May 7, 2015
Okay, so I missed Cinco de Mayo with a good Mexican themed meal by one day. (Actually, we had fish tacos to celebrate. We even found a Pandora station to listen to “authentic” Mexican music while we ate!) One of my favorite mexican dishes is Creamy Chicken Enchiladas. The original recipe comes from a favorite cookbook from which I have already posted another recipe (mushroom crust quiche), Sunset Favorite Recipes II c. 1982. For some reason I cannot put my hands on that cookbook – it has disappeared since I posted the quiche recipe in March, so you will get my memorized version of the recipe. It is another one of those recipes that does not have critical measurements – variations work just fine. It is not too spicy but has great flavor, so it is a good dish for just about anyone. I will be making a pan for neighbors and a pan for us today.

finished dish almost entirely consumed!

Since I was planning to make this dish later in the week I started yesterday by slowly baking the chicken breasts in a cream base. The breasts were fall apart tender when I put them into a container to cool. They will pull apart into nice shreds adding to the delicious cream cheese, onion and green chili filling.

extra large batch of chicken breasts ready to bake in cream mixture.

Ingredients ready to use.

There are several steps to the recipe, but they are all easy – they just take some time. Slice the onions into thin strips and sautee in a large pan until they are golden brown and soft. Add the cream cheese, cumin and green chilies to melt and blend together. Shred the chicken and add it to the creamy mixture. I usually add a little bit of the monterrey jack cheese to this mixture as well. Adjust seasoning with a little salt and pepper.

onions beginning to cook.

For the tortillas, I usually brush each side with vegetable oil and place into a 375′ oven to soften for 3 to 5 minutes. The oil really helps give the tortilla enough substance and strength to be rolled and sauced but still hold together. If you try to roll a dry corn tortilla, it will surely crack and break. I think the original recipe called for heating oil in a pan and quickly frying the tortilla. This always seemed to use too much oil. With a little brush of oil, and a little heat, you will find, the tortilla will hold up pretty well. If they do crack, it doesn’t really matter. They still taste great! Stack the warm tortillas up to keep them soft.

tortillas ready to brush with oil and bake until soft (not crispy)

filling added and ready to roll up.

Fill each tortilla with about 1/4 cup of the creamy chicken filling. Roll and place into a 9 x 13 pan that has about 1/2 cup mixture of green salsa (tomatillo sauce) and the same quantity of half and half. Be sure to spray your baking pan with oil so that the clean up is easy. I usually place 8 lengthwise, then 2 on each side of the 9 x 13 pan to make 12. You can smash a few more in there – but it’s much easier to take them out in one piece if you don’t crowd the pan. Pour about 1 cup more of the green salsa and cream mixture on top. Then, top with more grated monterrey jack cheese. If you don’t find monterrey jack cheese pre-shredded, you can more easily grate a hunk of this cheese if you place it in the freezer for about 15 minutes. The cheese is pretty soft and grates much easier if its really cold.

tortillas and chicken mixture ready to combine

ready to cover and bake.

The caserole bakes with foil for about 20 minutes, then without foil for anothe 20 mintues until it is brown and bubbly. I forgot to take a photo of the finished dish tonight until it was 3/4 gone. It looked pretty good right out of the oven, but my photo of the last remnants was not so great!

I typicallly serve this with a corn and black bean salad (recipe is in this blog). It’s a great counterpart with the creamy, rich enchiladas.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Serves 5 or 6.

Total preparation time 1 1/2 hours.

Ingredients

about 3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (3 good sized)
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs olive oil
2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
1 1/2 tsp cumin
salt and pepepr to taste
6 to 8 oz. cream cheese
3/4 lb monterrey jack cheese, grated
12 to 14 corn tortillas
1/4 cup corn oil for brushing
12 to 14 oz jar tomatillo sauce or green salsa
1 cup half and half

Instructions

Begin by greasing a 9 x 13 baking pan. Clean chicken and add to the pan. Mix each half cup of half and sour cream in a bowl and pour oven the chicken. Bake, covered, at 325 for 45 minutes to 1 hour until cooked through (cooked temp should be 165′). Remove breasts from cream and cool until you can pull them apart and shred the meat. Discard the sauce or save for a soup.

Sautee the onions in butter and olive oil over medium-low temperature until they are golden brown and soft. Add the cumin, cream cheese and seasonings to melt. Mix in the shredded chicken and about 1/2 cup shredded monterrey jack cheese to incorporate. Remove from heat to cool for easier handling.

Heat the oven to 325 and brush oil on both sides of corn tortillas. I usually place 6 to 8 on a rack. Place in the oven to heat until soft (not crispy). Remove and stack to help them stay soft. Repeat until all are soft and pliable.

Place 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the chicken cheese mixture into the center of each tortilla and roll up. Pour about 1 cup of a mixture of green sauce and half and half into the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan. Place tortillas seam side down, centered in the pan. Use the sides of the pan to add 2 enchiladas lengthwise to fit 12 to 14 total. Pour another cup or so of the cream, tomatillo sauce mixture on top.

Last, top the mixture with the remaining shredded monterrey jack cheese. This can be refrigerated or frozen and baked at a later time. Bake the casserole at 350 for about 45 minutes. I typically bake it covered for about 20 minutes, then uncovered for an additional 20 to 25 minutes. The tortillas should begin to brown and crisp.

 

Notes