I love chicken enchiladas in white sauce but popular recipes always seem to include ingredients that make me cringe; canned cream of chicken soup and sour cream, for example. While those items have their place in other dishes, quality enchiladas is not one of them. Well, maybe a dollop of sour cream up on top is okay. I'm not saying that these will have a lower fat content (although, they would have to). But at least they are worth it. If you are going to make enchiladas suizas, let them be made with delicious cream rather than canned cream soup.
Enchiladas Suizas: 6 tablespoons butter 1 cup chopped Spanish or yellow onion 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour 4 cups chicken broth 3-5 Jalapeño peppers, finely chopped without ribs & seeds (3 =mild, 5 = spicy) 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 16 (6-7 inch) corn tortillas - soft, if available 1 lb shredded Monterey Jack cheese 1 lb shredded mild cheddar cheese 4 cups shredded, cooked chicken breasts (easy instructions here) 2 cups heavy cream Prepare salsa verde: Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute the onion until soft. Stir in the flour. Whisk in the broth, then add the jalapeños, garlic, salt, and cumin. Simmer about 15 minutes to blend flavors, then set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. You can lightly fry the tortillas in a heavy skillet but I skip that step if I have soft tortillas that will roll without breaking. Place a handful of chicken, a little cheese and a good tablespoon of verde down the center of each tortilla; roll and place seam side down in a casserole dish. After all the filled/rolled tortillas are in the dish, add the cream to the remaining salsa verde. Pour that mixture over the enchiladas. Sprinkle with remaining shredded cheeses. Bake uncovered in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Garnish with green onions, pico de gallo, guacamole or sour cream if desired. It makes 16 enchiladas. I only cook half and freeze the other half. Just let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then bring to room temperature as the oven heats. Bake as directed.
I found the original recipe here but tweaked a few things, mostly because there just wasn't enough sauce in the original recipe.
Is there ever enough sauce in life?
