Green Enchiladas

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Living with MIT cable has forced me to look to a source other than Food Network for new recipes. I love that I have broadened my recipe horizons because if Food Network was as convenient as it used to be, I'm not sure I would have discovered the wonderful worlds of food blogs or PBS cooking shows. I recently stumbled upon Mexico: One Plate at a Time with chef Rick Bayless. I made his recipe for "Enchiladas Especiales Tacuba Style" and we really enjoyed it! Here is my version of his recipe, which can be found here.

Ingredients

2 fresh poblano chiles
1 cup spinach leaves
2 cups milk
2 cups chicken broth
6 tablespoons butter
3 garlic cloves, peeled and pressed
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups coarsely shredded cooked chicken (I used a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store)
14 corn tortillas
About 1 cup Queso Fresco and 1 cup Monterrey Jack (or just all Monterrey Jack if Queso Fresco is not available)
A little chopped cilantro and lime slices for garnish

Directions

Make the sauce.  Roast the poblanos on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, turning regularly, until the skins have blistered and blackened on all sides, about 10 minutes. Place in a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and, when handleable, rub off the blackened skin, tear open and pull out the seed pod and stem. Quickly rinse to remove any stray seeds or bits of skin. Roughly chop and put in a blender jar.  Add the spinach.
In a medium (3-quart) saucepan (I'm currently using this pan set), combine the milk and broth, and set over medium-low heat to warm.
In a large (4-quart) saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the garlic and cook for a minute to release its aroma, then add the flour and stir the mixture for a minute.  Raise the heat to medium-high.  Pour in the warm broth mixture and whisk constantly until the sauce boils.  Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat.
Pour half the hot sauce into the blender with the chiles and spinach.  Cover loosely (Remove the center part of the lid, secure the lid, then drape a cloth over the whole thing) and blend until smooth.  Pour the mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining sauce.  Taste and season with a teaspoon or so of salt.

Finish the enchiladas.  Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Smear about 1/4 cup of the sauce on the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish.  Stir 1 cup of the sauce into the chicken.
Microwave the tortillas until soft, about 1 minute.
Working quickly so that the tortillas stay hot and pliable, roll a portion of the chicken up in each tortilla, then line them all up in the baking dish.  Douse evenly with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with the cheeses.  Bake until the enchiladas are hot through (the cheese will have begun to brown), about 20 minutes.  Garnish with the cilantro and lime and serve with refried beans.