Over the years since I was given the original recipe for Sour Cream Enchiladas from a co-worker, I’ve made a few changes. I’ve tried some different ingredients. Some worked. Some didn’t work. And depending on your personal, or families, preferences, you might make a few other changes.

My daughter isn’t a fan of chicken enchiladas, but likes the sour cream sauce. I had a cream cheese mixture* in the fridge that I formed into cylinders for the insides of her enchiladas. And yes, I did add more shredded cheese when I rolled them up. I didn’t put jalapenos on her two enchiladas to remind me which ones were hers.  

This is the recipe that I made last night.

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas v. 2.0

2 cups sour cream

½ cup Herdez Salsa Verde

2-3 cups chicken, shredded or diced

1 Tbls. butter

½ onion, chopped, @ ½ cup

1 4-oz can Hatch chopped green chilies, drained

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

8-10 tortillas

Shredded Mexican cheese

Jalapeno peppers, sliced

 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix sour cream and Salsa Verde in bowl.

Spray 9 x 13 glass baking dish with cooking spray. Spread ½ cup sour cream mixture on bottom of pan.

Melt butter in large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in chilies and spices. Add chicken. Mix well until chicken is hot. Stir in ½ cup sour cream mixture. Turn off heat while building the enchiladas.

Lay tortilla on flat surface, spoon about 1/3 cup of chicken mixture down one edge of tortilla. Add handful of shredded cheese. Roll tightly. Lay seam side down in baking dish. Continue filling pan or until you run out of chicken mixture.

Spread remaining sour cream mixture over enchiladas. Sprinkle with cheese and jalapeno slices.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until bubbly and slightly toasted.

Enjoy!

 

*Cream Cheese Enchilada Filling

8 oz package Philly cream cheese, softened

Garlic powder

Mayo, small amount

Shredded Mexican cheese

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Fresh chives, snipped 

Mix all together. Taste. Add more of whatever, depending on preferences. Also makes a good dip for whole grain tortilla chips, or spread on a bread and broiled until bubbly.

 

Tips & Tricks

·         Use regular sour cream, otherwise it might ‘break’ on you. “Breaking” happens when the product becomes too warm and separates into liquid and solid. The resulting chunks are edible, though unappetizing both visually, and in texture.

·         Feel free to use more or less salsa, depending on your preferences. I use enough to make the sour cream sauce a little more fluid, plus add flavor.

·         This time, I poached 3 large chicken breasts in water with peppercorns, oregano, cumin, garlic, and a bay leaf. When cooked, dice or shred when cool to the touch. I’ve also used rotisserie chicken, but the result varies depending what seasoning the provider uses.

·         When I sauté, I tend to use my flat-bottomed wok. The higher sides keep the potential messes to a minimum.

·         I used Hatch hot chilies. They weren’t as hot as I’d hoped. I’ve also used a fresh chopped poblano chili instead of the canned chilies.

·         Alter the spices to your preference, though I tend to make recipes as written prior to tweaking. The good part about this recipe is that everything is cooked prior to building the enchiladas, so you can adjust the seasoning accordingly.

·         Since my family isn’t a fan of corn tortillas (I am. I like white corn tortillas.), I use flour tortillas fajita-sized.

·         Pour the shredded cheese into a bowl. Digging in and out of the bag is a PIA, plus you’ll be contaminating the remaining cheese with your chicken filling fingers.

 

Foodie Friday -- Beef Stroganoff

I had every intention of trying a Martha Stewart beef stroganoff recipe, but a few things stood in my way. One it was a crockpot meal, which would have forced me to chop onions, mushrooms and meat at 5:30 in the morning prior to work.

Yuck. No thank you. Coffee and I have a special bonding moment at 5:30 in the morning. I'd hate to disrupt that particular ritual.

And two, it had Dijon mustard in it, which my family dislikes. I did think of sneaking it in this recipe, but forgot. Oops.

A few days earlier, I had purchased a 5-lb chuck roast from Costco, which I cut up into both cubes and strips while defatting it. I ended up with about 2-lbs of strips and 2-lbs of 3-inch strips (about 1/4-inch thick and 3/4-inch wide), which I tossed in the freezer. I'll use the cubed meat for chili or some sort of stew next week.

It's 4 PM and time to start cooking dinner...Improvise time!

Beef Stroganoff

 

2 lbs beef, sliced into strips (roughly 3-in long x 1/2-in wide x 1/4-in deep)

2 small onions, or one large onion, diced (or sliced, if you prefer. I think I will slice it next time)

1-lb mushrooms, cubed (sliced, if you prefer)

2 cups beef broth*

oil

salt

pepper

garlic powder

flour

8 oz. lite sour cream

 

1-lb egg noodles

 

1) Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in large Dutch oven pan on medium-high. Add onion and mushrooms, cook until tender about 6-8 minutes. Season lightly with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Remove from pan, leaving juices, and add meat. Brown meat, about 4-5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a couple Tablespoons of flour. Stir until flour is cooked, about 1 minute.

 

2) Return onions and mushrooms to pan. Add beef broth. Stir.

 

3) Lightly cover (angle lid instead of placing it tightly on), and turn heat down to keep beef at a strong simmer. Cook for 1-2 hours or until broth thickens to a gravy. ** Adjust seasoning at this time, but you probably won't need to add anything. Just saying.

 

4) Cook pasta according to directions. Drain.

 

5) Stir sour cream into beef mixture.

 

6) Place noodles on plate and spoon beef stroganoff over noodles.

 

Enjoy!

 

Tips and Tricks

• * I never have beef broth, or chicken broth for that matter, in the house . . . ever. But what I always have is Better Than Bouillon, chicken and beef. For this recipe, I used about 1 Tablespoon of beef Better than Bouillon, along with 2 cups of water.  
• ** I cooked my stroganoff about 1 1/2 hours. It just worked out that way. If you use a more marbled cut of beef, it will become less tough the longer it is braised as the fat will break down. My inspiration for this recipe was guided by Paula Deen who cooks her meal for only 45 minutes. Slower = more tender.  
• If you want to cook the beef first, then the onions and mushrooms. Go for it! It doesn't really matter.