This is a recipe that is good for using up leftover cold chicken, and it’s one my mom used to cook for us when I was growing up, and was always a big hit. I’ve tinkered with it a bit over the years, but it has remained largely the same. I’ll often use canned enchilada sauce, either red or green, mild or hot. Homemade sauce from dried chile peppers is best, of course, and I include a version that I’ve developed below. But the canned versions are great, and they make this a fast recipe—and they’re available in the Mexican food section of any supermarket, and have a range of heat, from mild to spicy. I’ve also lately been cooking chicken for this recipe on a Traeger smoker, which adds a nice smoky flavor. You can add diced jalapenos, or canned diced green chiles, and vary the kinds of cheeses. You could also use beans for the filling, to make this a vegetarian dish. Another variation: substitute crab sticks or the equivalent for the chicken.
Ingredients
2 cups cold cooked chicken, cut into cubes or shredded.
1 large can enchilada sauce (mild or hot, depending on your preference)
1 large onion
2 ribs of celery
2 tsp butter, margarine, or oil
12-16 soft corn tortillas
½ can black olives, sliced
1 lb. shredded cheddar cheese or Monterey jack cheese, or mix of the two
1 cup sour cream
Hot sauce (optional)
Recipe
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Finely dice onion, set aside ¼ cup of onions, and put in frying pan with butter, and begin frying. Dice celery, and add to frying pan, and continue to fry in butter, margarine, or oil until soft, turn off heat. Add diced chicken, ¼ cup of enchilada sauce, and cup of shredded cheese. Mix until combined. Grease 9 x 13 inch pan. Place large spoonful of chicken mix on tortilla, roll up, and place seam-side down in 9 x 13 inch pan. Repeat with remaining tortillas and chicken mix. Pour enchilada sauce over enchiladas. Top with reserved ¼ cup of diced onions, sliced black olives, and finally remaining shredded cheese, and cup of crumbly white cheese (like cotija). Heat in oven until cheese is bubbly. Serve with dollop of sour cream and hot sauce (optional).
Homemade Enhilada Sauce
Ingredients
14-16 whole dried peppers*
3-4 large tomatoes
1 quart water or chicken stock
1 small onion
4 cloves garlic
tablespoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
Recipe
Using scissors, split and remove seeds and stems from peppers, and then dry roast in hot cast iron skillet until just smoking, place in blender. Pour in hot water or chicken stock and remaining ingredients. Let stand for 15-20 minutes, and then puree until smooth, and strain through sieve.
*For this recipe, you’ll need several varieties of dried peppers, which are available in any Mexican market in Iowa , where they are freshest and least expensive. In Des Moines I get them at La Tapatia, Vary the types according to level of heat, sweetness, smokiness, etc. For this recipe, I used hot Hatch New Mexican peppers, Guajillo, Pasilla, and dried chipotles, as well as dried green jalapenos.
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