Chicken Enchiladas

I am back to school, (pretty much) recovered from pneumonia, and recovered from the holiday weekend.... what is it about a pool and an "endless" supply of summery cocktails that makes me go weak in the knees?
I really love summer.  I also love that I have officially embarked on a journey called My Last Class at Le Cordon Bleu!!
Cuisines Across Cultures.
I feel like I started school a month ago- it's nuts.....another reminder that one day, probably a few decades from now,  I will get "old." Time goes by really fast. In a mere 6 weeks I will be contemplating what on earth to do with my new degree besides go up a dress size or so.

Last night I made Chicken Enchiladas.

**Please note my casual subject change from dress sizes to Mexican food. 

So, I stole this recipe from the lovely Adrianne Lentine who writes a wonderful blog called Dream Book Design. It's great.... read it. And she stole the recipe from another wonderful blog called The Pioneer Woman. I changed it up a bit, but kept it pretty close to the way I found it. Best enchiladas I have made in a long time! So flavorful!!

the worst picture of chicken enchiladas ever because all I could focus on was wanting to devour them.

Ingredients:
For the sauce-
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
45 ounces red enchilada sauce

For the meat-
2 pounds shredded chicken
1 yellow onion finely chopped
6 oz diced green chilies
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano

4 cups shredded cheese.... I used 1/2 cheddar and 1/2 jack
1 cup chopped olives
1 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
16 corn tortillas

Method:
In a large sauce pot, heat canola oil and then add flour. Cook about 2 minutes to get rid of the starchy flavor. Slowly whisk in enchilada sauce and chicken broth and bring to a slow boil to thicken.

In a separate pan, sauté onions until they begin to brown. Add cumin and oregano and mix together. Add the diced chilies and shredded chicken. I was lazy and bought rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods. I do that a lot- it's just as yummy and 1/2 the preparation (and dishes.) Season the meat with salt to taste and set aside to cool.

Chop olives and green onion. If I were you, I would put all of the ingredients (olives, green onion, cheese, and cilantro) into small separate bowls- things are going to get messy.

Traditionally, the corn tortillas are fried in canola oil until soft and then drenched in the enchilada sauce. I decided to skip the frying/heart attack step and opt for extra, EXTRA, cheese. I've made enchiladas both ways before and I can't tell the difference, but then again I would eat a shoe if it were baked with cheese and covered in sour cream. I am a piggy.

So, one at a time- dip each corn tortilla in enchilada sauce. Then add chicken, olives, green onion, and a little cilantro to each tortilla, gently roll, and place SEAM DOWN in a large baking dish. You need to place them seam down or they will all fall apart. Repeat this process until all of the ingredients are gone..... should be enough for 16-20 enchiladas. I told you things would get messy.

Ladle some enchilada sauce over the rolled tortillas, cover in cheese and sprinkle some olives and green onion on top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is nice and bubbly.

Serve with sour cream and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Mmmmm. Enjoy.... and then enjoy cleaning the disaster in your kitchen.