Homemade Enchiladas and Mexican Rice

Inspired by (and missing) Mary's tried and true chicken enchilada recipe and a recent episode of Here in America's Test Kitchen, last night Taylor and I tried out the ATK recipe for chicken enchiladas and mexican rice (you may have to register to see the recipes). I had done some of the prep for both dishes Monday night, and Taylor got started yeterday before I got home and had pretty much finished the rice before I got home and did the vast majority of the cooking. I always forget how long it takes when you do something like this totally from scratch.

Enchiladas: I really liked the enchiladas, even though they are quite different from how you'd get them in a restaurant (not saucy enough) or Mary's (not creamy enough). I think we may have used extra cheese on top, since the whole container "accidentally" got dumped out on top of the pan. But you can't go wrong with extra cheese. Our corn tortillas were not so yummy either...I wouldn't buy that brand again.

Rice: It was good...not sure if it was worth the extra work over a mix rice (though it definitely had that "fresh" taste). It was an interesting idea though, you puree two tomatoes and an onion, fry the raw rice just a tad, add garlic and jalapeno, and then combine the puree, the rice, chicken broth, tomato paste and salt, and cook it through. The pureeing and frying were kind of unusual.