Stacked Green Chili Enchiladas

Hola!  Here’s dinner with a crowd of friends who came in last week.  Happily, it was pretty easy to make two big pan-fulls–using pre-roasted chicken from the market.  Instead of rolling all those enchiladas, you just stack the ingredients in a baking dish and pop it into the oven.

And I think they all loved it because there was only 1 serving leftover to take a picture to show you!

STACKED GREEN CHILI ENCHILADAS
1 grocery store roast chicken,
deboned & cut to bits
1/4 cup butter
2 tab. olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup flour
14 oz. can chicken broth
1 cup milk
4 oz. can diced green chilis
1/2 cup salsa verde
1 cup sour cream
2 cups grated cheddar jack cheese
12 to 14 corn tortillas
garnish: avocado and a little more sour cream

Remove the skin, debone and cut the chicken to small chunks.  Cut the tortillas into 6 triangles each.

Melt the butter in a large skillet of pot.  Add the olive oil and garlic.  Bring it to a simmer and stir in the flour until it’s a thick paste.  Keep simmering and stir in the chicken broth a bit at a time.  Then add the milk the same way.  Continue to stir until it thickens.

Mix in the green chilis and salsa verde. Turn off the heat and stir in the sour cream.

In a 9″x13″ baking dish, pour 1/4 cup of the sauce to coat the bottom of the dish.  Layer 1/3 of the tortilla triangles to cover the bottom the baking dish.  Sprinkle 1/3 of the chopped chicken over the tortillas.  Sprinkle 1/2 cup of cheese on top.  Then drizzle 1/3 of the sauce over the cheese.

Repeat the same layer process two more times, topping with a full cup of cheese.

Tent foil over the baking dish, so that it doesn’t touch the cheese on top.  Bake it all up at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Take off the foil and cook 10 minutes more to melt the cheese completely.

Cut into squares and serve with a dollop of sour cream and a little avocado.

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Carnitas Enchiladas

Hello friends– Well, the best thing that happened around here this past weekend was an unexpected visit from our son, Micah– down from Ojai–  We sat down to dinner and talked late and visited his grandma recovering from her surgery.  Got to catch up on so many details and see more pics of the grand-girls in China right now.  It was just about perfect.

So you know when he called to say he was coming, the first thing I thought of was, “what shall we eat?!”  And this is what I thought he’s like.  Maybe you will too.

CARNITAS ENCHILADAS
2 pound piece of pork loin
1/2 tsp. liquid smoke
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 clove garlic, minced
14 oz. can chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 small can diced green chilies
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
7 oz, can salsa verde (I like Hedrez brand)
1 cup sour cream
2 cups grated colby cheese
18 fresh corn tortillas*

Cut the pork into 2″ chunks.  In a baking dish mix 1/2 cup water with the liquid smoke. Set the pork pieces into a baking dish and top them with the 4 cloves minced garlic and the onion cut into large pieces.

Put the pork and onions into a 350 oven for 2 hours.  Take it out and see if it is tender enough to shred with two forks.  If it isn’t, put it it back in the oven for 30 minutes more– and the shred the meat and mash the cooked onions and mix it all together.  Set aside.

Melt the butter in the pan.  Add the flour and garlic.  Stir to make a paste and then pour in the chicken broth and milk slowly as you continue to stir to make a white sauce.  After about 3 or 4 minutes, when it thickens, mix in the green chilies, cilantro and salsa verde.

Then dip the tortillas in the hot sauce to soften them.  I usually put a tortilla in the sauce to be warming while I’m rolling up the previous one.  Set the saucy tortilla on a plate and put a heaping tablespoon full of carnitas and a pinch of cheddar down the middle.  Then roll up the tortilla and set it into a baking pan sprayed with cooking spray.  Continue until the enchiladas are all rolled up and laying shoulder to shoulder in the baking dish.  (While you’re doing this if the sauce thickens too much, add a bit more milk.)

Mix the sour cream into the sauce that is left in the pan. Then spoon the remaining sauce over the enchiladas.  Cover them with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  The last 5 minutes of baking, take off the foil and sprinkle a little more cheddar on top for a nice color.

And here’s the Grand-girls in Hunan, China right now, dressed in their best for Chinese New Year!!—spending the holiday with their other dear grandmother there.

 

Layered Chicken Enchiladas

Hi all–  I do love enchiladas– all except the part about standing at the stove forever, soaking the tortillas and rolling up all the yummy stuff inside, one spicy enchilada at a time.  It takes all the fun out of enchilada dinner.

But happily, this lazy version tastes just as good and goes into the oven pretty darn quick.  Just chop those tortillas into triangles and plop it all together in a baking dish.  Then you have time to dance to some salsa music around the kitchen and mix up a margarita to share along with your enchiladas!  That’s more like it.

