Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Here is an easy recipe for a yummy weeknight meal. I wanted to try making enchiladas by making them without the traditional green or red enchilada sauce (which is really good too, but can get a little messy). I have been thinking about doing this for a while, and I finally got around to it!

1 rotisserie chicken
1 cup chopped mushrooms (I used crimini)
8 oz cream cheese
1 packet taco seasoning (or Carne Asada flavoring)
2 Tablespoons dried onions
salt to taste
2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese (or cheddar)
1 pint (2 cups) heavy cream
7 or 8 taco size tortillas (I used low carb ones)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place the meat from the rotisserie chicken on a cutting board and chop it up pretty fine. In a large bowl, add chicken, chopped mushrooms, cream cheese, taco seasoning, and dried onions to the meat and mix until the ingredients are incorporated. Taste and add salt and more onions or taco flavoring if necessary (to suit your taste).

Grease a 9 by 13 baking dish. Place about 2-3 spoonfuls of mix into the center of the tortilla and wrap up tight. Place in baking dish seam side down. Repeat with the remainder of the tortillas. Add Monterey Jack cheese to the top of the tortillas and spread evenly. Drizzle the cream evenly over the top of the cheese. Sprinkle more taco seasoning over the top if desired.

Place foil over the top and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes. The top should be bubbly and toasty looking.

Enjoy!

Ancho Chile Mushroom Enchiladas

If you have access to ancho chiles (we find ours at the local Mexican market), you have to have to have to try this dish. I got my inspiration from the ancho chile enchiladas at Z Tejas, one of my favorite restaurants. They are so delicious and pretty easy to make. You can make the sauce ahead of time too, and freeze any extra for future uses. I make these enchiladas about once a week (and don't get sick of them), they make for excellent leftovers. Anth takes the leftovers to school the following days (where his fellow classmates drool over them).

serves about 5 or 6
Ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 2 dried ancho chiles
• 4 large garlic cloves, peeled

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1-2 T. mole sauce (optional)
  
• 4 teaspoons fresh lime juice

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 12 ounces fresh wild mushrooms (such as oyster and/or stemmed and sliced shiitake and portobello)
• 5 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (you could also use queso fresco)
  
• 6 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 medium tomatoes, seeded, chopped
• 1 small avocado, pitted, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

• 8-12 6-inch-diameter corn tortillas

Preparation:

Bring 2 cups water to boil in small saucepan. Remove saucepan from heat, add chilies and soak 30 minutes. Drain chilies, reserving 6 tablespoons soaking liquid. Cut stems off chilies. Cut chilies open. Scrape out seeds and discard. Combine chilies, 6 tablespoons reserved soaking liquid and garlic in blender and puree until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine whipping cream, sour cream, & chili puree in heavy large skillet. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 3 minutes. Whisk in lime juice and mole sauce (optional). Season with salt. (Sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

Melt butter in another heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and mushrooms and sauté until onion is translucent and mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Add cheese, cilantro, tomatoes and 3 tablespoons of the cream sauce. Simmer until just heated through, about 4 minutes. Stir in avocado. Season filling with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

Dip tortillas individually into warm sauce & transfer to baking dish. Spoon generous 1/3 cup filling down center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas, enclosing filling completely. Arrange seam side down in baking dish. Cover enchiladas with foil.

Bake enchiladas until heated through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to plates. Spoon some sauce atop each. Serve, passing any remaining sauce separately.

Notes: The corn tortillas crumble really easily. Since we eat them with a fork anyway and don't really care about presentation, it's not a problem. But, if you are worried about presentation, it might help to fry the tortillas briefly in some hot oil before dipping them in the sauce and filling them. It should help keep them from crumbling. I have tried microwaving them for 30 seconds, and although it helps they still seem to crumble. Another solution would be to use flour tortillas. They rarely crumble and taste heavenly too.

Fajitas

One of Anth's all time favorite dinners are these fajitas. Delicious-and super easy too!

Things you'll need:

1 red pepper (cut in slices)
1 yellow onion (cut in slices)
1-2 T. olive oil
chicken (either fresh or the frozen strips from Costco)
juice from 2 limes
avocado
cilantro
sour cream
cheese
flour tortillas (we use the kind you cook yourself, they're so much better)

Directions:
In large skillet, heat olive oil. Add red pepper & onion and cook until slightly browned. Set aside in a bowl. Using same skillet, cook chicken. When chicken is just about cooked all the way through, add the onion and peppers with the chicken and squeeze lime juice into skillet. Cook until all is heated through. Heat tortillas in fry pan and melt cheese onto one side. Add chicken mixture to center of tortilla and top with items of your choice (we can't live without sour cream, cilantro and avocado).