The Starving Musician Recipes
Jinjer's Secret Day-After-Thanksgiving
Chicken Enchiladas Made with Turkey
Makes 8-10 enchiladas
Another one of the few recipes
where I like canned products, this post-holiday Jinjer Hundley tradition
began life as a simple recipe for Chicken Enchiladas Suiza. After trying
them with turkey, we all agreed they're even better with turkey. But Chicken
Enchiladas sounds more appetizing, so the "secret" is, if you're lucky
enough to secure an invitation to Jinjer's post-holiday enchilada bake,
you're really having turkey! Don't forget the cranberry sauce--it sounds
weird, but the combination of cold cranberry sauce with green chilies is
amazing.
Pam non-stick Cooking Spray
2 cans Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup (the kind you'd add milk to; not the
ready to heat kind and not the "Healthy Request" and not the "Low salt"), straight from the can, undiluted
1 7-oz can Ortega chopped green chilies, drained, rinsed slightly, and drained
thoroughly
1 cup Daisy or Knudsen brand sour cream (you can use reduced fat sour cream instead,
but fat-free doesn't taste right in this, and may curdle)
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped into 1/4" dice
2 tablespoons Pace Medium salsa (yellow cap--not the chunky one!)
1 cup chopped cooked turkey (mixed white and dark meat is fine, but no skin)
1 cup grated marble jack /cheddar cheese (the mottled orange and white combo
cheese that comes in a block and contains Monterey jack and cheddar. If you
can't find it, sharp cheddar works fine.)
1 package 8" flour tortillas
sliced black olives for garnish (optional)
Pace Hot salsa, or La Victoria Salsa Jalapeno (optional)
leftover whole-berry Cranberry sauce, very cold (optional)
Preheat oven to 325F. Spray a 9x13
cake pan or baking dish with Pam cooking
spray. Combine soup, chilies, sour cream, onions, and Pace Medium salsa, and
mix well. Add turkey and 1/2 cup of cheese, and mix well again.
Spoon a medium-thin layer of mixture
to cover the bottom in the bottom of the baking pan or dish (this keeps the
tortillas from drying out). Set aside.
Soften tortillas by warming each individually in a skillet on low heat as
you assemble each enchilada; Using 1/4 cup mixture for each and
reserving approximately half of mixture to spoon over the top, fill and roll
each enchilada burrito-style: place mixture in a horizontal line 2" from the
bottom of the tortilla; fold up bottom to encase filling, fold the left and
right sides, then roll up. Place each one in the baking dish, seam-side down. Top with
reserved filling mixture, covering almost completely; sprinkle remaining cheese over all, and garnish
with sliced olives if desired.
Cover the pan lightly with foil (trying not to touch the top of the
enchiladas too much); bake at 325 for 30-45 minutes, or until bubbly and
enchiladas are hot in the middle. Serve with hot salsa to taste, and a
couple of tablespoons of cranberry sauce on the side.
Makes 8-10 enchiladas. (People love
these and usually want seconds.) Reheat leftovers in the oven at 325, or in
the microwave at 50%-60% power.
This recipe can be assembled ahead
and refrigerated unbaked; when ready to serve, double the baking time. You
can also double the recipe for a crowd: prepare two batches in two 9x13"
pans; bake one pan, cut each enchilada in half, and serve while the second
batch bakes. Or, if you have a large enough oven, bake both pans on the
center rack, turning pans halfway through baking time for even heating.
Creative variations: 1.Being
severely allergic to aged cheese I have mine without cheese and add a little more
Pace Medium salsa to the filling mixture. They're still fabulous. 2.Whole
wheat tortillas work very well but are a bit drier, so you may need to put
more mixture on top of them. 3. Jalapeno jack or plain Monterey jack cheese
tastes great, but marble jack looks better. 4. You can spice up the heat
level by adding chopped canned jalapeno peppers with the green chilies or
using Pace Hot salsa instead of medium, but
we find it throws off the balance of the recipe a bit. We suggest adding
your own hot salsa as a condiment after baking instead; this recipe is
about flavor combinations, not spice. 5. Chicken Enchilada "Lasagna"(Casserole): Prepare
filling mixture as directed. Spray 9x13" baking dish with Pam non-stick
cooking spray; assemble casserole by ripping the tortillas into pieces and
layering with filling mixture, starting and ending with filling mixture. Top
with reserved cheese, and garnish with black olives. Bake at 325F until bubbly
and hot in the middle, and cheese is melted. (You can try baking this version
in a non-glass dish at 350 if you watch this carefully, but some brands of
sour cream may curdle, so I usually play it safe.)
Recipe ©2005
Jinjer Hundley
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