Ann's recipe is excellent. I've made it several times.

Deluxe Chicken Enchiladas

Source: Barbara Hansen's Mexican Cookery

2 whole chicken breasts
chicken broth
1/2 small onion
1 bay leaf
8 peppercorns
garlic clove
salt

1/2 medium onion chopped
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
1 4 oz can green chilies
garlic

1 13 oz can tomatillos, drained
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 egg
salt

1/4 cup lard or oil
8 corn tortillas

1 cup cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese
Guacamole
1 cup sour cream
lettuce
black olives
.
Place chicken in large pot and cover with chicken broth. Add onion, bay leaf, peppercorns and salt. Simmer until tender. Let cool in broth. Remove chicken and save broth for another use.

Shred or cut chicken in to smaller pieces. Add chopped onion, Parmesan cheese and Monterey Jack Cheese. Taste and add salt if needed. Set aside.

IN a blender or processor, combine green chilies, tomatillos, cilantro, whipping cream and egg and blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat lard in small skillet. With tongs, carefully place one tortilla at a time in hot lard. Hold for 3 to 5 seconds and drain on paper towels. You want the tortillas to be softened but not crisp. Place some of the chicken mixture on the tortilla and roll tightly. Place seam-side down in a baking dish.

Pour cream mixture over the Enchiladas and sprinkle evenly with 1 cup of cheddar or Monterey cheese. Bake about 20 minutes or until heated through and bubbly.

Serve with sour cream, guacamole, lettuce and olives.

Thanks Eileen.

This really is my favourite Chicken Enchilada recipe. I've tried many. You will see some recipes call for flour tortillas, but I want my enchiladas made with corn tortillas and burritos made with flour.

I use Leftover meat for these. You can use whatever you like. Make meatless, by using all cheeses and diced onions. .

10-12 corn tortillas

1 can (19 oz) enchilada sauce (or make your own, see recipe below)

8 ounces cream cheese

1 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

2 cups shredded or diced leftover meat; chicken, pork, beef, whatever you have or like

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese .

Heat oven to 350�. In large bowl, stir together cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Add cumin. Stir in meat, 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese and Cheddar cheese. Soften tortillas in the microwave at about at a time between damp paper towels for about 35 seconds. Pour some of the enchilada sauce in shallow dish (pie plate works well). Pour a bit in a 9x13 baking dish to just cover the bottom. Dip tortillas in enchilada sauce to lightly coat. Place 1/3 cup chicken mixture in center of tortilla; roll. Place tortillas, seam side down, in baking dish. Cover with remaining enchilada sauce. Bake for 25 minutes. Sprinkle remaining Monterey Jack cheese over enchiladas and bake 3 minutes longer. Garnish with sour cream and/or guacamole, if desired. ~*~*~New idea: I was in a rush one day to make this dish, and I decided to just "layer" the ingredients and make a "casserole". It worked beautifully. I spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan, then the tortillas, then spread a bit more sauce over them. Then a bit of the chicken/cheese mixture, a bit more sauce, tortillas....you get the idea.

.
Enchilada Sauce
4T flour
1/4 c oil
2 T chili powder
2 t cumin
1 t salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 c hot water
2/3 c tomato sauce
Combine First 6 ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat. Bubble for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly. Carefully add the hot water and tomato sauce. Simmer about 10-15 minutes before using.

.

Enchiladas vary from region to region in Mexico, the two most popular in central and northern Mexico are Enchiladas Suisses and Enchiladas Rojas. Of those two, I prefer the Swiss style, and they are similar to Ann's recipe. However my all time favorites are made in the Yucatan and always include the essential achiote paste:

Yucatecan Style Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

1 pound cooked (preferably poached) chicken or turkey meat, chopped
2 tbsp chicken fat (or combination of chicken fat, butter, olive oil)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2-3 serrano peppers, minced (some seeds removed)
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes
2 tbsp cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp vegetable soup base
1 tsp chicken soup base
2 tbsp achiote paste (ground annatto seeds)
2 tbsp Ancho chili powder
1 cup chicken stock, as needed (can substitute chili sauce* for the chili powder + stock)
12-15 corn tortillas
(optional) grated cheese (Monterey Jack, Swiss, or Jarlsberg)

Directions:

Melt the fat (or butter and oil) in a large saucepan, and add the flour to make a roux. When the roux is a pale brown, add the minced onion and cook a bit more so that the onion will become soft and the roux turns a light brown. Then add the peppers and stir to combine. Add the canned tomatoes, including all the liquid, and blend. Add the cumin, chili powder, oregano, soup bases (in place of salt, or use 1 tsp salt), achiote paste, and chili powder. Stir until blended. Reduce the heat and add sufficient chicken stock or water to make a thick sauce. Using a stick blender, puree until fairly smooth, or at least until tomato pieces are fully incorporated - you may have some onion pieces that do not get pureed, but this is okay. Remove about 1/3 of the sauce to reserve and add the chopped chicken or turkey meat to the rest of the sauce.

