Chicken Enchiladas

My mom was famous for throwing enormous parties.  Our graduation parties never had less than 100 people.  My mom couldn't stand to not include everyone and between church and her Yahtzee and birthday clubs she had many friends.  Plus I grew up in one of those neighborhoods where everyone not only knows each other but also likes each other.  Regardless of the guest count she never, ever had her parties catered.  She would just plan ahead and serve the food buffet style and our dining room table would be filled with all of her specialties.  Since I have four siblings that is a lot of graduation parties and when you start to throw in college graduations and bridal showers she definitely had it down to a tee.  Our shower was no different.

My husband and I got married in San Francisco, where we lived at the time, so my parents threw a couple's shower as sort of a bridal shower/reception at home.  Since she had done so many parties she wanted to do it a bit different than all of the others.  She had done a brunch for my brother's graduation, an Italian theme for one of my sister's and several with numerous pasta salads and sandwich options.  So we decided on a Mexican theme.  We talked about what would be the best options to serve the 80 or so guests and enchiladas seemed like a good choice.  For one they were my personal favorite and since they could also be made in advance it seemed like the perfect option.  We must have made 500 of these.  I think we grossly overestimated how many people would consume, I'm sure my terrible estimation skills were at fault.  My family was eating leftover pans of these for months.  In fact a year later my mom claimed she was still sick of enchiladas, although they were a hit.

So if you are planning an enormous meal for 80 guests then this will definitely work.  But if you are just planning dinner for your family it is a good option as well.  In a sense it is a bit involved because you cook three separate things then assemble, but most of the prepping is pretty easy and can be done in advance.  See the note at the bottom.  Also you could dumb this down if you wanted to save time.  You could buy one of those rotisserie chickens and just use the meat you need, omit the onion mixture completely, or buy bottled enchilada sauce.   This goes great with Guacamole Salad.

I remember flying in a couple of days or so before the shower to help with all of the preparations that entail throwing a party that size and walking in the door to see sombreros and Mexican blankets everywhere.  My mom had done such a great job of planning it all and had thought of every detail.  There were sombreros that she had hung up as a decoration, she had collected Mexican blankets from friends to use as tablecloths and had a chip and dip bowl shaped like a hat.  I am laughing right now as I write this because this is what my mom lived for, to pull out all of these things that she had collected and put them to use.  We served margaritas, chips and salsa, guacamole, enchiladas and a Marquette favorite, taco dip.  Everyone raved about the food and couldn't believe we had made it ourselves.  My mom was a fabulous hostess and one of the many things she taught me to do is entertain.  I only hope my next party will be as much as a hit!

Trish's Tips:  Have all of your ingredients ready for the sauce because I was busy measuring while my chicken stock was boiling away.  I ended up adding another cup or two to thin out so I have modified the recipe here to have extra on hand if needed.  This is the absolute best way to cook chicken.  You could use boneless, skinless, but you will never eat more moist chicken unless you cook it this way.  I've been doing it for several years now ever since Ina Garten taught me, you know, through the tv.

Easy Enchilada Sauce
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients:
6 TBL Canola Oil
2 TBL flour
1/2 C chili powder
4-6 Cups Chicken Stock
20 oz. tomato paste
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt

Directions:
In a medium saucepan heat oil, add flour, smoothing and stirring with a whisk.  Cook for 1 minute.  Add 4 C of chicken stock, tomato paste, oregano, cumin and salt.  Whisk to combine.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and let thicken slightly.  If needed add remaining 2C of chicken stock to thin out if sauce gets too thick.  

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1 lb Chicken Breast, bone-in, skin on
3-4 TBL Olive Oil
2 Medium Sized onions, chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
10 corn tortillas
12 oz cheddar cheese or mexican blend cheese, grated
sour cream for garnish
scallions for garnish

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350.  Put chicken on sheet pan and coat with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and rub to coat all sides.  Roast for 35-40 minutes.  Let chicken cool, remove skin (or leave on if you wish) and shred with two forks.  Set aside.

While chicken is cooking, heat pan to medium-high heat.  Heat 1 TBL olive oil and add onions.  Cook until browned and softened, but not completely broken down.  Add oregano, cumin and salt.  Set aside.

Preheat Oven to 350.  Pour a ladle full of enchilada sauce in to 8x10 or 9x12 glass baking dish.  Set up an area, your hands will get messy when you start.   Put enchilada sauce in shallow, wide bowl.  Dip tortillas with thongs in enchilada sauce to coat both sides.  If you don't do this, they will tear.  Put tortilla on plate and put spoonful of onion mixture, spoonful of chicken and sprinkling of cheese onto each tortilla remembering to leave some remaining cheese for the top.  Don't fill too much or the filling will spill out.  Roll up making sure that tortilla ends overlap and place seam side down in baking dish.  Repeat until finished and pour remaining enchilada sauce over top.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes.  To serve, top with sour cream and scallions.

Do Ahead:  You can make the sauce, onions and chicken ahead of time, then just assemble the day of.  Or think of as lasagna, assemble the night before and just put in the oven the day of.  If you do this make sure to be very generous with enchilada sauce (potentially make more) as the tops of the tortillas could dry out and crack.  This recipe will make one 9x12 pan or two 8x8 pans eat one tonight and freeze one for later!