Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken Enchiladas

I love Mexican food, its almost as good as Chinese food! This is another recipe I got from my Mom, and another one I also changed up a little bit. She always sauteed the onions in butter, but I use olive oil. I like it much better and it is a little healthier. Whenever I make this recipe it transports me back to my childhood. My mom let me start helping her cook at a pretty young age, I would sit next to her and do every little thing she asked. I love being in the kitchen now and a lot of that has to do with hanging out with my mom when she cooked when I was a kid.
The sauce is what really sets this recipe apart, its a cheesy light sauce instead of a red sauce. It is nummytastict!

Shred some cooked chicken. You can use leftover chicken. I got a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and shredded it.

Onions and garlic. I am a huge fan of the garlic, so I used 4 cloves. You can use more or less depending on what you like.

Mince the garlic.

Dice the onion.

About 2 tbs of olive oil into a large pan.

Add the onions and garlic, saute until soft.

Add salt. This helps pull some moisture out of the onions.

That is about right...

Now add your diced green chili's.

Oregano

Cumin. I love cumin in Mexican food. Its perfect.

Chili powder.

By now your house should be smelling like a Mexican restaurant!

I was drooling.

Pour in the chicken stock.

Have your husband grate some Monterrey jack cheese.

Or maybe that's just how I do it ;)

This is called a slurry. It's equal parts flour and water.

Add the slurry to your sauce to thicken it.

Stir this while it simmers. It will take a few minutes to thicken up.

Add the half and half.

Pepper

Look at how creamy and awesome this is. I could drink it!

In goes the cheese.

Stir until cheese is melted completely.

Add some of the sauce to the chicken.

Stir so the chicken is coated in the sauce.

We are going to soften the tortillas now. Heat up a couple tablespoons of canola oil.

You only cook these for a few seconds on each side. Just enough to soften them up.

Flip it over.

See? Not crunchy, just nice and soft. Put these on a paper towel to drain. I suggest you layer them, 2 tortillas, a layer of paper towels and so on. That way you get rid of a bunch of the grease.

You may need to add oil to the pan occasionally.

Put a layer of sauce on the bottom of your dish. This will keep the enchiladas from sticking to the pans.

About 2 tbs of chicken mixture goes in the tortilla.

OK maybe it was more than 2 tbs.... I love this stuff...

Roll it up nice and tight.

Place in the pan. Repeat.

Pour the rest of the sauce over the enchiladas.

I ended up with 2 - 9x13 inch pans of enchiladas.

Way more food than me and the hubby needed! Yay leftovers!

Sprinkle even more cheese on top of them.

Top with some chopped green onions.

Stick them in the oven for about 30 minutes.

They come out all melty and bubbly, and smelling just amazing!

These are so pretty, with the melted cheese and the green onions, and it smells just amazing.

It tastes way better than it smells!

Seriously, it's worth the time it takes to make these. They are gooey and cheesy, with the perfect amount of zing from the green chili's. The Cumin gives it such a depth of flavor.

Please make these or the world will end!

Maybe it won't end, but these are so flipping good.

(I made a bit more because i had a whole chicken, below is for about a dozen enchiladas)

Ingredients:

1lb cooked chicken (shredded)

3 tbs olive oil

1 large onion

3 cloves garlic

1 can green chili's

2 tbs chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup half and half

1 lb Monterrey jack cheese

1/4 cup to 1/3 cup canola oil

12 corn tortillas

6 green onions sliced

Saute onions and garlic in 3 tbs olive oil until soft. Add chili's, sea salt, and dry spices. Stir in chicken broth and heavy cream. Mix the flour and water together, this makes a slurry that will thicken the sauce. Whisk the sauce while the sauce simmers for a few minutes to thicken up (about 10 minutes). Stir in 1 cup Monterrey jack cheese. Combine 1 cup sauce with shredded chicken, stir to coat. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in a skillet until hot. dip tortillas until limp, 5 to 10 seconds each side. DON'T LET THEM BECOME CRISP. Place between paper towels to soak up some of the excess oil. Pour about 1/4 to 1/2 cup sauce over the bottom of the pan and spread it over the whole area. Divide the chicken mixture between the tortillas. Roll up and place seam side down. Poor remaining cheese sauce evenly over tortillas and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese. Top with green onion.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.