Santa Fe Enchiladas also known as enchiladas with green sauce have just the right blend of southwest flavors to make this dish irresistable!
Ingredients
4chicken breast halves, cooked and chopped, about 6-8 cups chicken
1lime, juiced
1/2onion about 3/4 cup, chopped
1crushed garlic clove
1/2cupcilantro
6-8corn tortillas, yellow or white corn tortillas
1lbJalapeno Jack cheese or Monterey Jack, shredded
sour cream
Enchilada Sauce
5dried Pasilla chiles, I use 3 fresh, roasted
3dried California chiles, I used 1 Anaheim, roasted
1jalapeno, seeded and chopped*
2cupschicken stock
1/2cupfresh cilantro leaves
2clovesgarlic
1tablespoondry oregano leaves
1tablespooncumin
1tablespoonred wine vinegar, lemon or lime juice
1 tomato (about 1 cup), chopped
1/2cupcream or half and half, optional but recommended
salt to taste, ground pepper
2tablespoonsolive oil
Instructions
Make enchilada sauce in advance, up to three days: Over a medium high heat, roast the chiles until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Do this over a flame if you have a gas cook top on your stove, or put the chiles in the oven. On the gas grill, cook for about 5 minutes per side until blackened and soft. Place the cooked chiles in a paper bag and let them sweat for a few minutes, the skins will come off easily. Then discard the bag and proceed with next step.
After roasting, seed and remove stems from chiles, using food handler gloves*. You may roast all of the chiles. If using dried chiles, heat the chicken broth, and pour over the dried chiles. Let sit covered for about 20 minutes, until chiles are hydrated. In a blender, in batches, place the chiles and stock, and other remaining chiles. Blend until sauce is completely smooth. Add the 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, garlic, oregano, cumin, vinegar, tomato, salt and pepper. Add cream if using. Continue blending until all sauce ingredients are smooth.
Over a medium heat, in a heavy skillet, heat the oil. Pour the sauce into the oil and cook for about 10 minutes.
Assemble enchiladas:
Grease a 9x13 pan, spread about 1 cup of the enchilada sauce in the pan to coat the bottom.
In a large saute pan, saute the onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the cooked chicken and toss with a little bit of the enchilada sauce, enough to coat. Squeeze in the juice from one lime. Heat until warmed through. Add 1/2 cup fresh cilantro to the chicken mixture and set aside. Warm the tortillas (to prevent tearing) and fill each tortilla with chicken mixture and shredded cheese. Roll and place seam side down in 9x13 pan. You may also make this casserole style, layering tortillas, filling and cheese twice, ending with cheese on top. When all tortillas are rolled, top with remaining sauce, and grated cheese. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes covered, and then remove foil and cook until the cheese is melted and lightly golden.
Makes 6-8 enchiladas.
Notes
-**Using food handlers gloves is a REALLY GOOD IDEA while seeding and chopping jalapenos. The seeds are HOT, so make sure to remove them from the jalapenos, unless you like your food extra spicy. The oils from the chili will remain on your hands long after you wash. Oh, and don't ever try to put on contact lenses after seeding a chili. Bad idea, trust me.-I don't think it's important to use exactly the same chiles mentioned in the recipe, or the type I used. Depending on the grocery store visited, or the area of town, I saw a variety of different dried and fresh chiles. Summer months would be a great time to make this dish, when fresh chiles are plentiful. All total, I think you need about 3 cups of chiles.-I added the 1/2 cup of cream/half and half to the sauce, because the sauce was a little to spicy for me, and we were serving the dish to kids. Adding the cream also cut a bit of the tang.-If you assemble the dish the day before, or earlier in the day, cover with foil, (spray the foil with PAM to prevent the cheese from sticking to the foil) let it sit at room temperature for about 1/2 to 1 hour before cooking. Cook covered for about 20 minutes, then remove foil for the last part of baking.