LAYERED CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
1 rotisserie chicken
1 onion, chopped fine
splash of olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
14 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes
7 oz. can salsa verde*
1 cup cilantro, chopped (divided)
12  6″ corn tortillas, cut in triangles
2 cups grated Colby Jack cheese**
sour cream to garnish

Debone the chicken and cut the meat into nice little bit size pieces.  Set aside

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and throw in the cut onion when it’s hot.  Cook about 5 minutes until the onion starts to brown.  Then add in the minced garlic, cumin, tomatoes and salsa verde.  Bring it to a simmer.

Then turn off the heat and stir in 3/4 cup of the cilantro.

Scoop 1/4 cup of the sauce into the bottom of a 9″x13″ pan.  Spread 1/3 of the cut tortillas over the bottom of the pan.  Top with half the chicken, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/3 of the remaining tomato mixture.

Repeat with a second layer.

Then cover it all with the tortillas that are left.  Top with the end of the tomato mixture and the remaining cup of cheese.

Cover with foil and pop it into a 425 degree overn for 15 minutes.

Chicken Enchiladas

Hi there–  You’d be surprised how often we eat Mexican food around this house.  My “got to get dinner on the table in 20 minutes and I want some yummy comfort food dish” is a big pan of fajitas served wrapped with beans in a tortilla.  It’s our go-to meal.  When I have a little more time, we do love enchiladas.  These were nice & easy because I used a roasted chicken from the store– Add a little Mexican cilantro rice, some beans heated up, a crispy salad.  It’s dinner!   (and it makes enough for leftovers, always a good thing)

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
2 tab. olive oil
1 onion, chopped fine
1 cup chicken broth
1 tab. cornstarch
1 tab. chili powder
2 tsp. cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
15 oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
3 cups shredded boneless chicken*
15 oz. can black beans, drained & rinsed
12 corn tortillas
1  1/2 cup cheddar, grated
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped to bits
sour cream for garnish

To make the sauce, heat a pan with the olive oil, drop in the onion and cook until it starts to brown.  Shake together the cornstarch and chicken broth in a closed container until it’s thoroughly blended.  Then stir it in to the cooked onions with the heat still on.  Add in the chili powder, cumin, garlic, tomato sauce and water.  Set the stove on he lowest setting so the sauce stays warm.

Cut the chicken into small chunks.  The hold one tortilla in the sauce for a few seconds until it softens.  Set it on a plate and fill it with chicken, black beans and a sprinkle of cheese.  Roll of the tortilla into a tube and set it seam side down into a 9×13″ pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Continue with the other tortillas.  If the sauce seems to get thicker as you work, stir in a little more water.

When all the tortillas are filled and in the pan. pour the remaining sauce over them and sprinkle the top with all the leftover cheddar.  Pop it in the oven at 400 degrees and bake for about 15 minutes until the sauce is bubbling around the edges.  Take it out and sprinkle the chopped cilantro over the whole pan.  Serve these yummy things up hot with a bowl of sour cream.  Drop a spoonful of sour cream on the enchiladas as you serve them to the plates.  Deliciosas!!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Hey friends–  We have the happy circumstance of having both our mothers just 10 minutes down the road, so on Mothers’ Day, they just drove on over for a little early Sunday supper together. And I tried out a new recipe on them–mothers are so encouraging no matter how the meal come out.  But it turned out just fine and here it is:

SOUR CREAM CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
2 boneless chicken breasts, filleted lengthwise
1 tab olive oil
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 clove garlic, minced
14 oz. can chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 small can diced green chilies
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 cup bottled salsa verde
1 cup sour cream
2 cups grated colby cheese
18 corn tortillas

Cook the filleted chicken breasts in a skillet with the olive oil.  When they are cooked through, remove them to a cutting board and chop them to bits.  Empty the fat in the skillet and melt the butter in the pan.  Then add the flour and garlic.  Stir to make a paste and then pour in the chicken broth and milk slowly as you continue to stir to make a white sauce.  After about 3 or 4 minutes, when it thickens, mix in the green chilies, cilantro and salsa verde.

Then dip the tortillas in the hot sauce to soften them.  I usually put a tortilla in the sauce to be warming while I’m rolling up the previous one.  Set the saucy tortilla on a plate and put a heaping tablespoon full of chicken and a pinch of cheddar down the middle.  Then roll up the tortilla and set it into a baking pan sprayed with Pam.  Continue until the enchiladas are all rolled up and laying shoulder to shoulder in the baking dish.  (While you’re doing this if the sauce thickens too much, add a bit more milk.)  Mix the sour cream into the sauce that is left in the pan. Then spoon the remaining sauce over the enchiladas.  Cover them with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  The last 5 minutes of baking, take off the foil and sprinkle a little more cheddar on top for a nice color.

Hope your like these as much as we did.  With a big spoonful of Mexican rice and a bright green salad, it makes a pretty plateful.