Red Sauce Enchiladas

Well, we're all cooking at home and it's all about what we have on hand...

A couple days ago, I talked to my neighbor from our driveway as she was sitting in her car. "This stay at home stuff is really cramping my style. I'm used to running to the store everyday to pick up what I want to make for dinner!"

 A bit later, Jenn called up for the recipe for the enchiladas that I made her the last time she was home. Then, I had used chicken, but the meat she had on hand was ground beef. No problem! I just told her to brown and drain it and go on with the recipe. I mentioned my earlier conversation with the thought that during this time, the thing to do is "shop" in your own refrigerator and pantry.

So, in this recipe, go ahead and use any meat or cheese that you have. No tomato sauce? Dilute a can of tomato paste with two cups of water or puree a can of diced tomatoes. No can of diced tomatoes? Chop up fresh ones. It's the spices that make this dish yummy and hopefully, they are in your home store! P.S. Pull yours out of the oven before it looks over baked - like the photo here - Ha!

Ingredients for 6 to 8 Red Sauce Enchiladas:

2 cups any kind of meat (shrimp, cooked chicken, browned ground beef, pulled pork)
6 to 8 tortillas (any size, flour or corn)
1 (15 oz,) can tomato sauce
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes
3 cups shredded cheese (Colby jack, cheddar, Monterey Jack)
1/2 cup diced onions
2 tablespoons canned diced green chilies (or sub 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes)
2 1/2 teaspoons chili powder, divided
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, divided

Add 2 teaspoons chili powder, 2 teaspoons cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the tomato sauce.

Stir it really well to combine the spices into the tomato sauce. Set aside.

In a bowl mix the meat, tomatoes, onions, green chilies,  1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/4 pepper.

Coat the bottom of a casserole baking dish with some of the tomato sauce mixture.
Brush or spread the inside of each tortilla with a bit of the sauce.

Place about 2/3 cup of the chicken mixture and 1/4 cup shredded cheese in each tortilla.

Roll each tortilla and place seam side down in baking dish. If you end up making more than six enchiladas, they could be crammed in lengthwise, below the rolled up tortillas. 

Spoon the rest of the tomato sauce mixture over the enchiladas. Top with the remaining cheese.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 30 minutes. 

Serve with garnishes, sour cream or a side salad. Dig in!

Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

Caroline and Adam have been renovating their Chicago suburban kitchen for what must seem to them an eternity. For several months they have been without a stove, oven or sink. In fact, there is only one room in their whole downstairs that isn’t gutted. As a result they turned an upstairs bedroom into a makeshift kitchen, using a toaster oven and microwave to get by. To help them out, I made a few frozen meals so all they had to do was defrost, then nuke or bake. One meal Caroline requested was chicken enchiladas with tomatillo sauce. Don’t let the sour cream in the filling scare you off- there’s just enough of it to bind the chicken and onions together and the tomatillo sauce supplies tartness to offset the richness.

Ingredients for the Tomatillo Sauce:

12 small to medium tomatillos

1 cup fresh cilantro, leaves and tender upper stems

1 small to medium yellow onion, diced

2 tablespoons canned green chili peppers

1 large clove garlic, put through a press

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups chicken broth

1/4 teaspoon salt or less 

Directions:

Husk the tomatillos by pulling the papery skins off. Wash and place in a pot of boiling water. Boil for 10 minutes and drain. Place cooked tomatillos, cilantro, onion, garlic and peppers in a food processor. Blend for about 30 seconds to a minute until all ingredients are combined. 

Heat oil in skillet over medium high until it shimmers. Pour the blended tomatillo mixture into the hot pan. The liquid will hiss and start to boil. Give it a stir and turn the heat down to medium. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.

Add in the chicken broth and stir well to mix it in. Continue to let the mixture simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and if needed add the salt. If not, discard it.

Ingredients for Eight Chicken Enchiladas:

3 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cubed.

1 cup diced white or yellow onions

1 cup sour cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

8 large flour tortillas

1 Batch of tomatillo sauce from recipe above

2 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:

In a bowl, mix the chicken, onions, sour cream, salt and pepper together.

Ladle just enough tomatillo sauce into a 9x13 baking dish to cover the bottom. Place a heaping 1/3 cup of chicken mixture in the center of each tortilla. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cheese on top of the chicken in each tortilla. Roll each tortilla up and place seam side down into the baking dish.

Pour the remaining tomatillo sauce over the top, reserving about 1/2 cup for serving.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 50 minutes or until tortillas are browning and sauce is bubbling. Remove from oven and sprinkle the top with remaining cheese. Return to the oven and bake 5 minutes more to melt the cheese. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cilantro leaves as a garnish.