Monday, January 28, 2008

Guinevere's Chicken Enchiladas

Some of my best recipes have been ones that I have stolen from some of you, dear blog-friends!

So I'm going to share one of my recipes. This is a recipe for Chicken Enchiladas that has become a staple in my house. It's one that has enough flavor for Hubby (he grew up in South Africa and they cook with much more spices and flavorings than the average American. He finds much of our food bland, so when I find a recipe that he doesn't have to add anything to, I consider it a success!!) PLUS Lance likes the chicken mixture. He still only has 4 teeth, so instead of wrapping it up in a tortilla, I just set aside some of the meat mixture, plop it down on his high chair tray, and let him have at it. He loves it. Here ya go!

Chicken Enchiladas
(I modified this recipe from the magazine Every Day with Rachael Ray. The original recipes calls for the tortillas to be dipped in the sauce, but I can't stand a soggy tortilla, so I put the sauce in the meat mixture and just drizzled a little sauce over the tops of the enchiladas before baking.) I also removed the jalapeño peppers because last time I chopped jalapeños, I ended up with nasty burns on my fingertips. A few drops of hot pepper sauce would work well if you just really love the flavor of the jalapeños!) You can find the original recipe here.

3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, finely chopped (I prefer red onion for this dish.)
3 tbsp flour
1 29-oz can tomato sauce (use whatever you like when you make pizza or spaghetti!)
1 tbsp chili powder
2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt
2-lb rotisserie chicken, meat shredded
(Last time I made this recipe, I just boiled 3 chicken breasts, then chopped them up finely. Another time I cooked a whole chicken in the crock pot, and just pulled the meat off the bones. As long as you have basically a whole chicken's worth of meat, any way you want to cook it will be fine.)
about 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
3 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, seeded and finely chopped.
(These are sold in cans. I found them in the "ethnic foods" aisle of my grocery store. It is VERY IMPORTANT to cut open the chili and scrape out the seeds, because the seeds are where the heat "lives." Remember, Lance loved this recipe, so they're not TOO hot!)
12 6-inch flour tortillas

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add 2/3 of the onion and cook until softened. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in 1 1/2 cups water and the tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, chipotle chilis and salt, bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Preheat the broiler. In large bowl, mix the cooked shredded chicken, 2/3 of the cheese and 2/3 of the sauce.

Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture, roll up and transfer (seam side down) to a 9 x 13 baking dish. Top with the remaining sauce, cheese, and onions.

Broil until golden, 5-7 minutes. (If your chicken was cold when you made the meat mixture, turn off the broiler and leave in the oven for a few more minutes until heated through.)

I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you decide to make it, let me know how it turned out for you!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

This sounds DELICIOUS! I love jalapenos, although one time I got some in my EYE. OW.

Anonymous said...

Sounds totally YUMMY! My SIL makes a similar enchilada that she found while in Phoenix. She uses cottage cheese in hers (along with the shredded cheese). They are excellent.

And yeah, I don't blame you for not wanting to chop anymore jalepenos.

:-) Susan

Anonymous said...

This sounds good! I'll have to try it!

Anonymous said...

It's all about the South African grasshopper leg spice. Dontcha think grasshopper legs would be good with this recipe?

Anonymous said...

This looks tasty! Anything with cumin in a hit in my book!