Chicken Enchiladas

A few weeks ago, Adam and I experimented with Salsa Verde, which is a green somewhat spicy salsa.  Our experiments came to a final success with our Roasted Tomatillo Salsa (Salsa Verde), something that Adam and I are still talking about and are extremely proud of   Anyway, that same weekend, we got really experimental and tried to make our own flour tortillas.  It was adorable, I measured the ingredients, Adam mixed and we shared in the kneading (since we both have fun with that part).  Then, following the recipe we found online, we allowed the dough to rest for about 20 minutes, then cut the dough into 8 pieces and allowed those to rest another 20 minutes.  After 40 minutes of anticipation, we both rushed into the kitchen and pulled out our brand spanking new tortilla press, which I purchased from Amazon two days prior and opted for expedited shipping for this very moment.  I was in charge of the stove and Adam manned the tortilla press, we were ready for our very own homemade tortillas, there was true excitement in our kitchen that day … and then it ended, the tortillas tasted great, like awesomely great, but there was a slight problem … as soon as they hit the pan, they shrunk and our perfectly 6 inch pressed tortillas very quickly became 4 inch (sometimes 3 inch) tortillas that were about 1/4 inch thick … not exactly what we had in mind.

You must understand that it was more than just our tortillas not turning out as we had wished.  That week I had this grand plan, it was perfect … I wanted to complete a few recipes, but try to make them all connect so that I did not spend too much.  So, it all started with the Roasted Tomatillo Salsa (Salsa Verde) and the Simply Roasted Chicken.  The plan was to use the Simply Roasted Chicken in two recipes one being Tips for Leftover Chicken Soup and the other Chicken Enchiladas, which would perfectly integrate the Roasted Tomatillo Salsa and flour tortillas, that were going to be so perfectly made by Adam and I.  It was a great plan.  Everything went off without a hitch, except for these stupid (but tasty) tortillas.  All I could think about was the photo, how will this ever work?  How can we possibly have a reasonably presentable photograph of enchiladas when we only have 4 inch tortillas that look more like flat bread than flour tortillas?   After a lot of grumbling, huffing and puffing, I finally realized how ridiculous this situation was … they are only tortillas (or flat bread) and we can make a perfectly great tasting chicken enchilada for dinner and if the photo does not work out, then at least we tried and we can always try again.  So, that is what we did … except the strangest thing happened, they actually worked out great and the photo is not too bad either.  Yes, they would be better if the tortillas were thinner, but to be fair it was our very first time making them and everything tasted great, so great that we had them for dinner and breakfast the next morning (no kidding).  So, all-in-all  it was a success and hey, we got to use our fancy new tortilla press.

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Chicken Enchiladas

2 cups shredded chicken
8 flour tortillas
1/2 cup salsa verde, divided
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the filling, in a bowl, mix the chicken, 1/4 cup of the salsa verde, sour cream and 1/4 cup of queso fresco cheese.  Fill each tortilla with some filling and roll the tortilla, then place in a baking dish seam side down.  Cover the enchiladas with the remaining 1/4 cup of salsa verde and some of the remaining cheese.  Bake in the oven for 10 minutes then remove from the oven and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Tagged as: Chicken, enchilada, salsa, tex-mex