lost and found

The title should be more like “forgot and found”…

Last weekend when Marissa’s friends came up from Tucson, she and I made a grocery run to Food City for inexpensive Mexican food items. I found such a great price on poblanos that I purchased ten of the delicious and versatile peppers. I used 2 last weekend and placed the rest in one of the refrigerator’s produce drawers… and promptly forgot about them.

After discovering them yesterday, I quickly roasted, peeled, and seeded all eight. Two were used for these enchiladas and the remaining six will be put to good use in tomorrow’s post… stay tuned!

Caramelized Onion and Poblano Enchiladas

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium red onions, peeled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms, re-hydrated in 1 cup boiling water
4-ounces cream cheese, room temperature
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 poblano peppers; roasted, peeled, and seeded; divided
10  6-inch flour or corn tortillas
3 cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese, divided
Garnish choices: chopped tomatoes, minced cilantro, sour cream, salsa, diced avocado, or guacamole

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onions; sauté until soft and translucent, stir in sugar and continue to sauté until brown, about 20 minutes.

Use a slotted spoon to lift the mushrooms out of the soaking liquid and drain them on a paper towel. Slowly pour the mushroom liquid into a measuring cup, avoiding the grit on the bottom of the bowl. Reserve the liquid in the measuring cup.

Add mushrooms to the onions and sauté until tender for 1 minute. Pour the mushroom liquid into the skillet and boil until juices are reduced to a glaze, stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the cream cheese until melted. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor; blend together the sour cream, cilantro, cumin, chili powder, and 1 of the poblano peppers until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread 1/4 cup of the sour cream sauce on the bottom of a 13×9-inch glass baking dish. Set aside the baking dish and remaining sour cream sauce.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the remaining poblano pepper into thin strips.

Lay the tortillas on a work surface and divided the onion mixture evenly between them, placing the mixture in the center of each tortilla. Place the pepper strips and 2 cups of the cheddar cheese on top of the onion mixture, dividing evenly between the ten tortillas. Roll up each tortilla tightly, leaving the ends open, and place seam side down in the baking dish.

Spoon the remaining sour cream sauce over the filled tortillas. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of cheddar cheese over the enchiladas. Cover the baking dish with foil and place in preheated oven. Bake until the enchiladas are hot, about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake for another 10 minutes. Serve hot with garnishes of your choice.

Serves 5