Spoon about 2-3 tbsp of the reserved sauce into a 6"x10" (or similar size) baking dish, and spread fairly evenly, along the bottom and sides. Heat the tortillas on a covered plate in the microwave, turning and restacking as needed. Once they are soft, spoon a bit of chicken filling into a single tortilla, roll it into shape, and place it in the baking dish. You can stack them tightly or else make two loose layers. If you make two layers, put a bit of reserved sauce in between the layers. At the end, add all remaining sauce to the top and spread evenly. Add grated cheese, if desired.

Cover the pan with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until they are hot.

*If using canned chili sauce, buy La Victoria brand, or any brand that is made without tomatoes. You can make chili sauce by simmering Ancho, Pasilla, and Guajillo dried chilies in water with a bit of garlic, but this must be strained before using.
---------
If you make them without achiote paste, they will not taste Yucatecan but will still be okay. I generally make my own chili sauce for this.

Lars

These all look fabulous! In Ann's recipe, is the clove of garlic blended in with the rest of the sauce ingredients?

Thank you all!
Teresa

Great minds! I made them last night with a black bean and corn salad and refried beans.

Ann, what do you use for refried beans? Yours look nice and "beany" not mushy.

I love Ann's recipe but when I want a faster recipe that doesn't use too many ingredients I use Marilyn's recipe.

Chicken Enchiladas - Marilyn

2 chicken breast -- grilled,(I poach) sliced
8 ounces green chili salsa ( I use jarred)
1 cup shredded Jack cheese
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese ( I use gruyere)
1 1/2 to 2 cups heavy whipping cream ( I use 10% or 18%)
4 to 6 flour tortillas

Pour 1/2 cup cream into a shallow bowl. Dip each tortilla in cream then place in a baking dish. Place chicken then salsa into tortilla and sprinkle with cheese; roll, lay seam side down in dish. Pour cream from dipping over tortillas along with up to 1 additional cup of cream and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 25 mins. ,until bubbly. Wait at least 5 minutes before serving.
?

I have made both Ann's and Marilyn's recipes and love them both! I do prefer corn tortillas to flour in enchiladas, tho.

Sometimes I'll just shred up some cooked chicken, toss with some chopped onion and enchilada sauce, fill corn tortillas, place in dish and top with more enchilada sauce and cheese and bake. Simple and delish!

Linda

The past few times I made enchiladas with corn tortillas ( I get good ones- not leathery) they turned into total mush.
I didn't fry them first though.

Sharon, I cooked a pot of dried red chili beans. I left some of the beans whole rather than mash them all for the refried beans.

Ann

Ive made both, and they are both good. We like flour tortillas better than corn, so no matter which recipe I am using it is always flour! And as Sharon mentioned, Marilyn's are much faster to put together. if time is an issue.

Alexa

Another vote for Marilyn's - in fact it's what's for dinner tonight!

Recipes for enchiladas is like a recipe for a green salad. You may have a recipe or a recommendation for the sauce or dressing, but the rest of it is all technique. The ingredients are infinitely variable, and it's great for leftovers. Once you master the skill of it (little skill involved, it's easy) then you customize your own "recipe".

Our favorites involve leftover turkey or chicken, shredded, with shredded cheese (Jack, cheddar, whatever), sour cream, chopped green onions and chili powder, using canned verde sauce.

Thank you all so much, I am printing like crazy. : )

In Marilyn's recipe, do you use two chicken breast halves or two whole chicken breasts?

cloudy, I don't measure the chicken, usually I take the meat off of a rotisserie chicken because we like a mixture of dark/white meat in our enchiladas. So I just use as much as I want and save the rest to make chicken salad with.

I use two large breast halves for four and I use full size flour tortillas.

Thanks, Shaun and Sharon. Sounds good.