Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce and Dessert!

After spending so much time making the tamales, I knew that we needed to have a special meal when they were served. What could be better than a Mexican meal!

The Kitchen Gnome made his famous Guacamole. It is so tasty. He always gets it just right...and no, sadly, he hasn't written down his recipe! The evening meal was wonderful. The family was all together for the first time in two years. I smile inside thinking about the great time we had preparing the menu and the food! My son-in-law helped prepare the enchiladas and made the mousse, and my daughter helped with the cookies. The menu included:

Guacamole with Chips

Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce
Pork with Red Chili Sauce Tamales
Chicken with Green Chili Sauce Tamales
Red Rice
Pot Beans

Mexican Chocolate Mousse with Burnt Rum

Hazelnut Cinnamon Crescents

The enchilada recipe is my basic recipe. I normally make them with a green sauce...a way to use leftover turkey! This night, however, red sauce was on the menu. The Kitchen Gnome always raves about these enchiladas, so, it is a keeper recipe for me.

Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce

6 chicken breasts or combination of breasts and thighs, cooked and shredded

1 4 oz. can diced green chilies

1 bunch green onions, sliced (reserve some for garnish)

1 lb Monterey Jack cheese, coarsely grated (reserve a little for the topping)

1 16 oz. carton sour cream

12 corn tortillas

Enchilada Sauce

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/2 cup flour

4 10 oz. cans red chili enchilada sauce (not hot)

3 cups chicken broth

1/2 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp cumin

2 tsp chicken stock base (Spice Islands)

Combine chicken , chilies, green onions, 1 lb jack cheese. Moisten with enough sour cream to bind. Reserve remaining sour cream to top enchiladas when serving.

Enchilada Sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy fry pan. Stir in the flour and cook, stiffing, over very low heat for 3-4 minutes. Do not allow the flour to burn. Remove from heat, cool a minute or two. Stir in the enchilada sauce and the chicken broth.

Return the pan to the heat and bring the sauce to a simmer while stirring with a ire whisk. Add the herbs and chicken stock base and let simmer over very low hear for 10minutes, stirring often. If the sauce seems thin, continue simmering a few minutes longer. Set aside, covered.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lay the tortillas on a baking sheet and lightly brush or spray both sides of the tortillas with oil Bake until just warm through and softened, about 3 minutes. Use a paper towel to dab off any extra oil. Stack the tortillas and cover with a towel to keep warm.

Smear about 3/4 to 1 cup of the sauce over the bottom of the 9 X 13 baking dish. (I use the inside of the baking dish as my base for the messy work of filling the tortillas.)

One at a time, dip tortillas into pan of red sauce. Lay the tortilla in the baking dish and place some of the filling mixture in the center of the tortilla and roll it up securely. Place the rolled tortilla seam side down in the oven proof baking dish. The tortillas should be about 3/4 inch apart and not packed tightly.

Just before baking, reheat the remaining enchilada sauce and pour it evenly over the top of the enchiladas. Sprinkle lightly with the reserved jack cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is sizzling around the edges of the pan. Before serving, top each enchilada with a large dab of sour cream and sprinkle with green onions.

Tips: The sauce may be made 5-7 days in advance and refrigerated or frozen. The tortillas may be filled up to 24 hours in advance, covered and refrigerated. reheat the sauce and pour over the enchiladas, that have been brought to room temperature, just before baking. (Cooked enchiladas do not freeze well.)

PRINTABLE RECIPE

If you like Mexican food, you will love these enchiladas, tamales, rice, beans and dessert...oh, speaking of dessert...
You can get the recipe for the Mexican Chocolate Mousse with Burnt Rum, here. The Hazelnut Cinnamon Crescents recipe is here.

Mexican chocolate is a combination of two flavors, chocolate and cinnamon. We selected the cookies that we made because we thought they would be a good match to the chocolate. We didn't want a cookie to compete with the mousse.

As it turned out, we all decided that we weren't a fan of the chocolate and cinnamon combination. What can I say...regular chocolate mousse is my favorite!