Mom and dad had been raving about the Tiger Shrimp Elegante Enchiladas they had eaten at El Charro in Tuscon AZ. Mom wanted to make some and had purchased a jar of Salsa Verde for that purpose. Loving a good challenge, I told her we were going to make our own sauce to make it as authentic as possible. I looked up the description on the El Charro website: “Jumbo shrimp with Applewood bacon and chunks of avocado in delicious green sauce”.
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| El Charro picture borrowed from The Examiner |
A salsa verde can be made with green chilies or tomatillos. Since we couldn’t find any tomatillos in mom’s grocery store, we decided to do a pepper sauce and add in a jar of her store bought salsa verde made with tomatillos. I picked 9 peppers that looked good, pick about 6-9 that suit your taste.
| Salsa Verde |
- 3 thai chilies (long green, hot)
- 4 mild green Anaheim chilies
- 2 poblano chilies (dark, smoky & spicy)
- 1/2 onion
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- 2 Tablespoons Flour
- 2 cups veggie stock (or bouillon + 2 cups water)
- 3/4 teaspoons salt
- Wash and clean peppers by cutting off tops and rinsing out seeds.
- Broil peppers in oven until browned, flipping until all sides roasted (about 4-5 minutes a side).
- Roughly chop.
- Spray olive oil in pan, sauté until fragrant and softened (about 2-4 minutes).
- Add flour and mix well.
- Stir in chopped chilies, stock, and salt. Simmer for 20 minutes.
- Let cool a bit, then puree in a blender/food processor.
Enchiladas
- Corn tortillas (about 9 fit in our baking dish)
- Cooked Shrimp (we used frozen fresh, prepared according to bag)
- Bacon (about 3-4 slices cooked in oven or microwave until crispy, drained on paper towels and crumbled)
- Avocado (1 sliced)
- Queso (a traditional white Mexican cheese, similar to mozzarella)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Pour some of the prepared sauce into the bottom of the baking dish.
Put a tortilla in the sauce and move around to coat, layer shrimp, avocado, crumbled bacon and cheese in tortilla. Roll tortilla up, repeat until 3×3 in pan, pour rest of sauce over top of tortillas, sprinkle with more cheese and bake about 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted, browned on top and heated through…..Serve with a green salad, refried beans and Mexican rice.
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| Green Enchiladas from El Charro |
Mexican Rice
- ½ onion, chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
- 1 cup Brown Rice
- 1 can diced tomatoes or about 1 cup fresh diced
- 2-3 tablespoons organic ketchup
- 1 cup Chicken or Veggie Broth/Stock
- 2 teaspoons Cumin
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
Add, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer an additional 12-15 minutes until rice is done. Taste, adjust seasonings and or add more liquid as needed.
Everything turned out delicious and Dad was thoroughly impressed, saying we nailed it perfectly!