Chicken Enchiladas with Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa

I was watching one of my favorite cooking shows "Tyler's Ultimate" one day, when the featured recipe was Chicken Enchiladas. I had never tried an enchilada in my life at this point, but I figured that with my love for Mexican food, there was nothing that could not be good in this dish! Needless to say after watching the episode, I was starving for some enchiladas! I did not make them right away, but they have been in the back of my mind, and finally, tonight was the perfect night! I prepared all of my ingredients, hoping all along that I would LOVE this dish as much as I hoped! Needless to say, it was delicious!

The thing about this recipe is that it makes alot of enchiladas! Lucky for us, we had guests over to help us in eating them, but I am also proud to say that Nicholas loved them too!

The recipe comes from Tyler Florence, but I revised it per my taste. He uses a lot of cumin, which is my least favorite spice, so I used very little of it, and I thought they were perfect!

This is definitely the ultimate for chicken enchiladas and it is well worth the effort put into making the salsa from scratch! Have fun and good luck!

Ingredients

Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa:

1 pound tomatillos, husked
1 white onion, peeled, sliced, quartered or whole
4 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 lime, juiced

Enchiladas:

olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock
1 deli roasted chicken (about 3 pounds), boned, meat shredded
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
10 large flour tortillas
1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
2 cups sour cream

Garnish:
Chopped tomatoes, Guacamole,Sour Cream

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

For the salsa:
On a baking tray, roast tomatillos, onion, garlic and jalapeno for 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the roasted vegetables and any juices on the bottom of the tray to a food processor. Add the salt, cilantro, and lime juice and pulse mixture until well combined but still chunky.

Enchiladas:
Meanwhile heat a 2 count of olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and caramelized - this should take 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin then cook for a further minute. Sprinkle on the flour and stir to ensure the flour doesn't burn then gradually add the chicken stock. Continue stirring over a low simmer until the flour cooks and the liquid thickens. Turn off the heat, add half of the roasted tomatillo chile salsa and fold in the shredded chicken meat. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Change the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees F and begin assembling the dish. Take a large baking dish and smear the bottom with some of the reserved tomatillo salsa. Put a scoop of the shredded chicken-enchilada mix on top of the tortilla followed by a sprinkle of the shredded cheese. Fold the tortilla over the filling and roll like a cigar to enclose it. Using a spatula place the tortillas in the baking dish and continue to do the same with all the tortillas. Finally pour over some more of the salsa and top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes until bubbly and cracked on top. Garnish, with sour cream, guacamole and tomato.

Enjoy!