Chicken Enchiladas with Red Chili Sauce 14/325

The Relation

Sally's Clan (Barbara is far right)

I swear, this family. There are not only two Barbara Adamsons but they both ended up marrying into the name Adamson with men by the name of John. This receipt was either submitted by Barbara Philomena Katherine Weber Adamson (my great-great-aunt, 3rd youngest of Mama and Papa Weber) OR her daughter-in-law, Barbara Ann Hardebeck Adamson. As my great-great-aunt would have gone by Sally, we're making the assumption that outlaw (and my first cousin, twice removed) Barbara Adamson submitted this one. Sally Adamson's descendants wear orange at Cousin Club.

The Process

My sous chefs this evening were none other than Climbing Pals Brooke and Kaylee. Without them, all hope would have been lost. I highly recommend making this with helping hands, especially when it comes to the assembly line bit.

Lady crushers crush enchiladas

Brooke assisted with the sauce. We – and by we, I mean me – prefer food on the less spicy side, so we elected to go with the 1/3 cup of chili powder as opposed to the ½ cup. Before adding the water, you get this really dark red, almost black, paste in the pan. It’s a little unsettling but we had faith. Side note: please take a moment to pause and enjoy the pretty swirly top layer of the sauce when you get to the 4th cup of water added. Brooke was a big fan.

The chicken we used for the filling was sautéed in a large pan prior to the arrivals of my guest chefs and then shredded. On another note, where does one find the 1 lb cans of tomato puree? And what is the difference between tomato puree and tomato sauce? I had a heck of a time at the grocery store. I ended up having to buy two 28 oz cans of tomato puree and only using 4oz of the second can. Very silly.

Pretty swirlies

Anyways, we weren’t entirely sure how one is supposed to go about crushing garlic, but like any lady crusher, we just decided to make it up as we went. I crushed the cloves with the blade of my knife (not unlike Harry Potter does in potions class in the Half-Blood Prince), then chopped up the crushed clove further. We tossed all the ingredients into the hot oil and proceeded to immerse our noses in the delicious aroma.

Will somebody please explain to me the purpose of canned tortillas? The entire idea was so ludicrous that I didn’t even try to find them. Do they soak in a liquid? For what purpose? Regardless, we used regular 8-inch tortillas that were sold in a bag. Sorry, Barb. Kaylee was our star tortilla fryer, really mastering the not-crisp-but-still-fried tortilla. Honorable mention to Brooke for running to the grocery store when we started running out of tortillas (she still bought the bagged ones).

Guts of the tort 

The light cream threw me off as well. I looked it up and according to Google, light cream is a cream that has between 18%-30% milk fat. Half and half has about 11% milkfat and heavy cream has about 46%. My local Smiths does not sell light cream, so I bought heavy cream and half and half, and then put on my algebra hat. I’m highly confident I didn’t do the math exactly right, but I ended up using half a cup of heavy cream and half a cup of half and half and calling it a day.

Our assembly line was arguably perfect. Kaylee fried the tortillas, let them cool, then handed them to me, who soaked them in the cream mixture, filled them, and placed them in the pan. Brooke served as our supervisor, emotional support, and general extra hand when needed. In terms of pan size, I recommend two 9 x 13-inch casserole dishes for the best results. We only used 20 of the 24 tortillas we were supposed to use but manages to fill a 9 x 13 pan and a 9 x 9 pan.

The Feedback

Overall, delicious. You really can’t go wrong with enchiladas. I will say, these were on the strange side. The tortilla filling (“guts of the tort”) was on the sweeter side, which really contrasted the super salty element from an unknown origin. We’re still not really sure if it was the sauce or the cheese or WHAT was so salty. My theory is the saltiness comes from the bouillon cube/cream mixture. It’s important to take bites of the enchilada that incorporate all the aspects of the dish so you get a balanced taste.

Still confused about why there are random beans floating in the sauce, but I just decided it give the dish character.

The Receipt

did someone say cheese...?

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS WITH RED CHILI SAUCE - CC80
Barbara Adamson

RED CHILI SAUCE
     ¼ cup shortening
     ⅓ – ½ cup chili powder
     ¼ cup flour
     1½ tsp salt
     1 tsp garlic salt
     ¼ tsp dried oregano leaves
     ¼ tsp cumin
1 can – 8 ¼ oz – kidney beans, drained
Melt shortening in medium skillet. Add chili powder, flour, salt, garlic salt, oregano and cumin. Stir until blended. Gradually stir in 4 cups water. Bring to boiling, stirring constantly. Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Add kidney beans. Heat 5 minutes. Set aside.

FILLING
     2 Tbs salad oil
     ½ cup chopped onion
     1 can – 4oz – finely chopped green chilies
     2 cloves crushed garlic
     2 cans – 1 lb size – tomato puree
     3 cups chopped cooked chicken
     1 tsp salt
     ¼ tsp pepper
In 2 tablespoons hot oil in large skillet sauté onion until tender – about 5 minutes. Add green chilies, garlic, tomato puree, chicken, salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes.

OTHER INGREDIENTS
     Salad oil
     2 cans – 11 oz each – tortillas or 2 packages – 12 oz each – frozen tortillas –
          You’ll need 24
     1 cup light cream
     2 chicken bouillon cubes
     1 lb grated cheddar cheese

Now, to assemble this thing –
- Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease 2 – 2 quart size – shallow baking dishes.
- Heat ¾ inch salad oil in small skillet until very hot. Fry tortillas, one at a time, 15 seconds on each side. Do not let them become crisp. Drain on paper towels. Set aside.
- In small saucepan, heat cream with bouillon cubes until cubes are dissolved.
- Dip each tortilla in cream mixture. Top each with heaping tablespoon of filling. Roll up and place seam side down in baking dishes, dividing evenly. Pour 2 cups red chili sauce over tortillas in each dish. Sprinkle each with half of the cheese.
- Bake uncover 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and tortillas are heated through.

Makes 12 servings depending on your appetite. Can divide recipe in half successfully. Can make ahead of time successfully.