Monday, December 25, 2006

Chicken Enchiladas



These are some yummy chicken enchiladas. They are a little time consuming, but worth the effort. To make the enchiladas without the homemade sauce, you could substitute by using Las Palmas Enchilada sauce and they'll take no time at all. If you chose to try the homemade version, this is the one. Couple of notes, I doubled the sauce from the original recipe (recipe below is doubled), since it doesn't seem to be enough, If you have any extra, you could freeze it for next time. I also fry the tortillas all at once, and then fill them all at once. You could also just layer the tortillas like a lasagna if you want to as well. The recipe comes from Rob Williams from the Rob Arnie and Dawn show.

Ingredients


2 boneless chicken breasts, seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled to medium rare, then cut/shredded into small pieces. You can also just bake off the chicken breasts in the oven at 350 for about one hour, or to make it even easier, buy a cooked chicken at the grocery store and shred it up.
2 fresh jalapeno peppers
6 cups chicken broth
2 large white onion, chopped
4 cups shredded/grated Mexican white cheese * (I usually 2 cups real Mexican cheese and 2 cups low fat pre-grated "Mexican" cheese mix in a bag)
12 small corn tortillas
4tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons chili powder
½ cup olive oil
4tablespoons white vinegar
2teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoon of sugar
1teaspoon black pepper
**(Most grocery stores now carry a brand called "El Mexicano" which has a cheese called Enchilado Queso Anejo, which is perfect for this dish. If you can't find it, the more mainstream "Mexican cheese in a bag" will work, but the dish will lack some Mexican zest and authenticity).

To Make...
1. For the filling, mix together the grilled chicken, ¾ of the onion and ½ of the cheese in a large bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a non-stick dry skillet, cook the whole peppers over medium high heat, turning often until mostly blackened (about 10 minutes).
3. In a blender or food processor, combine the remaining onion, the roasted jalapeno, broth, sugar, black pepper, garlic, cumin, vinegar, and oregano and puree until smooth. Strain. I also will puree further the strained bits to get more into the sauce.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
5. Using a large sauté pan, heat the butter to medium high.
6. stir in the flour and cook until the flour has browned slightly.
7. Add the chili powder and broth mixture and continue to cook and stir over low heat until thickened. Keep warm.
8. Pour a thin layer of the sauce onto the bottom of a 13x9 baking pan/casserole dish.
9. Using a medium sauté pan, heat the olive oil to hot, then lower to medium heat.10. Fry the tortillas, one at a time, for about 8 - 15 seconds per side (or until toasted). Tortillas should be wilted be wilted, not crisp. Allow excess oil to drip back into pan, then dip the fried tortilla into the sauce mix.
11. Place the tortilla in the baking dish and place a small scoop of the chicken filling in the exact center of the tortilla. Roll/fold the tortilla and place it, crease down in the baking pan.
12. Repeat this process with the remaining tortillas until the pan is full.
13. Pour the remaining sauce over the tortillas, then sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.
14. Bake for 10 minutes and serve.