enchiladas (those picky children just miss out on all the fun!), I only needed half of the chicken.  I used the other half to make Chef D's favorite chicken salad which we'll use tomorrow night as a sandwich side for our chicken and dumplings (I am moving around my menu a bit based upon some scheduling changes on my calendar).

The enchiladas were a little softer than I had anticipated, but were yummy nonetheless.  Chef D gave a thumbs up, so I will keep this recipe in the queue for awhile.

guatamales

That is the name that Chef D came up with for these tamales. They were made by a lady from Guatemala, not Mexico, and they are very different from the tamales we are accustomed to. Instead of being steamed inside of a dried corn husk, they are steamed within a huge banana leaf. They are also HUGE, with a whole piece of chicken (sometimes with a bone!), surrounded by mucho masa, and covered with a chocolate-infused molé. I served it with leftover Tijuana Kitchen rice from last Friday's meal and a crisp tossed salad.

REVIEW:
Since this was not cooked by me I am just going to provide a general review. Chef D and I agreed that we prefer mexican tamales to guatamales. Although the chicken itself was quite tender, there was too much masa and the sauce just did not seem to complement the course. We will not purchase these again.

taquitos

This set of recipes come from an episode of Food Network's Guy's Big Bite with Guy Fieri. I tried to follow the recipes as closely as I could (and came pretty close, I might add!). They can be found at: taquitos, tijuana kitchen rice, and strawberry margarita. Oh, and to clarify, Chef D informs me that these are not taquitos, but flautas. He explained that taquitos would be like little tacos, just folded in half, whereas flautas are rolled.

REVIEW:
Goal: Today's goal was to take a little extra effort and prepare something new -- be a little creative.



Flavor:
Chef D initially found the flautas to be bland, even after adding the guacamole. However, he found the tomatillo sauce plus a little salt and pepper made them very flavorful. Spanish rice is not his favorite, and he rarely eats it if it is part of a meal served when we are dining out, so I was definitely apprehensive about how he would handle it being served. I was pleased to hear that he thought it had a good flavor and actually ate all that was on his plate! Chef D prefers his margaritas on the rocks, but agreed this frozen version was acceptable.
I also found the filling for the flautas to be bland, but the tomatillo sauce was just the kick it needed. The rice and margaritas were just perfect.

Texture:
Chef D gives both the flautas and rice a thumbs up on texture. The margarita was much to thin at first, so we had add more ice, and therefore more tequila. It still was not thick enough, so we threw it into the ice cream maker for a few minutes. Perhaps it was not supposed to be frozen, but that is the way I like it, so that is what we did. I appreciate Chef D bowing to my wishes here.
I loved the crunch of the fried corn tortillas. They really added so much to the flautas. I have very little experience in making spanish rice, so I was thrilled that it turned out not mushy and just about perfect. What can I say about the margaritas? I can say that I am happy we have an ice cream maker.

Ease of Preparation:
Even though this recipe was tauted as easy and taking less than an hour, it took me a little longer. I started at 4:15 pm and we did not sit down to eat until 6:05 pm. Although I was certainly capable of preparing and cooking this meal, it was a bit more work than I had anticipated. There is much that could have been accomplished in advance, and I will take that into consideration for the next time.

Recommendations for future use:
The potatoes are really unnecessary for the flauta filling, and just add more carbs and calories, so I will not include them the next time I make the flautas. I cut the recipes in half, but could easily cut them in fourths and have adequate food. There was an enormous amount of guacamole left. This meal is definitely high on the carb and calorie count, so I will save it for a special meal. I will probably just use pre-made guacamole or use a more simple recipe instead of this one. I also realize now that I could have used the leftover chicken from Monday's meal, and will keep that in mind in the future.

I am now replacing the former "goal success" category with "rating", providing a place to rate the overall performance of the meal, not only related to how it met the goal.

Rating: 4 stars
I really wanted to give it 5, but the flavor issues with the flauta filling had to cause me to hold back. I would definitely cook this again.