I slept through the night last night!! That’s big news, seeing as how we’ve been living in Austin for 52 days and every single one of those nights I’ve been woken up somewhere between 1:30am and 5:30am by a certain cat who thinks he needs to go battle the creatures of the dark. I’m not going to name any names, but a certain cat whose name rhymes with Mercy, became an outdoor cat on about day 4 of being in Austin when he figured out how to make an escape through our window screen (it wasn’t pretty). Every night since then he wakes me up to let him out, I stumble my way to the door, and he goes off adventuring. Not the most awesome nightly activity.
We had been debating just leaving him outside every night, all night, but a message came from a neighbor that there had been some coyotes in the area, so we were a little nervous. After another week of being woke up right in the middle of the best sleeping hours, we said a prayer and put him out at bedtime, and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, perfect sleep! That needs to become a trend.
Just like these enchilada need to become a trend.
Did you like that smooooth segue?? 🙂
We don’t eat shrimp nearly enough at our house and when I told Kev I was making some Shrimp Enchiladas this week, he was super skeptical. I can’t blame him – especially if you’re thinking of a basic enchilada recipe with a red sauce; that would not be quite right. These chichiladas (as we fondly like to call them), are not your typical run of the mill recipe. They’re so unique, so flavorful, and pack on the perfect amount of heat with the chipotle peppers and jalapenos.
If you’re not necessarily a diehard shrimp lover, there are enough other elements that you won’t be overpowered by shrimp flavor. I’m thinking they would also be amazing as a seafood medley of shrimp, crab, and maybe a flaky white fish. For this time though, make them exactly as written. Also, when we moved to Austin I discovered that every grocery store makes fresh tortillas daily, so if you can get your hand on some of those it’ll be so worth it!! The ones I’ve found and am super excited about are a flour and corn mixture; they stay in their proper form better than corn tends to do, but yet they still have the nutty corn flavor that’s so so good.
kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place thawed, peeled and deveined shrimp into a bowl and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss gently then place onto prepared baking sheet.
Roast until just cooked through and pink, about 6-8 minutes. Let cool then dice into bite size pieces.
In large skillet over medium high heat, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and add garlic, onion, cabbage, and chipotle peppers. Cook for 3-4 minutes until veggies start to soften. Add in spinach and stir gently until wilted. Take off heat and stir in oregano, cayenne, and cooked shrimp.
To assemble, scoop ⅓ cup of shrimp mixture into tortilla, then sprinkle with shredded cheese. Wrap into a burrito shape then place seam side down in a 9 x 13 inch pan sprayed with cooking oil.
Repeat with remaining tortillas and shrimp mixture.
To make sauce, melt butter in a medium saucepan and sprinkle flour over top of butter to create a roux. Cook over medium heat until starting to brown and bubble. Slowly add in chicken broth, constantly whisking so there are no lumps. Continuing to cook over medium heat, add in sour cream, minced jalapeno, and garlic powder. Turn up to medium high heat and cook, whisking constantly until mixture starts to lightly boil and thicken. Take off heat and add salt and pepper to taste as well as chopped cilantro.
Pour half of the sauce over top of the enchiladas and reserve the remainder to serve alongside the enchiladas.
Cover enchiladas with foil and bake in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.