Canning Salsa Verde & an Enchilada recipe using left-over Turkey

I have 2 composters next to my vegetable garden which I add to daily.  Sometimes we are a little premature when using the resulting compost to enrich our garden.  Sometimes the seeds are still intact, and sometimes things grow that we had not planned to grow.  I was away for most of the summer, and planted a pretty basic low maintenance vegetable garden.  One day when I was home overnight to check up on the house I noticed a bizarre looking rather tall plant in my garden.  I hesitated to pull it out although it was clear I had not planted it.  Something about the leaves made me hesitate, and so I let it grow.  This plant turned out to be a tomatillo plant! I had never thought of growing tomatillos in the Laurentians, but obviously it is possible.  The resulting tomatillos where a little on the small side when harvested just before our first frost, but considering they had grown from seed in an unmaintained water hungry garden I was not complaining.  

I decided to make salsa verde. Because I doubled the recipe I made the salsa verde with both green tomatoes and tomatillos, as I only had enough tomatillos for one recipe.  The recipe in question is fresh and delicious, but intended for those who cannot get their hands on tomatillos easily.  I also have a lot of green tomatoes, and although placing them in paper bag to ripen works I had more than I knew what to do with. I also halved the jalapenos in the recipe with the hope of serving it to my children.  It still packs some heat even with the reduction.

Salsa verde recipe

 

Leftover Turkey Enchiladas with Salsa Verde

Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit 1998

• 180 ml (3/4 cup) sour cream
• 500 ml (2 cups) grated Monterey Jack cheese
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) fresh cilantro, chopped
• 750 ml (3 cups) coarsely shredded cooked turkey
• 625 ml (2 1/2 cups) salsa verde
• Sufficient quantity canola or peanut oil 
• 12 5- to 6-inch wheat flour tortillas

• Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).   In a medium bowl mix together sour cream, 375 ml (1 ½ cup) cheese, cilantro and turkey. Spread 125 ml (1/2 cup) salsa verde in a 13 x 9 x 2-inch  baking dish. 
• Heat a large frying pan on medium high.  Add a little oil to the pan and lightly brown the tortillas on both sides.  Add a little more oil if needed. Spoon 60 ml (1/4 cup) turkey mixture in center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas. Arrange seam side down snugly in dish. Spoon 500 ml (2 cups) sauce over enchiladas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake enchiladas until heated through (about 30 minutes).

You do not need to  make the salsa verde recipe or have leftover turkey to make these enchiladas.  Good qualtiy store bought salsa verde will do, and a roasted turkey breast will stand in nicely.  Around this time of year it is easier to find whole or turkey patrs at your grocer.