Green chicken enchiladas

My sister made these and they were great. So, of course I had to make them. And make them my own. I’m including the original recipe but giving my own. The original says it serves 6 but I’d guess it easily serves 10. Mine would serve 5 or 6.

While I riffed on the original recipe, I wrote this recipe out myself. I have immense respect for people who write recipes (Julia you are a goddess). I’m certain every person who writes them has a million thoughts whipping through their heads about the variations, additions, clarifications or mistakes that might crop up. Keeping it contained, which you will see I have not, is the real challenge. Plus, if you’re going to be writing a recipe you pretty much understand what you’re doing and just assume that everyone will know what they are doing. Pfft, as if anyone does.

The recipe follows. And now I’m getting a glass of wine. And yes it is 10 in the morning. So judge me.

Green chicken enchiladas

1 pound of cooked chicken approximately.

You can, as I did, poach or sauté 2 average sized chicken breasts, or use thighs, just cooked shredded chicken. Meat from one of those roasted ones from the supermarket works. Use a goddam envelope of turkey gravy for all I care.

1 bag of baby spinach

1 onion chopped relatively finely

4 TB butter

1.5 cups sour cream (don’t use fat free or lower fat, it will break, well, you can but don’t come crying to me)

1 can chopped mild green chiles

1/4+ cup milk (I used cream so I could clog my arteries more thoroughly)

5 flour medium sized tortillas, you can use corn for all I care

8 oz shredded Monterey jack cheese, I shredded my own but you can use pre-shredded, it’s in your supermarket next to the turkey gravy.

2 tsp cumin

1 egg, beaten harshly

Salt and pepper

Turn on the oven to 350° so it will preheat

Make the chicken and spinach:

Sauté the chicken in olive oil a medium sized sauce pan. Be sure to salt and pepper the chicken. Brown slightly add a little water, cover and simmer on low until it shreds, let’s say 20-30 minutes. Be sure to check it occasionally so it does not dry out and burn. Take the chicken out and let cool slightly. Then chop or shred.

Wilt the spinach (salt it too) in that same pan. Add water if none remains and if there is water in there, just leave it be. It will seem like a shit ton but it will reduce to practically nothing. You’re going to need to turn it hither and tither. If you’re using already cooked chicken you can just wilt the spinach in that pan with a little oil or water. It’s very easy. Take it out and let it cool and then chop coarsely.

So, make the sauce:

Sauté the onions in the butter in that same medium sized sauce pan, be sure to salt and add the cumin. When that’s all cooked, turn off the heat, add the sour cream, milk, green chiles. You’re going to want that to be almost pourable so add more milf, I mean milk, honestly it won’t make much difference if it’s too thin so err on the side of thinner. And taste it to make sure it’s properly salted.

Assemble the damn thing:

Butter or oil (I used Pam—I’ve spared you the joke I was going to make here) nine inch square casserole.

Take out half the sauce and reserve. To the sauce still in the pan add the egg and mix. Then add the chicken and half the cheese. Stir to combine.

Put half of the reserved sauce in the bottom of the casserole dish. Now take and fill the tortillas. You’re on your own here. Put some in one and fold it up, making little packages and putting them in the casserole as you go. Put the rest of the sauce on top and the rest of the cheese on that.

Bake covered for 20 minutes, uncovered for 20 or until it’s browning. Let rest 10-15 minutes. You’ll need a rest too.

Add’l thoughts

I have no idea why in the hell you’d wrap these things up like that. You cannot, or at least I could not, discern the shape of them once they were baked. So my suggestion is to just layer them like lasagna in 3 layers. It’d be a hell of a lot easier.

Also I should have drizzled green taco sauce on top of it.